If you want to know how to memorize a sales script, you’re aware of just how valuable it is to be able to win over new clients without fumbling.
After all, nothing comes across worse than the sound of reading from a prepared presentation. Especially when the prospect can hear the noise of flipping through pages or clicking around a screen.
And you definitely don’t want to drop a line when you’re representing a product from the stage. Nothing scares people away from an offer faster than dropping lines or hesitating over critical product details.
The good news is that memorizing sales scripts and pitch decks is not difficult.
You just have to be willing to learn a few key memory techniques.
I’ve been operating full-time in sales and marketing for fourteen years now and am about to spill the beans on everything. I’ve sold from the stage and via webinar with great success and use memory techniques in a variety of ways to serve people around the world.
You’ll also be happy to know that I’m sharing these tips with substantial street cred. My TEDx Talk on memory is one of the most viewed talks on the topic of memory.
So if you’re ready for total success, let’s get started with this masterclass in everything you need to know about making the sale directly from memory.
How To Memorize Your Sales Script In 7 Simple Steps
As I take you through this simple set of steps, keep in mind that a lot begins with the script itself.
Now, I realize that not everyone has the option of writing their own sales message. But any time you have the opportunity to do so, make sure to inject elements into it that are inherently memorable.
You may also have the option to speak with your employer about modifying the exact presentation. Feel free to share this post when you’re done. Chances are the person who wrote your script will want to take the opportunity to spruce it up.
These points aside, let’s look at the process I recommend.
One: Destroy Any Sense Of Overwhelm In One Simple Move
In all my years of coaching people who need to memorize speeches or give presentations from memory, people tend to take the script as a whole.
This is not ideal. You put yourself in the position of staring at a wall of text, so of course it’s going to look overwhelming.
The science of chunking shows us clearly that we can avoid this problem by breaking any presentation down into parts, however. This study also demonstrates that mentally categorizing content into parts helps with both short and long-term memory gains.
So, before you start memorizing a single word:
- Read the entire sales script so you have the big picture overview
- Divide it into sections (i.e. opening, middle, closing structures)
- Cut it down to individual sentences if you find it helpful to look at just one small piece at a time
- Gradually combine the parts as you follow the rest of the steps in this tutorial
Ultimately, overwhelm is a choice. There’s no shame in literally reducing a speech to a series of flashcards if that helps you see the presentation differently.
And of course, when working with a pitch deck, you’re essentially already doing a form of chunking things down, if only for the benefit of the viewer.
Two: Take A Moment To Reflect On The Meaning & Benefit Of The Sale
Great sales people don’t just rattle off a pile of words, literally barking at the prospect.
Instead, they understand the logic and flow of their message relative to the needs and concerns of the people they’re helping to make a purchasing decision.
To really get into the meaning of the message, visualize your ideal customer. Really sink into their shoes and live a day in their lives. If you need help “seeing” in this imaginative way, complete these powerful visualization exercises.
You can also explore mind mapping. Include the pain points of your prospective buyer and all the benefits they can expect to enjoy. I can’t stress how important mind mapping has been for my own success. That’s why I created this mind mapping for business tutorial for you to supplement this one.
Point being: the more you understand about the value of the offer and the problems it solves, the more memorable the parts of the pitch will become.
Three: Apply The Ancient Art Of Memory
Did you know that there’s a guide on giving presentations from memory from 90 BCE? It’s called Rhetorica Ad Herennium, and anyone involved in sales should give it a read.
That’s because it will not only help improve your persuasion skills. This book also teaches you how to use a Memory Palace.
In brief, a Memory Palace lets you place words and phrases in familiar locations along a mnemonic journey. For example, if your sales script starts with, “The market today is filled with opportunity,” you would place an image of a marketplace in your living room.
This ancient memory technique has also been called the method of loci. That’s because you’re literally pairing mnemonic images with locations in space.
However, you can also use simple acronyms. When I present in public, I sometimes give a sales presentation simply by following and unpacking F.R.E.E. It’s a proprietary formula that has generated many customers for the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass.
Each letter in the acronym reminds me of a key point I need to make in the presentation. And the acronym itself can be easily placed in a Memory Palace.
Note also that the Memory Palace technique makes it easy to memorize multiple if-this-then-that paths that some sales scripts involve. If you have to make a change in real-time, you can easily remember how to pivot in your sales message at the drop of a dime.
Four: Practice Properly
Many people make the mistake of resorting to rote repetition. Although repeating the sales script over and over can help you get it into memory, it’s an awfully inefficient way to deeply absorb a sales message.
Instead, quiz yourself using active recall principles. As my internet friend Bartosz Czekala has pointed out, passive learning simply doesn’t work. Instead, use:
- Self-testing
- Spaced repetition
- Reciting the script without looking at it
- Recording and reviewing your performance to spot and fix weak spots
Sure, this step involves some deliberate practice. But it’s well worth it. For one thing, you’ll be able to give your presentations much better. And by practicing your sales talks in a particular way, you’ll be better equipped to memorize new ones faster in the future. That’s because doing it in the way I’ve just suggested will literally strengthen your memory.
And if you need to make changes to existing sales presentations, because you practiced properly, you’ll be better able to make changes and add finesse as you go. Precisely thanks to proper practice.
Five: Write The Entire Script From Memory By Hand
If you want to be absolutely bulletproof, it’s essential that you not only practice giving your sales talk aloud. Also write it out by hand.
You don’t have to take my word for it. Scientific American has a full piece exploring exactly why handwriting is so essential to memory formation.
I did this with my TEDx Talk and do it for many of my pitch deck sales webinars. I also tend to outline talks by hand, either in the form of bullet points or a mind map. Even if I ultimately type them, the stage for remembering them is usually laid out by getting the hand involved before, during and after.
