Memorization Technique for a Last Minute Monologue

Monday Minute / By / January 13, 2020

Now that you have your monologue, how do you memorize it quickly? Getting tongue-tied and tripped up with lines on a monologue you’ve only just memorized is not unusual – your brain is just running faster than your mouth. Here is a seven-step process for getting off book quickly.

  1. Break your monologue up into chunks. Read through the monologue and make a hashmark (/) where each separate thought ends. It can be helpful to make an enlarged copy of your monologue for this exercise, and write in the margins a word or two to summarize each chunk’s thought.
  2. Read aloud the first chunk as you keep your eyes on the script.
  3. Look at that chunk, then try to speak it aloud without the script, but refer back to it when necessary.
  4. Review the chunk silently, then speak it aloud without looking at the script at all. Check yourself.
  5. Repeat steps 2-4 throughout the entire monologue. 
  6. Group the chunks together into clusters and repeat steps 2-4 with each cluster.
  7. Finally, repeat steps 2-4 with the full monologue.

Here’s an example of a script marked for this exercise:

Marked-Up Script
from James Still’s Hush: An Interview with America

Here’s a quick video of me demonstrating this process:

Keen observers will notice that I got the second line wrong each time I tried it off book. The rhythm is better with the correct word.

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