Public Speaking.

From speaking up in a meeting to doing a Ted Talk, public speaking comes in all shapes and sizes – but for lots of people, it’s terrifying.

There was a time it topped the charts of ‘things people are most scared of’.
It’s been bumped to second place since the advent of Facebook Live of all things!

With this in mind, today’s big scary challenge is to speak in public in front of strangers.
Obviously, that’s harder to engineer than some of our other challenges – BUT…
you could go live on Facebook and give a talk.

How about on the Wise & Gorgeous page (bigger than the group and to an unknown crowd)?
Just a thought.

If you’re up for the challenge – here are my top ten tips!

1. Create a structure.
Work out what they will learn during your talk.
What the main idea is – broken down into the main points.
Start with a story that demonstrates your idea – the first 20 seconds are when people decide if they are interested or not.
Make them count.
The first sentence needs to be killer! (Shocking or funny ideally)

2. Be generous.
Remember that the audience, whether they are paying money or not – is giving you their time.
Reward that with value bombs.
All the while you craft your talk, think: why would they want to hear this? What’s in this for them?
Consider who they are, what they might need/want – and choose what you deliver accordingly.
Would they prefer light and fluffy, detailed technical info, motivating and uplifting?
Do they already know you? If not – how can you make them fall in love with you so they want to listen to you.

3. Don’t sweat it.
Well actually, nerves might make you sweat, your heart beat faster and get the shakes.
Even seasoned performers can feel this way.
If you expect it, and understand it’s an adrenaline rush that will make you sharper – you can get control and give a great perfomance.
People will be more forgiving than you think, and generally want you to do well.

3. Practice makes (im)perfect.
The best way to get really comfortable is to go through your talk out loud.
And again.
And again.
Watch yourself on video – and either critique yourself, or have a trusted friend give you feedback for improvement.
Aim to be able to give the talk with a few bullet point prompts rather than reading straight from a script which can make you sound stilted.
And if you stutter, go wrong, lose your place – don’t worry – no one expects perfection.
Have a little laugh at yourself, and move along – they won’t even remember if you do it with a smile.

4. Have a little wiggle room.
If you are presenting to a live audience, keep your focus on them.
You’ll see whether they look quizzical (and want to know more) are getting fidgety (then move the subject along).
Planning in some audience participation makes the thing come alive – and keeps them interested.
If you are presenting on the internet (Zoom/FB Live/Instagram live) keep an eye on the comments and bake in some moments to respond.

5. Let it sound like you.
Although it can be tricky – imagine you are talking to each person individually.
Divide your room into four quadrants.
Direct your focus to each of those quadrants while you speak.
This will make people really feel you are talking directly to them – even if eye contact is a challenge too far!
Don’t be afraid to have a laugh, be cheeky, get excited – or whatever your normal style of speech is.
No one likes to be presented ‘AT’ they prefer to feel as though they are in conversation (albeit on the listening end) of a real person.
Try to smile as you speak.
It will make your voice brighter and make you more engaging to watch.

6. The bar for humour is lower than you think.
In public speaking, you don’t have to be a professional comedian to get a laugh.
People are so used to boring, dry old talks that even a little humour is seriously appreciated.
Have a couple of funny anecdotes up your sleeve to dot about and lift the room.
Everyone loves the personal touch in a speech.
A funny story can provide that.

7. Put down your clipboard.
By all means, have slides (or screen share) but avoid ones full of text.
I like to have a big (preferably funny) picture and a couple of sentences at most.
If you read from your script, your head will go down and you lose the audience connection.
Use your slides or bullet points as memory joggers only and keep you on time.

8. Gesticulate.
Obviously don’t wave your arms around like a loony, but you can exaggerate your non-verbal communication a little more than normal to create energy.
Maybe you’ll move around the stage or room a little.
Try not to wring your hands or clasp the mic for dear life.
Think of your movement as adding to the words, rather than distracting from it.

9. 2nd best thing first. Best thing last.
I have started a talk with
“one day… 3 separate nurses stuck their finger up my bum”
(this is a bold start – and there had to be some meaty content to get away with it)
But grab their attention at the beginning with your second best story/idea, and finish on a high with your best one.

You could start with a surprising statistic:

90% of the food in our supermarkets didn’t exist 100 years ago,
(and then combined with something funny)
….although cornflakes and milk did so you were still alright for breakfast.

BOOM ^^ great opening line.

Or:

You are more likely to be killed by a toaster than a shark…
so I have changed the subject of this talk on shark wrestling,

and instead, I’m going to tell you some quick things you can do today, to make sure your home is as safe as possible

Finish with a strong statement that sums up what you’ve said, makes them think – to guarantee you a round of applause, and questions from the audience.

10. Use a light touch with the A/V
Being too reliant on the tech means if something goes wrong – you’re screwed.
If you are using it – make sure the whole thing can work without them too.

Use any slides and props to accentuate or clarify – not detract from what you are saying,
like little injections of interest sprinkled throughout your talk.

Don’t be afraid to do away with them altogether if they are likely to stress you out or there’s no real reason to have them.

Good luck.
We’d love to see your talk.

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