The Underrated Power of Rehearsal

Stiff mouths, sweaty palms, the sudden urge to check your phone mid sentence, presentation anxiety is as Australian as a last minute rainstorm at Tullamarine. But here's the blunt truth: rehearsal is the single most underrated secret weapon in professional communication. It's not rehearsal for rehearsal's sake. It's rehearsal that deliberately and strategically shapes what you do on stage, in the boardroom, and on Zoom.

Why bother? Because practice is the difference between delivering information and delivering an experience. And if you're a leader, HR manager, or trainer in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, you owe your audience better than a rushed slide deck.

Why rehearsal matters more than people think

Let's start with the obvious: confidence. Rehearsal isn't an ego exercise. It's a practical tool that reduces cognitive load. When you've practised, your attention isn't swallowed by remembering facts. You can read the room. You can change tone. You can respond to that awkward question from the back without flapping. Familiarity breeds calm, and calm improves credibility.

But confidence is only one side of it. Rehearsal exposes weakness. It reveals where your narrative stalls, where arguments lack evidence, where transitions are clunky. The rehearsal process forces you to interrogate structure and logic. You discover gaps. You patch them. You tighten the argument so it lands.

People often shrug off practice as repetitive ritual. That's missing the point. There's a difference between mindless repetition and deliberate rehearsal, the latter asks specific questions: What do I want the audience to believe? Where must I pause? Which example will stick? And which sentence do I absolutely not say?

What the research quietly confirms

Cognitive psychologists have been clear about rehearsal's value for memory and performance. Retrieval practice, the deliberate act of recalling information rather than simply re reading, can boost retention substantially. In classic work, researchers demonstrate measurable gains in recall when learners test themselves rather than just review notes; recall gains of up to about 50% have been reported in controlled studies. That's not woo; that's science. So practising your lines and prompts isn't vanity, it's an evidence based habit that helps your brain hold onto the structure, freeing you to perform.

And employers get it, largely. Talent professionals repeatedly tell us that soft skills, including communication and presentation, are as important as technical expertise. If you are ignoring rehearsal because your role is "technical", you are missing the boat.

Techniques that actually move the dial

Here's what works, in human, unvarnished terms.

• Deliberate rehearsal beats repetition. Rehearse with objectives. Don't just say your speech ten times and hope for the best. Use focused runs: one to tighten timing, one to test a demo, one to refine a particular story arc.

• Record and review. Put your phone on a tripod. Play back with ruthless curiosity. Watch posture. Listen for fillers, um, ah, like. Most people are mortified at first. Then they fix it. The result? Clearer delivery, fewer slips.

• Rehearse under pressure. Try a dress rehearsal with colleagues and a strict timer. Get them to throw one awkward question. Simulate the tech fail. Stressors during practice inoculate you for the real thing.

• Mix up the audience size and setting. If your usual audience is a small team in Parramatta, practice in a larger room sometime so you know how to project. Conversely, if you usually present at large conferences, do a run in an intimate space to maintain the nuances.

• Use feedback, not flattery. Ask peers for two things: one element that landed and one that didn't. Specific feedback beats general praise. Don't just collect compliments. Collect action points.

• Practice presence, not perfection. Presence is the ability to be engaged with the audience. That's what rehearsal builds: fluid eye contact, natural gestures, balanced pacing. Perfection is a trap. Aim for authenticity.

Timing and pacing, the unsung craft

Good content is wasted without good timing. The best presenters master pacing to allow the audience to digest, react and remember. A rushed section will be forgotten; a dragged out point kills momentum.

Plan where you'll pause. Not theatrical, but intentional. Pauses let key points land. They also give you time to breathe, to scan faces, to reset. Pause after an important stat. Pause before revealing an answer.

A simple trick: time your sections during rehearsal. Too often people only rehearse once and ignore natural drift. Set minute markers. If your Q&A must be 15 minutes, rehearse the talk to 30 minutes and leave a cushion. Real events are messy. Build slack.

Dealing with nerves, exposure, not avoidance

We don't eliminate stage fright. We manage it. Rehearsal is a form of exposure therapy. The more realistic the practice, the fewer surprises on the day.

Practice moving around. Practice with a mic if you'll use one. Practice standing vs sitting. Practise projecting without shouting. And yes, rehearse the opening lines until you can say them like a person, not a script.

Some will argue that rehearsing kills spontaneity. I disagree. Rehearsal enables spontaneity. When the bones are secure, you can improvise. The structure acts like a safety net. That's the difference between a train wreck and an inspired riff.

