Speakers and presenters sometimes get feedback from an audience that they seemed “rehearsed.” If you said this to an orchestra or a corps of dancers, it would be a compliment—of course they rehearsed. It would be a very weird experience to watch musicians or dancers who were unrehearsed.

But when people say it to speakers, it’s not a compliment. I think what they really mean is that the speech or presentation seems artificial.

We want a lot from our speakers! We want them to connect with us. We want to learn something. We want them to be engaging and real, and also not to have any habits we find distracting. We want it to feel like they made this speech just for us, just now. But, we definitely don’t want them to seem too polished or too scripted—that feels artificial.

In order to avoid coming across as artificial, we need to do a few things. First, we need to have a deliberate intention in mind. What do we want the audience to feel, think, or do as a result of what we say? How do we make our presence onstage be of service to them?

Then, we need to compose our talk with words, sentences, and phrases we would actually use. One of the biggest reasons audiences find speeches artificial is that the speaker is talking in a way people just don’t talk. 

Finally, our physical language should be congruent with our spoken language. In other words, how do you usually move? What is your gestural vocabulary? Do you usually use your hands to emphasize your words? If so, what does that look like? The physical vocabulary you use onstage should be very similar to how you behave when you’re not onstage. The addition of big or stagy gestures is another reason people experience speakers as artificial.

I know this may seem like a lot of work to put in in order to come across as “not rehearsed,” and you’re right! It’s ironic. But the best gift we can give our audience is to spend the time to take down any barriers between them and us, and these steps are a great start.