Author and motivational speaker Ken Davis thinks not, and wants to help others grow their confidence and communication skills. Davis developed SCORRE, a system for organizing speeches, and has been sharing his method with others for 30 years. Lauren Brady, director of experiences for SCORRE speaker training, shares about the concept and speaker training events.
What is SCORRE?
Basically, SCORRE is a preparation method—it’s not focused on content, but on how to prepare. It stands for: subject, central theme, objective, resources, rationale and evaluation. Ken says to figure out your objective before anything else in your presentation and then build your speech around that with resources and rationale.
How did it begin?
Ken created SCORRE more than 30 years ago for pastors, though the training events were called Dynamic Communicators Workshop. He is a comedian and public speaker, and he wanted to help pastors. Though I wouldn’t call SCORRE trainings solely Christian events now, Ken is very open about his faith, and many pastors attend SCORRE.
What’s the format of SCORRE events?
We have a two-and-a-half-day conference in Nashville that happens within business hours. You learn about SCORRE in the morning, have lunch, and then write a speech and deliver it in the afternoon. Each attendee is placed in an eight-person group with a facilitator or a coach. We film the speeches and send them [to participants] afterward. There’s another kind of ticket that’s audit-level, which is what you’d buy if you were a guest and wanted to hear the sessions but not be put in a small group with a coach.
We also offer SCORRE Plus, which includes the regular conference plus a half-day when you work with Ken on a specific speech you’re going to give. Besides our conference in Nashville, we do custom SCORRE intensives around the country for organizations that want us to train their staff. We send our coaches and Ken to churches or groups all the time.
Who uses the program?
SCORRE is for speakers or anyone who wants to communicate. A lot of pastors attend, as well as businesspeople, authors, teachers and radio personalities. We work with Compassion International and have had employees from Chick-fil-A and Toms shoes come. Michael Hyatt has partnered with Ken before. Authors Lysa TerKeurst and Michele Cushatt are big fans.
How does SCORRE differ from Toastmasters?
SCORRE is a preparation method, whereas Toastmasters is more of a peer-to-peer critique. SCORRE is hard at first—you have to sit down and do it. But it makes your speech so much clearer, and once you have the hang of it, it actually shortens your preparation time.
What other tips are shared?
Ken is big on “on your feet out loud” (OYFOL), which means practicing speeches out loud, over and over. It might look good on paper, but practicing it OYFOL is really effective.
