Public speaking is just like storytelling. When I talk about
storytelling, I mean the traditional kind – telling the ancient stories, word
of mouth. Not filmmakers, not playwrights, not poets or novelists, not script
writers or directors, but oral storytellers. Storytellers, raconteurs, a maître
conte, cuentista, conteur or griot will all stand before an audience
and without a script, piece of paper, or screen of some kind, will tell
stories. View public speaking as a skill you probably not
only have, but one you can hone. And public speaking should not be seen as an
exercise in humiliation. It
is an opportunity to show off your best work or skills, and you know it better
than anyone else – or else, why would you be asked to do this?
1.
With any presentation, tell a story in the most direct way. This does not mean read
bullet points. It means leaving out what’s boring or irrelevant, but retaining
what is essential to the story, builds a necessary picture, or is entertaining. Make sure the
sequence of what you are talking about is understandable!
2.
People want to be entertained.
It doesn’t matter if you are talking about a new product, tips on selling, discussing a
project, presenting your homework, sharing how people have been healed, or how
to act. Entertain. I am not talking about writing a comedy skit. Simply inject
a bit of humor. It will add a human touch. Find things to include in a
presentation that is personal, and relevant - something that the audience can
identify with. If it is a product, then make fun of something that happens to
older versions or problems it or similar products have had in the past. If you
are talking about acting, make fun of gaffs you have made, or reactions from
audience members. Your audience should know about these sorts of things, and
can usually identify with them. This creates empathy and a rapport with the
audience.
3.
Practice. Make notes, read them out loud, and listen to how
it sounds. If you can record yourself, do so. Listen to how you sound. Are you
getting your point across? Are you going to confuse the audience? What can you
do (add, remove) to your presentation which will make it clearer, more concise
and understandable? Is it all
relevant to what you want to achieve?
4.
Practice more. Get rid of your notes. Once you have read
through your notes or script a few times, you will know what to say. Practice
in front of someone who knows nothing about what you are about to present. Ask
them if there were parts which were unclear or confusing. Fix that. Unless you
are an actor or have total recall, you will not
remember every word, every line. So create bullet points of your presentation
and work from those. Then lose the written word all together. I believe if you
miss something out it will not be hugely important. And if it is, it will come
back to you. Add it to your presentation as soon as you can.
5.
Embrace your case of nerves. It means you are truly
alive, that you are at your most
alive! The feelings you get, butterflies (or
alligators), pounding heart, shaking, this is your
body telling you you are ready. It is
that feeling warriors get before battle. You might not be going into battle,
but your body is quite possibly feeling the same thing. You have practiced,
rehearsed, trained (or at least prepared yourself properly) for this moment.
6.
Speak slowly when you present. Really slowly. Tortoise slow. If
you think you are speaking too slowly, you are most likely speaking at an
intelligible speed. If you think you are speaking at a ‘normal’ speed, you are
probably speaking way too fast for the audience. If you find yourself
galloping, stop. Your breathing will clue you into this. Stop. Take a deep
breath. Smile and look around but think of what you are talking about – stay
focused. Then continue. Believe me - there are times when I get into what I am talking about, I get
excited and start to speak too quickly. So I stop. I take a deep breath. I
might say: “Let me repeat that.” Or “As I was saying.” If someone happened to miss
what I had said, I am providing it again.
7.
If you do miss something out, as mentioned above, you will not be the first to do so. Every public
speaker has missed a bit, or forgotten part of their presentation at some point.
If someone says they have never done this, don’t believe them. Add the missing
part when you can. Don’t say something like: “Oh, I forgot this bit!” Simiply
add the missing part. If you have practiced enough, you will know what to say
to create a segue which will sound okay, if not great. And most people will not
notice. I missed a huge section of a story out once, and when I realized this,
I thought quickly (still telling the story) about where the best place to add
it would be. No one realized. And I am not the only person to have done this.
There
are things to avoid.
Don’t
read bullet points. If you are using slides don’t read them, but add to what is
already on the screen. Make it interesting, raise a relevant point, inject a
bit of humor, or that human touch. This will mean keeping what is written on
the screen to a minimum. The audience don’t want to see you can read off a
slide you wrote. They want your knowledge and/or experience. If you can use
images instead of words on the slide all the better. The words you speak and
the image should complement each other and build on what is being talked about.
The two together should be stronger, not the same.
Don’t just present you work, show your work, talk about it. If you are showing off artwork, or
photos of things you have done, don’t tell people about the image, they can see
it. Explain the image, yes, but talk about it, add to it. How did you get there,
create the image, why? What had the impact for you as an artist? What inspired
it? In this day and age most people can find your work on-line and they do not
want a repeat, but they want an insight into the work and you. It is similar
with sales. Talk about the product or stats, show images of it. Make it a human
experience – connect the product to how people will benefit from it, what it
can do that no others can. If it’s your homework, show the class and teacher
you learned from the project, or research. Inject humor into it – “Did the
Greek gods REALLY do that? And no one complained? (Sounds like some school
teachers!)” Maybe leave out the bit about the teachers.
Don’t
brag. Don’t pretend you know it
all. No one does. We should always be learning. Share your failings. Show you
are human, and that mistakes are what make us stronger. If someone in the
audience is new to what you do, it can be helpful for them to know even the
experts failed when they first began, and still make mistakes – hopefully
fewer. Your listeners will have more empathy with you, you become a real
person, and therefore are more relatable. This is another place where you can
make people be more comfortable by
laughing at yourself. Maybe it’s that self-deprecating Englishman in me!
8. My last piece of advice is this: Have fun. Enjoy
what you are doing. The nerves will leave soon after you start, and you will be
in the moment. If you are having fun, those with you will be having fun. If you
love what you are talking about, this will come across and people will feel
that.
© Simon Brooks, 2018
