Some occasions require manuscript speaking, in which your speech is based on a written text that you either read word for word or commit to memory. Manuscript speaking is necessary when exact word choice is critical. World leaders, for example, often speak from prepared texts in public. This helps them avoid saying something that could be misunderstood by listeners.

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Manuscript speaking is best used in formal situations, such as political speeches, commencement addresses, and ceremonies. Such occasions usually require a speaker to carefully craft a message using language that is finely polished, even poetic. This can be easier to do if the speech is written out in advance. Consider the following excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr.’s (1963) historic “I Have a Dream” speech:

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our Republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Rather than using plain words to call for racial equality, Dr. King used vivid imagery (“we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check”) to communicate America’s responsibility for ending racial discrimination. Bringing that powerful image to his listeners’ minds would have been more difficult if Dr. King hadn’t written out those exact words in advance. When using poetic language, constructing intricate metaphors, or delving into complicated matters, manuscript speaking can allow you to get the details right.

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But manuscript speaking also has drawbacks. For one thing, if you focus on a written text, you lose opportunities to make eye contact with your listeners. Or if you memorize your manuscript so that you can maintain more eye contact with your audience, you might sound stilted or lose your place, leading to embarrassing pauses or mistakes. Finally, using a manuscript makes it difficult to adapt to your audience. If you sense your listeners need an additional example to understand a point you’re making, you might find it hard to deviate from your script and provide that example. Using a manuscript to read or memorize a speech should be reserved for formal occasions. For many classroom speeches, the extemporaneous delivery style is more appropriate.