The Two-Take
Test
Record the same piece of your talk twice, change one small thing, and find out if your point lands.
When a talk falls flat, it's tempting to go back and rewrite the words. The room never sees your notes or your draft, so all they ever get is you, talking.
Before you tear up the script, say it out loud and find out.
Built on Quintilian
“it is not of so much importance what sort of thoughts we conceive within ourselves, as it is in what manner we express them; since those whom we address are moved only as they hear.”
Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria XI.3.2, translated by J. S. Watson (1856). A teacher in Rome who trained speakers for a living almost two thousand years ago.
What you do
- Take 1, your usual way. No fixing. Keep it. It's your baseline, and you're going to want to hear where you started.
- Take 2, one small change. Same words. One pause before the line that matters most, and one phrase you lean on.
- Sound off, then screen covered. Watch both with the sound off, then listen with the screen covered.
- Say it back. Have someone hear Take 2 and tell you your point in one sentence.
- Keep one thing. If they got your point, keep the change. If they missed it, write down what they heard instead.
Plus a filled-in example, so you can see what “done” looks like before you start. Your phone is the only gear you need, and nobody sees this unless you decide to share it.
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Get the Two-Take Test
From Deven Davis, built on Quintilian. The full course