RunlinesGuide
How to memorize a monologue
Short answer
Decide who you are talking to and what you want from them. Split the monologue into beats wherever the thought changes, and learn it one beat at a time, out loud, running from the top every time you add a beat.
Most people go blank between beats, not inside them, so drill the first words of each beat until they come without effort.
Why a monologue is harder than a scene
In a scene, the other character's line is your cue. In a monologue there is no one to hand you the next line: your only cue is the end of your own last thought. That is why the usual failure is not forgetting a sentence in the middle of a beat, it is standing at the end of one beat with no idea how the next one starts. The method below is built around those joins.
Step by step
Read it for sense, then say it in your own words
Read the whole monologue twice. Then, without the page, tell yourself what happens in it in plain language. If you cannot, you are not ready to memorize it yet.
Name the listener and the want
Who is this said to, and what do you want them to do by the end? A monologue said to someone is far easier to remember than one said into the air, because each sentence has a job.
Mark the beats
Draw a line wherever the thought or the tactic changes. Give each beat a one-word label, ideally a verb: explain, accuse, plead, give up. Read the labels in order. That list is the skeleton of the speech.
Learn beat one until it is clean twice
Out loud, from memory, checking against the page after each try.
Stack the next beat and run from the top
Learn beat two on its own, then say beats one and two together from the start. Add beat three, run all three. Each run from the top rehearses the joins.
Drill the first words of every beat
Say the label of a beat, then its opening words, for every beat in order. When the openings are automatic, the beats follow.
Say it to a target, on your feet
Pick a spot on the wall, a chair, or a photo to be your listener. Standing and speaking to someone is closer to the audition than sitting with a page.
Practice the first line and the last line cold
At random moments in the day, say the opening line with no warm-up. Do the same with the button, the last line. Those are the two moments nerves hit hardest.
An example, split into beats
Here is a short original monologue, marked the way step 3 describes. The speaker is returning a key to a former neighbor.
Learned this way, the speech is three ideas in order (explain, prove, let go), and two joins. Each beat is short enough to learn in a few minutes, and the joins get extra runs because every pass starts from the top.
First-letter prompts for stubborn sentences
For a sentence that will not stay put, write only the first letter of each word, with the punctuation, and practice from that. "I am not keeping a door I am not allowed to open." becomes:
The letters remind you of the shape and the order without giving the words away, so you still have to pull each word from memory. Use them for the two or three hardest sentences, not the whole monologue.
If you only have one day
A short audition monologue can be learned in a day if you split the day into sessions instead of spending it in one sitting. This plan assumes a piece of three to five beats and about two hours in total.
Morning, 30 minutes: sense and beats
Read it twice, say what happens in your own words, name the listener and the want, and mark and label the beats. Learn beat one until it is clean twice.
Midday, 30 minutes: stack
Warm up with beat one from memory. Learn beat two, run one and two from the top. Add the next beat the same way. Stop when you have added as many as you can say clean.
Afternoon, 30 minutes: finish and drill the joins
Add the remaining beats. Then say only the beat labels and first words in order, three times. Write out from memory any sentence that keeps breaking.
Evening, 20 minutes: on your feet
Say it standing, to a target, twice from the top and once starting from the middle beat. Fix what slipped, then stop. Do not keep going until midnight.
Next morning, 5 minutes: cold test
Before you look at the page, say it once. Whatever you miss is what you run on the way there.
If the audition is in a few days instead, the off-book planner spreads the same work across the days you have.
Common mistakes
- Learning it as one block. A two-minute speech learned top to bottom with no beats has no handholds. When you lose your place, there is nowhere to restart.
- Paraphrasing. Monologues are usually chosen for the writing. Casting directors who know the piece will hear the swapped word.
- Only ever starting at the top. Once it is learned, start some runs from beat two or three so the end is as strong as the beginning.
- Rushing the joins. The moment between beats is where the thought changes. Learn to take it; it is also where you remember what comes next.
- Rehearsing sitting down. You will perform it standing. Rehearse it standing at least half the time.
Where Runlines fits
Paste the monologue into Runlines with a blank line between beats and turn on "No character names (monologue or speech)". Each beat becomes one of your lines, covered until you say it, with the beat before it on screen as your cue. You go through in order, tap Reveal only when you are stuck, and the script page marks which beats are still shaky after every run. Nothing is read aloud, since there is no other part. This works in the free version, with 5 runs a month. How monologue mode works.
Quick answers
How long does it take to memorize a monologue?
It depends on the length, the writing, and how much practice you have had, so treat any fixed number with suspicion. A one-minute audition piece learned in beats is usually a matter of a few short sessions; a long classical speech can take a week of daily work. Plan backward from your date and test yourself cold.
Should I memorize a monologue word for word?
Yes, for an audition or a play. Monologues are chosen for the writing, and anyone who knows the piece will hear a swapped word. A speech or toast you wrote yourself is different; the speech guide explains what to learn exactly and what to learn as an outline.
Why do I go blank in the middle of my monologue?
Usually it is at a join between two beats, where the thought changes and there is no outside cue. Drill the first words of each beat, start some runs from the middle, and take the moment between beats instead of rushing it.
Does a memory palace work for monologues?
It can. Each beat becomes an image at a spot along a route you know, such as the rooms of your home, which keeps the order secure. It takes setup time, so it pays off most on long speeches. For a short piece, beat labels and drilled openings do the same job faster.
