Hey Greenblasters!!

Today’s question comes from a close member of my family, who I won’t reveal.

Just kidding, it’s my brother-in-law (I can’t see why he would care).

He does stand-up comedy. he’s really funny, but he’s just started getting onstage.

But he’s been working on making his act sound more natural and spontaneous, and less rehearsed-sounding.

Basically, his question to me was:

“How can I make something scripted sound not scripted?”

Luckily, this is what I do bro.

Here’s my advice up front. It’s an exercise I call:

“Answer the unasked questions.”

Before I explain it, it’s worth exploring WHY this is even important:

The job of an actor:

Every night, onstage, actors must perform a basic obligation to their audience:

Say things they’ve rehearsed over and over, but sound like they’re saying them for the first time.

If the audience gets a sense that the actors are performing a prepared script (even though everyone knows they are), then the illusion of the story is broken.

Unfortunately, the same is true not only stand-up comedy, but also public speaking:

The audience wants to feel like your thoughts are spontaneous. Unfair, but true. And if they don’t, they won’t enjoy your performance as much.

“That’s why I don’t write a script Will, you idiot! Cause I want it to sound natural.”

First, ouch. Second, I totally get that.

But here’s the problem:

Unless you are a well-trained or extraordinarily talented public speaker, you will NOT be able to convey your ideas clearly without first writing them down.

I’ve talked about this before, and I’ll talk about it again, but for now:

Write a goddamn script, and PRACTICE it using the technique I’m about to give you, so that you can make it sound natural AND have clear, well-written ideas.

The technique, as I said before, is called:

“Answer the unasked questions.”

Here’s how to do it:

Step 1. Take your script and reverse-engineer some “unasked questions” (UAQ’s)

Let’s use an example script from a famous TED talk by Jamie Oliver, “Teach every child about food”. Here’s an excerpt:

So that’s our script. Now, we need to INSERT SOME UNASKED QUESTIONS:

1st unasked question: “What’s your name?”

My name is Jamie Oliver.

UAQ: “How old are you?”

I’m 34 years old.

UAQ: “Where are you from?”

I’m from Essex in England…

So far, it’s pretty easy right? We just insert whatever question somebody WOULD ask that might prompt the answer in the script.

Now, it gets more fun:

UAQ: “What have you been up to for the past seven years?”

… and for the last seven years I’ve worked fairly tirelessly to save lives in my own way.

See? A bit of a funny UAQ, but it sets up the ANSWER perfectly. That’s what we’re going for. Next:

UAQ: “Are you a doctor?”

I’m not a doctor;

UAQ: “So, what ARE you?”

I’m a chef,

UAQ: “Do you have equipment or medicine?”

I don’t have expensive equipment or medicine.

UAQ: “So what DO you have?”

I use information, education.

Now we have our UAQs!

Next up, how to USE the UAQs:

Step 2. A) Use a friend or B) DIY

A) If you have a friend or a coach (like me), give them a copy of your script with WRITTEN UAQs inserted before each sentence / phrase. It should look like this:

 “What’s your name?” My name is Jamie Oliver. “How old are you?” I’m 34 years old. “Where are you from?” I’m from Essex in England “What have you been up to for the past seven years?” and for the last seven years I’ve worked fairly tirelessly to save lives in my own way. “Are you a doctor?” I’m not a doctor; “So, what ARE you?” I’m a chef, “Do you have equipment or medicine?” I don’t have expensive equipment or medicine. “So what DO you have?” I use information, education.

Ask them to:

• prompt you by asking the UAQ’s as you perform your talk,

• inserting the questions quickly, almost interrupting you,

• right after your previous sentence is done AND,

• right before you say the next sentence,

• to allow you to keep a flow and tempo similar to what you would do in a performance of the script without the UAQs.

They should also STOP YOU every time they feel like you’re PERFORMING, not ANSWERING their question, and ask you the UAQ again.

Now, what if you DON’T have a friend or coach?

A simple but slightly less effective version is:

B) Read your script, and IMAGINE the UAQ being asked as you see it on the page, but don’t say it out loud.

What’s the main point of this exercise?

The point is to feel PROMPTED TO SPEAK by something OTHER than the fact that you wrote a script and now it’s time to say it.

Far too many public speakers deliver their talks in this manner, and it makes it incredibly boring to listen to.

Answering another person’s questions in conversation is something we do all the time, and for some reason, PRETENDING to do that with each sentence or phrase of your script will make you SOUND natural while performing something written and rehearsed.

And this will make your audience feel special, and connected to you, because they’ll feel like you’re saying these words just for them.

And great things happen when your audience feels like this.

That’s it for this week!

This one was a bit more in depth, but I hope you find this exercise as valuable as literally hundreds of my clients have.

Please reply HELPFUL if you understood and could use this exercise, or EHH if it was a bit too dense or unclear. Honest feedback is really valuable :)

With that, the Greenblast is… out 🚀

P.S. If and when you wanna work with me, use this link to book a session: