Tips for learning your lines

BY: Nicola King
08 April 2026

Memorising pieces for exams can feel time consuming and challenging, so in this blog we share some tips and tricks to help make learning lines easier. Why not share these tips with your students to help them prepare and be word perfect for exam day!

Before you can begin to memorise your lines, you need to understand their meaning. Examine your lines and consider what is your character trying to achieve? What do they want? With each line you could consider what are your character’s motivations?

You could give each line an intention and use this as part of your learning process, for example, instead of memorising a line you could think: ‘I’m trying to convince them’, ‘I’m threatening’, ‘I’m joking’. This can make recall much easier under pressure.

If you are performing a piece of heightened or stylised text, for example an extract from Shakespeare, try translating it into your own words first. Before memorising, go line by line and ask, ‘what does this actually mean?’ If you don’t understand it, your brain won’t hold onto it.
If you are overwhelmed trying to learn a long monologue, try splitting your script into small sections (1–3 lines at a time), and learning in small chunks spread over the day. You could go over a few lines in the morning, and again a few hours later. Spacing it out can help move your lines into long-term memory.
Practice speaking your lines out loud, not just reading the lines. Performance memory will be more effective than trying to recall the silent reading memory. Remember plays are meant to be spoken!
Some performers find writing out their lines by hand a few times can help to lock them in their memory.
Try writing out the first letter of each word in a line and try to recall what each letter stands for example ‘IMBTFOLPO’ would be ‘If music be the food of love play on’. This is a good way to get your brain engaged and test your memory.
You could also try using active recall, e.g. read the line, cover it with your hand or a piece of paper, then try to say it from memory. You can then check if you were correct and repeat. This can be more effective than just rereading.
If you are performing a duologue or a group scene, it is important to learn the cue lines, not just your own. Knowing what comes right before your line, can help your brain trigger the next line naturally. Remember in both theatre and TV/film performances you should not just be listening for your cue, but listening to how the other actor has performed this line, and reacting to this.
If you have a willing friend, family member, or classmate, ask them to test you on your lines, reading in your cue lines.
Moving while learning, for example walking round or making gestures while saying your lines, can help recall as physical movement creates stronger memory links. Once you know your blocking, you can attach lines to physical actions, for example ‘on this line I cross the stage’. Muscle memory can work as a trigger for your lines.
You could also record your cues (or full scene) and listen to the recording while you are walking, doing chores etc. This can help to build memory passively.
You could give each line a key word that you think is the most important, or that drives the meaning of the line. Memorise your key words first and then fill in around them. If you get stuck, remembering your key words can act as a trigger for the rest of the line.
If you are performing an extract of verse from a Shakespeare play you can use the rhythm (iambic pentameter) as a memory guide. Shakespeare’s verse follows a heartbeat rhythm:

da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM

For example:

“To BE or NOT to BE that IS the QUES-tion”

If you forget a word, the rhythm can help you remember what’s missing.
Another tip for memorising Shakespeare is to use the imagery in the language as an aide. Shakespeare’s verse is packed with really vivid imagery: try and create a mental picture for each line and keep this in mind when saying it out loud. Your brain can find it easier to remember images than words and by linking the line to an image you create a hook for your brain.
A memorisation trick you could try is to build from the end of the line backwards. For example, learn the last few words, then add the part before, keep building backwards. This trick can help if you get stuck, as your brain always knows where the line is going.
Finally, try and have some fun with the learning process by really exaggerating everything. For example, overdo the rhythm, overact the emotion etc, make your gestures or movements big. This can help to set the lines in your memory.