Memory Believes

“Memory believes before knowing remembers. Believes longer than recollects, longer than knowing even wonders.” I’ve been pondering this quotation from Light in August, by William Faulkner, for days. 

Our beliefs, more than our knowledge, are what we act on, what we speak from. Our beliefs are formed by our memories, even when we’ve repressed those memories. A soldier with posttraumatic stress disorder, for example, may respond physically and mentally to a car backfiring in civilian life as if he were still on the battlefield, even though he has not yet processed battle memories. He may “know” it’s a backfire but he “believes” it’s a mortar.

What does this have to do with public speaking?

My most frequent of a client's performance is, "I don't believe you." 

If you don’t believe in what you’re saying, not only will your audience not believe what you say, they won’t remember what you say. 

And your belief has to come from a memory, a story, not merely knowledge that you memorized.