Why you shouldn’t script a presentation

“I need a script. Can’t do without it,” my client explained while sorting through three double sided sheets of A4.

During this presentation training workshop, the sense of quiet dread filled the room as everyone was expecting to be lulled to sleep by a monotonous monologue.

The need to be perfect weighs heavily on public speakers, hence the belief that a script will prevent them from unintended notoriety. In most cases, reading from a script significantly represses your message and your personality, both of which people want more than a slick speech.

If you believe a script will help your presentation confidence, here are nine reasons why it won’t – and what to do instead.

How the script is letting you down

1. Inhibited Body Language: You can’t use gesture when you’re holding on to notes; Studies highlight that non-verbal cues play a significant role in audience engagement. This particular reference contains a fascinating study based on how to talk to rats if you want them to live longer.  I’ll leave you to draw your own parallels regarding your managers and the longevity of your job.

2. Lack of Eye Contact: Eye contact with the audience is lost when you’re looking at your script. Your eyes are down, as you try to scoop up the long sentences in front of you.  Eye contact allows you to react to audience reactions, show empathy and build connection. If you’ve forgotten how important eye contact is, reflect on a time – social or professional – when a speaker seems to be looking at everyone in the room except for you. Not good, eh? (Unless they’re all being given a rollicking, in which case, you’re probably relieved.)

3. Stilted delivery: Most people adopt a flatter, monotonous vocal tone when reading aloud from a script. Doing voiceover work, I can attest that script reading necessitates a very particular skillset. In fact, in a Science of People study on non-verbal behaviour in presentations found that TED speakers with the most fluctuation in their voice tone, volume and pitch were rated the highest in terms of charisma and credibility. Watching this video, you can assume that Johann Schneider-Ammann was reading: it certainly comes across that way, which is a shame as he’s talking about the correlation between humour and health. You deserve an award if you got that from the delivery although you have an unfair advantage if you know French, but you’ll get the point:

4. Loss of Authenticity. Writing doesn’t reflect natural speech. We write in shorter sentences than we speak. If you’re reading a script that isn’t written by a professional script writer, you’ll sound robotic, suppressing your personality. When you don’t sound natural, you’ll feel uncomfortable, conveying a lack of commitment or sincerity.

5. Adapting to a different audience will be hard work. Tailoring the same presentation to different audiences is challenging when you have to wade through a pile of papers or shift around words on the screen. Presenting is probably not your paid job, so preparing one needs to be swift in addition to being easily customisable when you have the same subject to varied listeners.

6. Inability to Pivot – Presenters who rely on scripts struggle to pivot when needed. Let’s say you’ve run out of time and need to jump to the next point. You’ll need to swim very quickly through an ocean of words to reach that point. Another example might be when you’ve a particularly influential member of the audience who’s popped in to hear your talk. If you want to add a specific fact relevant to them, where to add that becomes confusing.  You need to be able to make room for spontaneity, which won’t happen as you’re trying to keep to the lines.

7. Lower Engagement – Research suggests that audiences are more likely to tune out when a speaker reads verbatim rather than speaking naturally. Tripping over words, losing your place and any small lapse in either memory or recitation signals to the audience that you’re reading. There’s a lack of personalisation as the speaker leaving your audience disconnected from your message.

8. Cognitive Overload: You can bet a script will have detail that will simply not be retained by your audience. You need roughly three main points – even in a presentation lasting as long as an hour. Unless this is a lecture, where you expect listeners to take notes, do not bombard them with detail.

9. Adrenaline Thwarts Reading: Related to this last point, accurately reading what’s on the page or screen can be messed up by adrenaline. Many years ago, I was onstage in a packed theatre performing a rehearsed playreading. The script was in front of me. In theory, reading lines should be easy, but suddenly I stopped seeing the words. Adrenaline has a way of ‘blinding’ you to full sentences. As a result, you’re more likely to lose your place and panic.

Your listeners don’t want perfect. They want you to engage with them. They’re not zoning out because you don’t sound fluent but because you haven’t engaged them and a script is unlikely to make that happen.

What to do instead

The need for a script stems from a lack of insecurity that will actually keep you insecure. It’s like putting breadcrumbs between you and your destination, when you only need landmarks. Here’s how to get to that point.

Step One:

• Take 20 minutes to craft a Mindmap giving you the outline of your presentation, in a way that will drive your points home.
• Alternatively, use a Story Arc to plot your Presentation Outline

Step Two:

Start by talking your content through with someone: this could be a neighbour, a friend, a colleague, allowing them to interact with you. That way you:

• become familiar with your content;
• recognise if you’re taking some knowledge for granted;
• develop a more conversational delivery.
• pinpoint where you need notes: you may find, at this point, that these aren’t necessary.

Step Three:

1. Decide where the detail is.
2. Use your discretion as to whether you’ll include that or give it as a handout.
3. Here’s how to transform slides into handouts quickly: my clients love No.4, especially for technical presentations.

Step Four:

If you do need notes, either:

1. Deploy the 4 x 4 Rule to avoid word overload;
2. Keep on track with your content with the Mindmapping method that you did in Step One.

A note about the Mindmap: at first this might become overloaded with detail. If that happens, leave it and then find 10 minutes to do another draft. You’ll find the outline becomes briefer. This is because the process allows you familiarise yourself with the subject, paring it down only to what your audience need to hear.

If you’ve scripted a presentation and are out of time:

There’s a way round that, and it’s here. To make presentations easier on yourself, there are several ways you can do that. These include how you begin (and it’s not by introducing yourself) as well as bringing in conversational elements.

These steps free you from the script, making your talk more dynamic and memorable. If you’d like to work with me to achieve that, take a look at my public speaking and my presentation skills training .  It’ll make you less vanilla and more THRILLER, no matter how complex your subject is.

Get in touch with me here to discuss your needs or that of your team. Become a Communication Ninja!

This article was originally written in 2019 and was completely rewritten in May 2025.

Photo by cottonbro studio at pexels.com