Olivia Wilder

Informative Speech Outline

Lynn Cooper
12-16-2013
Informative Speech to Teach
Purpose- To teach my audience about memorization as it relates to theater.
Thesis- Memorization of text is a large part of theater making as well as student life. Today, I
want to present the three ways you, as an actor or as a student, can go about memorizing pieces
of text.
IntroductionI.

A common question that I have heard asked when either attending a play or after
working on a production is, How do actors memorize all of those lines? I do not
claim to be an expert
A. Through spending large amounts of time working on and memorizing text,
speaking to professors about memorization, and researching methods, I have
narrowed it down to the three most essential aspects of memorization.

BodyII.

#1 Ritual.
A. Ritual can be described as a series of actions performed according to a prescribed
order.
B. For example: When I sit down to memorize a piece of text, lets say ShakespeareRomeo & Juliet- I make myself a cup of black coffee, pull my green stool in front
of my mirror, and begin to work on the text.
C. By allowing the act of memorizing to become something that is consistent, that
follows a specific set of guidelines maintained and set up by you, your brain and
body allow you to relax and absorb more information than otherwise possible
because you know what to expect!
1. So instead of memorization being something that is incredibly taxing and
stressful, it becomes a time of day that I greatly look forward to.
#2 Specificity.
A. This is something that sound base to you, but when attempting to memorize
pieces of text, it does not occur to everyone, that intention must be attached to
the text that is being memorized. For an actor, intention and obstacle is

everything, because the character is speaking out of need and/or in order to

overcome something in the way of getting the thing that is needed.
B. It is common sense really, that attempting to memorize something that you
have either a) no understanding of, or b) something to which you have no
emotional attachment, is very difficult. By grouping new ideas or words to
past experiences or strong emotions, memorization of text is much easier.
#3 Repetition.
A. This is probably the most important aspect of memorization, because
repetition allows you to not only to spend a lot of time with the text sort of
fermenting in your brain, but also allows for breath to enter the process.
B. Technical director of Arena Theater, Andy Mangin talks about how as an actor
you must memorize your lines and then forget them so that they are so deeply
imbedded in your brain that they just come out as you are working.
1. This idea makes so much sense to me. Think about stories that you have
told your friends hundreds of times. You dont have to think hard to recall
them, they come out naturally because you have repeated them so many
times.

ConclusionIII.

So by incorporating Ritual, Specificity, and Repetition into how you memorize, this
mundane and everyday task can become something that is enjoyable and even easy.
A. And so the next time you perform on a stage or are required to memorize your
biology flashcards, I hope that you will take into account the methods that I have
mentioned today, and maybe have a better understanding of how actors go about
internalizing their text.