Public Speaking

For many people, public speaking is a very traumatic thing.

It is not something that has ever held any great terror for me. That

is especially true now I am totally blind.

My Public Speaking Rules

These are some rules I live by when public speaking. These apply to

things like technical talks or lectures. Not necessarily to after dinner

speaking, or the speech you might give as the best man at a wedding.

Those things are different entirely:

NEVER start a talk with an apology for being a bad public

speaker. You will be implanting in the audience the subconscious

suggestion that they are about to sit through a talk given by a bumbling

idiot with limited knowledge of the published subject.

Three part rule. A talk about a technical or serious subject

should be divided into these three parts

tell them what you are going to be talking about

the meat of the talk

summarise what you just told them.

This was given to me a very long time ago by a retired lecturer from

the London School of Economics.

The people in the audience wanted to be there. So there is little

or no hostility in the room. And much empathy.

Don't rush yourself. Pace the talk. Rushing can be a nasty

feedback loop which makes your pace increase and your level of

confidence plummet.

Don't be afraid of pauses, or silence. These moments can give you

breathing space to summarise in your own mind where you are at, whether

the last thing you said needs amplification, and what is to come

next.

Don't be afraid of the 'ums and erms.' But keep it to a minimum.

Silence is better than verbal ticks.

Keep humour to a minimum. Depends on the kind of event. If you

are the best man at a wedding, you are supposed to inject humour,

probably at the expense of the groom.

You don't need to pick out one audience member to talk to. You

are just as effective if you are focused on the back wall. Talking to

just one member of the audience, particularly if they are right at the

front, is probably not a good look. Glancing round the room helps to

make everybody feel included.

Notes

I probably broke some of my rules, in particular inserting verbal

ticks early in the podcast. I think I improved focus as I went on.

I inserted some humour, including some comments about my family

Christmas, but then it is, well, Christmas.

I am almost never happier than when I am learning new things.

I am fiercely proud of, and amazed at the amount of things I know

about a lot of subjects. I am a knowledge sponge.

The one thing that does make me happier than learning, is sharing

what I know. Which I often do in a tone which suggests I am just amazed

at the fact I know this stuff at all.

Remember, the things you don't yet know are more important than the

things you already know. That is true for everybody. So share your

knowledge in good spirit, keeping arrogance out of the picture.