Six: Walk While Practicing The Script From Memory
Thomas Krafft gave me one of the best memory tips for presentations I ever could have hoped for:
Walk while you practice reciting the talk.
If you can walk through the Memory Palace you’ve used to absorb the content of the sales message, all the better.
Also, the more you can practice delivering the pitch in a variety of environments, the better you’ll be during delivery. You’ll literally prime your mind to focus on the message itself, not the environment.
Seven: Engage All The Senses At All Times
Even if a lot of your sales presentation involves an “info dump,” it’s important to bring emotional and visual vividness to the features and benefits you’re memorizing and then later describing.
Focusing on sensation while memorizing and recalling the material can also make the words of the script much more meaningful.
Whenever you can, thing about the multi-sensory aspects of the message. If you can imagine physically feeling a product feature or benefit, focus on that detail while using a Memory Palace. Imagine sights, sounds, emotions and even tastes and smells where relevant.
How To Recall Your Script While Presenting And Giving The Pitch
Now it’s time for the rubber to meet the road.
Obviously, all of the memorization in the world doesn’t matter if you can’t actually deliver the talk, which is why the following tips will be golden for you.
One: Make Sure You’ve Practice Giving The Pitch From Memory
Sounds like common sense, right? Well, as we know, common sense isn’t so common.
The absolute best way to be prepared is practice, so if you haven’t followed the steps above, please make sure that you do.
Two: Keep Visual Aids In Your Environment
Although I’m devoted to memory techniques and know you can give your sales talk without any reminder, there’s no shame in having visual reminders.
In fact, when I give sales webinars, I have the reminders in front of my all the time: the slides.
But you can also bring props when selling from the stage that help you remember key points. For example, the product itself can help trigger your memory.
Likewise, photographs of clients who have given testimonials can serve as prompts that trigger your recall of specific benefits.
Finally, you can consider wearing items that might help you remember key points of your presentation.
This tactic is discussed at greater length in the shirt-button example on my post about memory spaces. You’ll also learn how to use your hand as a mnemonic device in that tutorial as well. What could be a more visual aid to take to a sales presentation than your own hands?
Three: Develop & Deploy A Pre-Presentation Routine
Before I give any talk, I go through a breathing and progressive muscle relaxation exercise, along with a quick meditation. I also use vocal warmup exercises to help avoid throat strain and keep my jaw loose.
Sometimes I don’t have time for the entire routine, but I’ve noticed that my sales are much higher when I go through every single step.
If you want to learn more about the specific steps I follow, get in touch through my contact page to book a strategy session. I’ll walk you through everything.
Four: Connect Often With Your Listener
Whether you’re on stage, the phone or holding a webinar, it’s good to break things up by asking questions.
You can keep this as simple as getting people to confirm that they understand, or in a sales webinar setting, you can ask questions or run surveys.
Getting people engaged is a great sales strategy, especially since taking one action can prime future actions.
Five: Focus on The Message
Although it’s good to recite things verbatim in many cases, nothing bogs a sales talk down more than speaking like a robot.
Be human. Because you’ve memorized the talk overall, you can take detours to tell personal stories that might come to mind, or expand on various points.
Take opportunities to respond thoroughly to audience feedback as well, just so long as it helps you keep the focus on the message.
A key strategy is to answer related questions immediately, but signal that you’ll catch up on unrelated questions at the end. If you also have the skill of remembering names as you go, you’ll be able to connect questions with names later, further impressing your audience.
Six: Be Physically & Mentally Prepared
Selling is not just about memory.
You also have to be feeling as well as possible – which will of course help make sure that your memory is sharp.
But other aspects of cognition also need to be fit. You need to be attentive so you can “read the room.”
Your empathy needs to be high and your critical thinking skills sharp because sometimes you’ll need to read between the lines of questions you receive.
The better rested and fed you are, the better all aspects of your delivery from memory and overall performance will be.
These days, many of us struggle to concentrate due to digital amnesia. To help you recover your focus so you’re razor sharp during your pitches, consider completing these powerful concentration exercises.
Seven: Handle Forgetting & Disruptions Like A Champ
No matter how well prepared even the best sales people make themselves, it’s still possible to drop a detail.
Or, something unexpected might happen.
Spend a bit of time visualizing anything and everything that could go wrong. And then imagine yourself dealing with the issue gracefully.
The rare thing I forget something, I simply say, “I’ll come back to that point in a minute, but for now, let’s carry on.”
I’ve even made mistakes by misnaming facts, and I just call a spade a spade. In fact, I often say, “You know, I’m so glad that happened because it helps me illustrate an issue related to memory.”
Not only will you humanize yourself by owning any mistakes. You’ll also draw even more positive attention to all the mistakes you don’t make.
Next Steps For Memorizing Any Pitch Deck Fast
Really, all that remains is to get started.
But if you need more help, and you want to see an example of one of my own pitches, grab my free course here:
It will take you deeper into the Memory Palace technique, from how to set them up properly to assignment them with dynamic mnemonic associations that rapidly return your sales pitch to your mind.
At the end of the day, being able to give a sales presentation from memory will give you confidence, authenticity and above all, flexibility. I’m not just saying that, by the way. This study from the Journal of Personal Sales & Sales Management shows that your competitive advantage increases as your confidence rises. Another study in Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science confirms these findings, and that’s just scratching the surface.
Sure, you might face a few small challenges while picking up these memory skills. But the benefits can’t be diminished because we all know that the best sales people treat their scripts as extensions of themselves.
And that’s exactly what yours will be when it’s thoroughly committed to memory.
So what do you say?
Are you ready to get out there and close those deals with confidence? Make it happen!
