Public Speaking for Beginners
The first time I spoke in public, it was just a one-minute presentation to the school board — I almost fainted. The first time that my wife had to speak, she prayed no one would show up. Now we both look forward to public speaking.
I probably don’t need to tell you that public speaking is an important skill, maybe more important than ever. It’s long been helpful, for example, in making a toast at a friend’s wedding and in presenting something at work. But now, with competition for good jobs fierce, and in influencing people, public speaking can make the difference between being a success and an also-ran.
Step 1: Tamp fear. A modest amount of fear is good — It can motivate to you prepare well and it adds energy, which many speakers need. But to keep fear in bounds, have perspective. Zillions of people give talks large and small and usually, even great and bad talks are forgotten within days. Even if worst case, you screw up royally, it’s unlikely to have enduring consequences. Breathe, remind yourself that your audience wants you to succeed if only so they enjoy your talk, and then try to let go. Do your job and after that, the reaction is beyond your control. Let it go.
Step 2: Create a cheat sheet of your talk’s main points, perhaps just a word or two for each — just enough to remind you. Try to limit your points to the important and not-obvious.
Beware the tyranny of content. Most attendees will remember only a point or two of what you said — Think back to talks you attended a week or more ago! Too much content can overwhelm, bore, or make attendees feel insecure.
Instead, your default should be to make just a few points that your audience wants and needs to know and doesn’t already know. Consider driving home some or even all your main points with a statistic or brief example or anecdote.
Perhaps end your talk with a call to action such as, “I hope this will encourage you to X.” Or try something inspiring. For example, a researcher might say, “Of course, this study provides just a small step, but all of us taking small steps could end up making a big difference.”
Consider not using PowerPoint. If all the attendees need is content, you could just email a handout. They attend, in part, because a speaker can create chemistry, interest, and motivation to act. If they’re staring at the PowerPoint, there’s less chance of chemistry with you. So, if you were thinking of using PowerPoint to keep you on track, I suggest instead you use the aforementioned cheat sheet.
(Optional:) Script your talk. If you do that, please, puhleeze do not try to memorize your script, nor — unless you’re a professional scriptreader — read it as your talk. That leaches chemistry from your talk and under the pressure, you may well forget what you memorized.
In giving your talk and in practicing, use just one index card — with just a word or phrase for each element in your talk.
Step 3: Practice your talk by recording it on your phone. Be your natural, conversational self. If your natural self talks quickly, slow down to give people time to process what you’re saying.
That said, be a bit like a musician: As it feels right, speak a phrase louder, softer, faster or slower. Think about talks or classes you’ve attended in which the speaker or teacher was monotonic. Boring or not motivating, right?
Play your practice talk back and repeat until you feel it’s good enough. If you like, give your talk to a trusted friend. Ask for honest feedback.
Step 4: Come early to your talk. Mingle, read the people, connect with at least one, ideally more, albeit briefly. Keep your antenna out for something that was said that you can briefly weave into your talk, perhaps at the beginning — That bonds with the audience and signals that you’re not just giving some canned presentation.
Step 5: Check the volume. Before your talk or the moment you begin, ask the audience to raise their hand if it’s too loud or too soft. Of course, if there’s a microphone, if needed, adjust: Hold it closer to or further from you, or if there’s an amplifier, adjust it or ask the audio-visual person to do it.
Step 6: Aim high. Right before you start, most speakers are wise to say to themselves, “Try to hit a home run.” You may only hit a single or even strike out but most speakers end up happier and more successful if they aim high.
Step 7: Breathe. Right before starting, do take a deep breath and realize it doesn’t matter that much, really.
Step 8: Start. Again, be yourself, perhaps conversational, maybe a little slower and more varied in speed, pitch, and volume. Chances are you’ll do well enough, and do even better the next time.
(Optional — This may be too difficult for beginning speakers.) Use the one-second scan: Talk, eye-to-eye, to one friendly-looking person on the left side for a second, then talk eye-to-eye to a friendly-looking person to their right for a second. Keep doing that until you reach the right side, and then reverse field. That way, everyone feels you’ve been talking directly to them.
A sample
In case you might find a sample helpful, here’s a link to a recent talk I gave to a group of MIT students and post-docs. Even if your audience is less august, I’m hoping you’ll find a nugget or two that you’ll want to use.
I’ve had clients who went from scared of public speaking to craving it. These ideas helped them. I hope they’ll help you.
I read this aloud on YouTube.
Marty Nemko has given hundreds of talks from small groups to keynotes including two college commencement addresses. He is the author of 32 books including Careers for Dummies. You can reach Marty at mnemko@comcast.net
