Public Speaking Tips
Taking into consideration that
Overthinking has its limits, therefore
There's only so many 'new' philosophical ideas one can have, and;
It's never that serious and nothing is absolute, plus
I need to read more widely but it'll be a while before I get there
It should be of no surprise to anyone that I've got no new big idea to share this week. I am, however, humble - I mean, stubborn, and I did commit to making an effort with SSS, so I'm going to do something different this week: I'll tell you about a book I sort-of read.
Note how I'm not say that I'll review it - I'm actually going to tell you what it said, the much that I can, because near the end, I took no notes…and also, I didn't actually read the book. I listened to it (which, by the way, is not a bone for contention, as audio books are very much a thing). It's called the Official TED Guide to Public Speaking, which is enough said about what to expect in this post.
I have to say, though, being no stranger to addressing an audience, some things weren't quite new to me, and segments that encouraged me not to be afraid to take to the stage felt completely useless - so you'll find that my 'summaries' when dealing with those areas are quite sketchy. I wasn't paying attention.
Not that this is going to be a very thorough article - if I were to start explaining each point with an example, as was done in the book, I might as well just link you to the place where you can buy the book for yourself.
That's also more than enough of a preamble.
Let's get to it
General Tips
Limit your talk to one central idea that you'll expand on well. Have a 'through-line' that serves as your bottom line and connects all else you say.
Body language is important, but (spoiler alert!) NOT as much as your words! We've all heard the reverse being propagated as an eleventh commandant, yes, but it turns out, that's just for communicating emotion, and not ideas, per se.
Focus on what you're giving your audience, rather than what you're taking. Remember how it's kind and generous of them to be giving you their time? Good. Now see what you can do to make it worth their while.
'Talk Styles' to Avoid
The Sales Pitch - don't turn your talk into a marketing pitch with the bottom line of 'my stuff is so cool, you should totally buy it!'
Rambling - respect the time you've been given. Do your free association another time. (Along that note, I sincerely apologize for the times I've just jabbered on when it wasn't even funny).
The Organizational Bore - 'My company was founded in…and our vision of achieving …. Has been boosted by the time we did…'. Ew. No.
Inspiration Performances - where you go too heavy on the theatrics because you want applause. Where you're including whatever you include, only because you expect it to evoke a reaction. Give a good talk, bruh. The applause will follow.
Content-related Considerations
Kill your darlings. This ties in with the first pointer + the no-no about rambling (and yes, it did hit home). Basically, we tend to have a LOT to say about the things that matter to us, and the temptation to include 'em all and go in depth is very real. However, time limits are also a thing, and sometimes we end up saying vague things because we had to 'summarize', which make a lot of sense to us, but sound like mumbo-jumbo nonsesne to our ideas. So, we're better off keeping things short and simple. One story that we can deliver well ftw.
Be vulnerable. We're all human, and you displaying that side of you is a great way to connect. BUT don't talk about things where the wounds are still open, and where the audience's response actually affects how you react to the situation.
This, by the way, really resonated, and I think I've got a whole story for you here. Even if it's just for the sake of sharing, with a bottom line of 'I agree with this'. Maybe another time.
As you narrate, tell a story. This isn't limited to telling an anecdote as an opener (which was always my thing, by the way), but in general, as you give your talk, make it a narrative, as opposed to you delivering a speech.
Other 'different' things you can do with your talk
Take your audience on a wonder walk. Show and tell us about pictures and models from important milestones.
Give the inside scoop - share those behind-the-scenes things that aren't well known, or tell us about mistakes you made and how you dealt with them. That type of thing.
Tips on Being Persuasive
Challenge assumptions. To convince someone of something, you may first need to remove a competing idea that they had before, and outright saying 'not this' isn't going to achieve anything. You're better off making a 'gentle' attack with asking about whether the Old Truth could actually be, well, not so true. Or if it's modifiable, and if so…you get the gist, right?
Use reason. If ABC is true and BCD operates on this premise, it stands to reason that…basically, show the audience where you're coming from. Show that your steps make sense.
Argue for the opposite side and undermine the idea (but not the person!). I took it to mean, 'be sarcastic'. The average medical intern takes X hours to eat, sleep, travel and shower, while current statistics show that we lose Y children to disease D every X hours. So let's remove all the time wasters and make the maybe-human interns do 48 hours shifts!
On Explaining Complicated Issues
Introduce your building blocks - the key elements that feature in your big idea - one at a time
Do it in a stepwise progression so that things build up. Bottom up > top-down approach.
Use metaphors to make complex things simpler to understand!
Show people what's in it for them. Yes, you may explain to me how string theory works…but then what do I do with that information? Tell me how it even holds the possibility of changing my life, please.
On Ending a Talk
Camera pullback: zoom out on your specific idea and tell us how it can fit into all our worlds (if it doesn't, methinks that what you have belongs in a research journal).
Call to action: tell us what to do with your idea and end on a 'come on y'all!' note!
Personal commitment - alternatively, go solo and tell us that you'll be doing it. Walk your talk and add a little legitimacy to what you've been saying.
Narrative symmetry - this is a personal favorite. Remember the story you opened with? Find a way to conclude with it. Issa beautiful thing!
There were actually a few more, but my notes are scanty and I don't want to lie to you, so this will have to do. There were also things not to do here, by the way - most notably, don't say 'in conclusion', when you intend to stick around for another half an hour and give us a repeat of everything you just said…but if you want specifics, go read the book yourself.
That's actually a broad statement, because the book as a whole had a lot more chapters that talked about so many things, like how to dress (be decent and wear what's comfortable), how the stage could be set up (podium vs not), how to deliver your talk (memorize vs flash cards vs go spontaneously), how to calm your nerves (push-ups were part of the suggestions…), the types of presentations that you can do (.ppt with bullets are just one idea of so many!!) and a lot of other things…but remember how it was an audiobook experience for me?
I do those because traffic otherwise proves to be a TOTAL waste - and this is my salvage mechanism, so I wasn't always in a place to write what I had heard.
Yet, I do hope that it was a decent-enough overview, and that you, too, have gained something at least.
This also concludes my post for the week, by the way. If you do end up reading the book and picking out on must-share pointers, please, do let me know.
Also tell me if this type of read is something that appeals to you? If so, and if there's any book you'd want me to check out - or better yet, want my opinion on, holla!