Memorizing speeches is discouraged because it creates an unnecessary cognitive burden that interferes with effective delivery.

“Never. The reason memorizing is so bad is it burdens your cognitive load. You've created the right way to say it and you're constantly comparing what you wanted to say to what you're actually saying.”

Matt believes that over-practicing for a speaking engagement leads to frantic, chaotic behavior that increases the risk of mistakes.

“I think if you over practice something, I think you get a little how what's the word? Not stir crazy, but you get a little frantic and chaotic and you start overthinking it and running it so much to when that moment comes down to it, you're going to just like overthink it and flub.”

Last-minute pressure often produces better performance results than over-preparation and self-doubt.

“if i wrote a paper ahead of time and then i edited it two or three times i would look i was like i don't really like the way i worded this and i would edit i would edit i would edit i turned the paper in and get like a c if i wrote a paper the night before it's like i gotta write five pages”

A natural speaking tone is best achieved through consistent variability in speaking cadence, which is developed by fully memorizing scripts rather than reading them.

“If you sound like you're reading a script, the reality is it's because you don't know the script well enough. And so, you probably are reading the script. If you want to sound like you're not reading a script, stop reading the [ __ ] script.”

A speaker must memorize their material thoroughly to be fully present and effectively connect with the audience.

“Those are people that need to memorize their script and memorize it so well that they can be fully present and that's necessary in order to actually connect with the audience.”