Vocal technique and projection: simple drills that matter

Too many presenters treat voice as a given. It isn't. Vocal technique is a craft that benefits profoundly from rehearsal.

Work on breath support. Use short warm ups before the session. Read paragraphs aloud, vary pitch, practise slowing down at the end of sentences. Record and listen to see where your voice flattens out.

A practical exercise: mark crescendos and pauses in your speaker notes. Practise the crescendo two or three times, then deliver it in rehearsal until it feels natural. Repeat. You'll find your audience listens.

Body language and eye contact, rehearsable, not accidental

Eye contact and gestures are not optional. They're communicative tools. Good body language raises trust, strengthens emphasis and signals authority.

Rehearse gestures in front of a mirror. Be mindful of repetitive movement (the fiddly click pen syndrome). Practise moving from left to right to engage different parts of a room. Rehearse scanning the audience with deliberate eye contact, hold for two to three seconds per person or section. It feels odd at first. It reads as connection.

Visual aids: partners, not puppets

Slides, demos, props, they must support, not dominate. Too many presenters retreat to slides like a security blanket. A well rehearsed presenter knows exactly when a slide helps and when it distracts.

Practice with your slides. Don't assume they'll load the same way in the venue. Time transitions. Know which slide contains which cue line. If you're demonstrating software, rehearse the demo until muscle memory carries it, a single frozen screen will ruin the flow.

What to do about tech failures? Rehearse a verbal fallback. Have an "audience only" narrative you can run if visual aids vanish. Most seasoned presenters have one. You should too.

Common rehearsal traps, and how to avoid them

• Over rehearsing word for word. Reading verbatim makes you robotic. Rehearse ideas and transitions, not a script. Memorise key lines, not everything.

• Avoiding feedback. Some leaders fear critique. Toughen up. Honest feedback is cheaper and faster than losing an audience.

• Under practising Q&A. Rehearse answers to likely questions. Ask colleagues to play the sceptic. Practice handling interruptions with calm: "That's a great point, I'll come back to it in two minutes."

• Treating rehearsal as a one off. Rehearse in cycles. Early stage rehearsals test structure. Later rehearsals refine delivery. Final rehearsals simulate the event.

A couple of contrarian views (you might hate me for saying this)

• PowerPoint isn't dead. I'll say it: slides, when used properly, are still brilliant. Strong visuals can make complex data stick. The problem isn't slides themselves, it's sloppy slide habits. So yes, use slides. Use them well. There, I said it.

• Memorisation still has a place. People recoil at the word "memorise" as if it equates to robotic recitation. Memorising anchor phrases and opening lines can reduce cognitive load and free you up to connect. Not everything, just the anchors.

Some readers will disagree. They'll say rehearsed speech lacks authenticity. I respect that. But authenticity and preparedness are not mutually exclusive. A rehearsed talk with heart beats an unrehearsed ramble every time.

Practical rehearsal checklist for leaders and trainers

• Define the purpose and three takeaways before writing slides.
• Block calendar rehearsal times, two or three short rehearsals over days beats a single marathon.
• Use a timer and rehearse to exact timeframes.
• Record at least one run through and watch it with a colleague.
• Create a "plan B" for tech and a "plan C" for venue surprises.
• Rehearse the opening and closing lines until they feel natural.
• Practise an awkward question and an interruption.
• Warm up your voice and body 10 minutes before going on.

The broader payoff: resilience and credibility

Rehearsal is a habit that pays beyond the talk. It builds professional resilience. Teams who rehearse together build a shared language. Leaders who rehearse become better listeners because they aren't trapped in recall mode. And Organisations that prioritise rehearsal, whether for sales pitches, board presentations or town halls, communicate with clarity. That has measurable Business value.

I'm unapologetic about this: rehearsal is a strategic investment. Think of it as risk management. You are safeguarding your message, your reputation, and the audience's time.

Final thought, the paradox of preparation

There's a paradox here. The better you prepare, the more present you can actually be in the moment. Rehearsal doesn't remove the surprise; it allows you to meet it. That's why I insist on it, in coaching sessions in Melbourne, in executive briefings in Perth, and in workshops we run around the country.

So don't mistake preparation for staleness. Make it the thing that sets you free on stage. Rehearse with purpose. Rehearse with grit. Then step up and speak like you mean it.

Sources & Notes

• Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). The Power of Testing Memory: Basic Research and Implications for Educational Practice. Science, 319(5865), 966–968. (On retrieval practice and retention gains)
• LinkedIn Talent Solutions. (2019). Global Talent Trends. (Finding that a large majority of talent professionals regard soft skills, including communication, as equally or more important than technical skills.)