Public Speaking During COVID: Reflections & Questions
I was recently invited to speak at the Hardhat Ceremony put on by the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. The ceremony marks students’ entry into the second year of their studies, where they must select one of the engineering disciplines. The event is all about affirming these decisions, and each discipline has an alumnus speak about their experience in the field. For the first time in nearly two years, I found myself standing in front of a room of people. Overwhelm, excitement, anxiety — I felt all of it as I walked onto the stage.
This year, the event was held in-person at Prairieland Park. Upon entering the venue, it struck me that it had been nearly two years since I’ve attended an event of this magnitude, or set foot inside this particular venue. Here we are in the midst of the Delta wave of COVID-19, but still able to have an event with over 500 people. Originally students were able to have up to two guests join them for the occasion, but the week before the event this was adjusted due to the volume of interested attendees, so guests were asked to join virtually. Everyone at the event wore a mask with the exception of the speaker while at the podium, and alcohol was not served to improve the safety of the event. It was a pleasure to participate in such a well-run event.
Speaking to a Crowd
It’s been a long time since I’ve sat in an audience anxiously awaiting my cue to speak. It dawned on me that this would be the first time I’ve spoken to more than 10 people in-person for over 18 months. These past few months, preparing for a speech meant cleaning up my home office, getting the lighting just right, and testing my microphone. For remote talks, you can have your notes on the screen for easy access and there is no view of the crowd. It is a completely different feeling to be there in person looking out at all of those people with the stage lights shining on you. There is a desire to actually address the people you are talking to and to adjust what you say based on the feeling in the room.
Dale Carnegie — no relation — said that the butterflies you get prior to speaking should never go away because they are a visceral indication of your investment in making a good impression and of your care for the audience. Anxiety often gave way to exhilaration at being able to be on stage, speaking to so many people at such an important life juncture. I hope that I was able to inspire in them a sense of the opportunity that lies in front of them and the myriad options that they truly have.
Thoughts on Reading and Speaking
Over the past year, I’ve made it my goal to read one book a week. While I’m a little bit behind on that goal, it has made me read a lot more than I have in the past. Whenever I’m reading now and I come upon a reference to another book, I consider adding that book to the queue. I’ve also started to ask others what they are reading and, with these two habits, I have been able to keep a full queue of high quality books to read.
It’s pretty incredible to me that I have been able to read over 30 books in 2021, and almost all of them have been good books, many of them are great. But why am I telling you this? I have noticed that this increase in reading has changed how I read content — I’m much more attuned to the mechanics of writing and the role of the author. That same awareness translated to how I perceived or “read” speakers during the Hardhat Ceremony. Sitting in the front row, I had a great opportunity to witness the various approaches that speakers took to the task of addressing the students of a particular discipline.
To Script or not to Script?
The first decision a speaker needed to make was that of a script vs. an extemporaneous approach to the speech. Most speakers chose to go with a written script, which is what I would have guessed. A written speech allows one to conquer their nerves as all they have to do is read it — no memorization required. A written speech allows one to agonize over the exact words and grammatical structure at the same level as written prose. This means that a person gets to come off sounding as eloquent as possible. It also simplifies pacing as one knows exactly how long it takes to read the speech. So the question is, why would anyone ever do an extemporaneous speech?
I chose to forgo the written speech in favour of a cue card. I wrote a speech ahead of time and then distilled it down into a few key points on a card. I spent an hour before the presentation reading through the written speech so that I knew the general story arc and some key phrases that I thought were important. To me, the value of this approach to speaking is the ability to adjust the speech to fit the situation. After talking with people before the event and listening to other speakers, it’s possible to incorporate new material more easily. It also frees my attention from the written paper to focus on the audience. This was particularly valuable during the event because I was addressing the second-year Engineering Physics students, who were at the front of the room to my right. In order to actually address them, I had to turn 90 degrees away from the podium, where normally a script would have sat. It was important for me to have this flexibility to connect and make eye contact with the audience. At the same time, a fixed podium mic had a limiting effect on my ability to interact with them — I prefer a handheld microphone for this type of speaking.
How do Speakers Inspire?
The goal of each speaker was to inspire students in each of the disciplines, thus affirming that their choice was a good one and that the practice of engineering is both exciting and serious. There are a few tools at the speaker’s disposal when trying to make an impression on people. Many speakers choose entertainment and wit as their tool to attract the attention of their audience. Darryl Kacher, a VP of Engineering at Calian (formerly SED Systems), had a well-coordinated speech full of Engineering puns and jokes. Darryl got the entire audience to laugh out loud a few times during his speech and used that engagement to share his experience travelling the world as an electrical engineer and his reflections on just how far technology has evolved during his career. This approach was appreciated by the audience and his fellow speakers alike, as it created a sense of wonder about the future and its possibilities.
Other speakers took the opportunity to impress upon the students the responsibility they are taking on as engineers and the fulfilment of the purpose that their career will entail. Andrew Lockwood, a Principle Functional Safety at BHP and the President of the APEGS, talked about his role in the regulation of the profession. Andrew has clearly given a number of speeches on this particular topic as he looked very comfortable on the stage discussing ethics and responsibility. He described the grandeur of the profession, because most of the modern conveniences we enjoy today are a result of engineers. Again, the other speakers and the audience appreciated this approach as it inspired a feeling of reverence for the profession.
My approach to the talk was different as I chose to focus more on the students’ schooling and what they can expect to learn. Looking at the world today, I see an exponentially expanding corpus of information alongside a narrowing worldview among people. As an institution, universities offer the opportunity to build critical thinking skills that will foster resilience in the face of criticism and openness to new information, both tempered with a healthy dose of scrutiny on the sources of information. I went further to describe critical thinking as the proactive seeking out of information that doesn’t align with one’s worldview so as to become better informed. My message was that learning is a lifelong pursuit that does not end after attaining a degree, and that the ability to think for one’s self is the true gift of a professional education.
So, Which Approach is Best?
I sat down to debrief after the evening was over and realized that the variety of approaches the speakers took to the topic was what made the evening great. With an audience as diverse as the second-year Engineering class, I’m certain that one of the talks succeeded in inspiring nearly every single person in that audience. In a lot of ways, oration is similar to penmanship in that each practitioner has a particular style and voice independent of the mechanical aspects of the discipline. A great speech, then, is more than words — it is the interplay of those words with the intention and energy behind the speaker’s delivery.
Again, perhaps it was the rare opportunity to attend an in-person event, but I was able to see the speakers in a new dimension and gain a new level of appreciation for the craft. I’m looking forward to seeing more great speakers in the near future, and I hope to improve my own written and spoken discourse skills as well.
