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Episode 151 Speaking With Gravitas: What Shared Talent Do these Two Great Speakers Have?
This week we're learning about the advantages of learning to confidently pause when you're speaking in public. It's not an easy skill to develop, it takes nerve and practise. But it's very beneficial and can really add value to your speech.
In the episode I'll talk about Nelson Mandela and Barak Obama, who are both very skilled at this. I mention many videos in the episode so I'll link those below.
The best way to practise public speaking is to actually do some public speaking!
Look around your area and see if you can find a Speakers Club or Toastmasters Club. These clubs are often very friendly and work hard at providing a great and positive learning environment without making you feel highly criticised. They have courses and systems you can work through that will systematically improve your speaking skill over time.
However, I must stress, that if you go to one of these clubs, you MUST stand up and speak. Speaking is not a skill you can improve much just by watching others. You must put yourself in that stressful situation to have the experience, to understand what your own personal challenges are and learn some strategies to practise and overcome them.
If you don't have a speakers club nearby I would advise recording yourself making speeches (even if it's just in your bedroom!). Most of us hate the sound of our own voice, so for many this can be an effective way to get the same or similar levels of stress. It also allows you to watch your videos and see where the problems are and what you could work on.
I absolutely do advocate watching great speakers in action, there are several places you can do this. TED.com is probably the most famous. Toastmasters also has it's own YouTube channels where you can see excellent speakers.
I mentioned several videos in the episode. Trevor Noah's Netflix special is a great and fun show to watch to practise your English. In this clip Trevor is imagining Nelson Mandela's conversation with Barak Obama the first time they met. Trevor imagines that back then Barak was not a good speaker and Nelson taught him how to control his voice to build the gravitas needed to be the first Black American President:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F92b6LwOzC0&list=PL6eu7BlE1AJRfq-1axUv_P8gRlDYVwd4N&index=10
You can search for any of Nelson Mandela's speeches and learn something. This is just one I found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w42rHdvFpVM&list=PL6eu7BlE1AJRfq-1axUv_P8gRlDYVwd4N&index=13
This video talks about the speech that really brought Obama into America's consciousness as a serious contender for president. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFPwDe22CoY&t=227s
I also mentioned Barak's Anger Translator. This clip is very funny but please pay attention to Barak's face. Even when everyone else is laughing he has a great poker face! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkAK9QRe4ds&list=PL6eu7BlE1AJRfq-1axUv_P8gRlDYVwd4N&index=11
Vocabulary
hold someone's attention - idiom - to keep someone interested
skit - a short entertaining show or piece of theatre or comedy, can be done with one or many people.
how his speech is landing/make that speech land - when we talk about a speech 'landing' we're talking about the way it is received by the audience.
keep a straight face - idiom - describes the flat or unemotional face we try to keep when we are trying not to laugh.
in office - a term used to describe the time that a person is elected as President.
tone down - phrasal verb - this is used when we want someone to be less of something, it could be less rude, use less swear words, or it could be less flamboyant. In this case it is less serious.
collect yourself - idiom - to get yourself together, or to calm yourself down
filler words - this is a phrase that describes the words or sounds you make when you're thinking.
stay on track - idiom - also 'go off track' - this means to keep going with whatever you planned to do. 'Go off track' means you got lost or did something different to your intention.
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By EmmaThis week we're learning about the advantages of learning to confidently pause when you're speaking in public. It's not an easy skill to develop, it takes nerve and practise. But it's very beneficial and can really add value to your speech.
In the episode I'll talk about Nelson Mandela and Barak Obama, who are both very skilled at this. I mention many videos in the episode so I'll link those below.
The best way to practise public speaking is to actually do some public speaking!
Look around your area and see if you can find a Speakers Club or Toastmasters Club. These clubs are often very friendly and work hard at providing a great and positive learning environment without making you feel highly criticised. They have courses and systems you can work through that will systematically improve your speaking skill over time.
However, I must stress, that if you go to one of these clubs, you MUST stand up and speak. Speaking is not a skill you can improve much just by watching others. You must put yourself in that stressful situation to have the experience, to understand what your own personal challenges are and learn some strategies to practise and overcome them.
If you don't have a speakers club nearby I would advise recording yourself making speeches (even if it's just in your bedroom!). Most of us hate the sound of our own voice, so for many this can be an effective way to get the same or similar levels of stress. It also allows you to watch your videos and see where the problems are and what you could work on.
I absolutely do advocate watching great speakers in action, there are several places you can do this. TED.com is probably the most famous. Toastmasters also has it's own YouTube channels where you can see excellent speakers.
I mentioned several videos in the episode. Trevor Noah's Netflix special is a great and fun show to watch to practise your English. In this clip Trevor is imagining Nelson Mandela's conversation with Barak Obama the first time they met. Trevor imagines that back then Barak was not a good speaker and Nelson taught him how to control his voice to build the gravitas needed to be the first Black American President:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F92b6LwOzC0&list=PL6eu7BlE1AJRfq-1axUv_P8gRlDYVwd4N&index=10
You can search for any of Nelson Mandela's speeches and learn something. This is just one I found: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w42rHdvFpVM&list=PL6eu7BlE1AJRfq-1axUv_P8gRlDYVwd4N&index=13
This video talks about the speech that really brought Obama into America's consciousness as a serious contender for president. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFPwDe22CoY&t=227s
I also mentioned Barak's Anger Translator. This clip is very funny but please pay attention to Barak's face. Even when everyone else is laughing he has a great poker face! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkAK9QRe4ds&list=PL6eu7BlE1AJRfq-1axUv_P8gRlDYVwd4N&index=11
Vocabulary
hold someone's attention - idiom - to keep someone interested
skit - a short entertaining show or piece of theatre or comedy, can be done with one or many people.
how his speech is landing/make that speech land - when we talk about a speech 'landing' we're talking about the way it is received by the audience.
keep a straight face - idiom - describes the flat or unemotional face we try to keep when we are trying not to laugh.
in office - a term used to describe the time that a person is elected as President.
tone down - phrasal verb - this is used when we want someone to be less of something, it could be less rude, use less swear words, or it could be less flamboyant. In this case it is less serious.
collect yourself - idiom - to get yourself together, or to calm yourself down
filler words - this is a phrase that describes the words or sounds you make when you're thinking.
stay on track - idiom - also 'go off track' - this means to keep going with whatever you planned to do. 'Go off track' means you got lost or did something different to your intention.