How to … knock ’em dead! (Figuratively speaking)

By Simon Young, September 28, 2006 @ noon

It’s the stuff of nightmares: public speaking. The good news is that great speakers aren’t born—they’re made

Our greatest fear is not death, bankruptcy or even spiders—it’s public speaking. Yet it’s an integral part of just about anything important: raising money, seeking investors, presenting an idea to people who can help you.

Audience size doesn’t matter. Just watch Dragons’ Den: even an audience of five is enough to make some people completely lose their nerve. Even scarier, it’s often the communication style of the entrepreneur that influences the Dragons more than their product.

If you’ve ever spoken in public, you’ve probably felt that sinking feeling: the sense that with just a week or so more of preparation you could have really nailed it. But knowing how to prepare is the difference between success and failure.

Know your audience

How many times have you heard an international speaker insert a throwaway reference to the city they’re speaking in? “Good evening Hamilton!” It’s a token gesture, but it helps the audience feel that this is more than just a generic message.

The best speakers will make a local reference that shows they’ve made an effort. When you’re close to an audience, you’re one step closer to that form of communication we’re all familiar with— speaking to friends.

Knowing your audience also gives you direction. Instead of just hoping your message will be interesting, you know what to say because you know what the audience wants to hear.

Aussie comedian James O’Loghlin says it’s important to know not only who your audience is, but why they’re there. “Is it because they work for the same company, or because they have an interest in the pathology of frogs, or because their kids go to the same school?” he asks.

Know why you’re speaking

What is your goal? Why have you been invited to speak? Small talk is tedious, but a speech with no purpose is unbearable. What do you want from the speech or presentation? Do you want your audience to believe that they need your product? Do you want them to rethink their attitude to the environment? Or do you want them to have so much fun that they’ll talk about it for months?

When you’ve got the sharp end of your speech—the purpose—it’s time to start building the rest of the arrow, the information that will support what your audience wants and what you want.

Know your stuff

Get your brain into receive mode and find out as much as you can about the topic you’ll be speaking on. Leave the sorting-out for later; this stage is about information gathering. Some things you can Google; other times you’ll have your own experience to draw on. The key with information gathering is that it’s indiscriminate. Compare it to the brainstorming process; the important thing is to uncover ideas and possibilities. Sorting the wheat from the chaff comes later.

Auckland-based speaker and consultant Eugene Moreau says it’s important to know what you’re talking about before focussing on how. He says speakers should create a single theme to build their content around. “A theme is like an anchor for your audience, helping them to remember your speech,” he says.

Structure your message

Some speakers seem completely random. They go off on tangents, they tell long, involved stories—and they keep us in rapt attention. How do they do it?

In most cases, speakers who come across as spontaneous have done careful preparation. Comedian Ben Elton, who recently toured New Zealand, spends months developing his seemingly made-up-on-the-spot comedy routines.

The key to preparation is structure. The build-up to the guitar solo in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, the startling revelation at the end of The Empire Strikes Back ... they work because of structure. [They work? –Ed.]

O’Loghlin writes in his book Umm ... that structure should come late in the process; if it’s there too early, it acts as a straitjacket. Instead, he looks for categories and things that belong together.

Tell stories

History is made up of epic stories that have changed the world. The Bible, Plato’s Republic and the Qur’an have affected the lives of billions of people through history and still wield great influence today. Yet when we try to persuade, what do we use? Graphs and charts, boxes and arrows.

Today, Steve Denning is a storytelling consultant. Ten years ago, he was an accountant with the World Bank. Concerned that the bank’s business model needed an overhaul, he tried to persuade management using statistics and charts, but found that only a short, simple story could achieve the needed organisational change.

Stories are the best way to get your message across, whether you’re giving a wedding speech or outlining performance specs.

O’Loghlin points out that ‘telling a story’ isn’t the same as ‘making stuff up’. Instead, it’s a way of structuring information that makes it as interesting as possible. When you tell your story, only use detail where it either makes the story more interesting, or more relevant. Don’t allow the details to distract, unless that distraction is helpful.

Watch any of Ronnie Corbett’s solo comedy sessions from The Two Ronnies, and you’ll see how a distraction can be helpful. He starts a story, then at a crucial point he gets distracted and talks at length about something entirely unrelated. Because he’s left his story with a crucial question unanswered, we the audience are listening very carefully for when he comes back and answers that crucial question.

Personal stories work, too. Whoever you’re talking to, on whatever subject, you can be sure you are speaking to humans. And as humans, we all relate to the experiences of other people, so add relevant snippets of your own experience.

“Sir Laurence Olivier didn’t worry about being over-prepared when he memorised Romeo and Juliet. He digested it, made it part of himself, and gave it new life. You don’t have Shakespeare on your side, which is all the more reason to write out your presentation.”

Write it down

Sometimes we fear that being too prepared will take the life out of a presentation. Rubbish. Sir Laurence Olivier didn’t worry about being over-prepared when he memorised Romeo and Juliet. He digested it, made it part of himself, and gave it new life.

You don’t have Shakespeare on your side, which is all the more reason to write out, word for word, your speech or presentation. Practise it, get to know it, so that you have the freedom, if needed, to spontaneously improvise when you actually present.

Unplug PowerPoint

Microsoft’s PowerPoint software often gets a bad rap on the Internet, but the main problem seems to be when the technology, instead of the user, leads the way. Structure, imposed too early, imposes a straitjacket on a presentation. So don’t use PowerPoint (or Apple Keynote, for that matter) as a guide for creating your presentation.

Another thing: don’t use the templates. They’re often based around hierarchical bullet points and lots of text. There’s a place for hierarchical bullet points and lots of text: on paper.

The big screen, however, should be reserved for what we usually see there: visual images. Pictures. The odd word or two, but not chunks of text. Save that for the handout.

Creating a presentation that’s more like a movie than a meeting agenda forces you to think visually—and that’s a good thing. If each thought has an image attached to it, chances are your message will be simpler and more coherent.

Deliver the goods

When you’ve written your speech, rehearsed, rehearsed again, created a glorious visual PowerPoint, and rehearsed once more, the time will come to face the audience.

You need adrenaline, says Moreau, if you are to be an effective public speaker. It’s not about stopping your natural nervousness, but rather channelling it into an energetic delivery. “You will always have adrenaline if you care about what you’re doing,” he says.

O’Loghlin says the first seconds of a speech are the most important. It gives you the opportunity to do two things which seem contradictory: to establish a bridge of connection with the audience so you seem ‘one of the people’, and at the same time set yourself apart as someone worthy of respect.

Facial expression, body language and tone of voice are the reasons we go to hear people speak rather than read their opinions (that, and the Q & A sessions). O’Loghlin says speakers should let their emotions show when they present, because the impact will be greater. “Almost all good stories involve emotion,” he says.

Many speakers are unaware of their bodies while they speak. Moreau has a list of delivery mannerisms to avoid, which include the reluctant nudist (standing with both hands covering the groin), the pocket player (one or both hands in the pocket always jangling or playing with objects), and the hair stylist (always pushing a lock of hair away, or moving hands through hair).