Scripting is Performance, Not Preparation

You may be scripting your presentations and meetings more than you realize. As a recovering scripter with a tendency towards perfection, I can tell you this is a trap worth freeing yourself from.

It’s not necessarily writing out word-for-word transcripts, though some of you may be doing that. But you may be planning what you will say, working hard to get the language just right, reviewing it repeatedly, and then walking into a room trying to remember and deliver those carefully chosen words as close to perfectly as you can.

You may think this is preparation. It is performance.

For many of us, the truth is that we are memorizing because we want to be perfect. We believe perfect delivery is what people need from us. We think if we can get the words exactly right, control how we sound, remove any hesitation or stumble, then we will be a credible leader. Then they will take us seriously.

This is about our ego, not their needs.

Your audience does not want your perfection. They want your clarity. They want access to your thinking, your opinions, your genuine ideas about the work. They want to know you understand what you are talking about. None of that requires a flawless script. All of it can be undermined by one.

Here is what scripting actually costs you: the most valuable seconds of any meeting. Those opening moments are where people decide whether they trust you, whether they will engage, whether you have earned their attention. If you are locked into recounting scripted words and phrases, you have already lost that moment. You are dividing your attention between the page and the person in front of you at the precise moment when connection matters most.

A script does not help you connect. It only gives you the illusion that you are well prepared, and it does so at the expense of your ability to make a genuine connection, which matters much more than perfecting your words. And, it robs you of the flexibility to actually respond to what is in front of you.

Leadership preparation is different. It certainly includes brief notes if that is how you learn and create best, but they only need to cue the most important points or ideas. Then, instead of spending hours reviewing them silently in your head, you stand up, turn those notes over, and speak them aloud. Not to memorize, but to warm your voice, to hear how you want to be in the room, to get a feel for the language and tone that serves your work. Notes remind you of your territory, but you are not bound to the exact wording. You may say something completely different yet still aligned and appropriate for the moment, making it far more real for everyone in the room.

When you stop performing and start showing up, people notice.