Having given a few lectures now, I
want to share 3 tricks that can make anyone a more effective speaker. In my
eyes, the ultimate goal of a lecture is to make sure that your audience leaves
with ideas that they can actually use:
1.
Don’t give a presentation - have a
conversation
I don’t like the word
‘presentation’. It reminds me of waking up at 7am, riding my bike across
campus, and being crammed into a small desk in an auditorium. Then comes the
worst part - watching the clock, wiggling around in my chair, and trying to pay
attention. For me, it’s really hard to sit and listen to something for an hour
and a half without losing focus.
This puts the burden on the speaker
to be engaging so that he or she doesn’t lose the audience and keeps the cell
phones away. The solution is to not give a presentation, but to make it a
conversation. So, how can you do it?
· Open by explaining that everyone should feel free to
interrupt you (respectfully, of course) at any time. Don’t the most interesting
anecdotes always come from answers to questions? Speakers can’t prepare for all
possible questions so answers are more likely to be off the cuff and real.
· Repeatedly ask if anyone has questions. Even if you offer
the opportunity to be interrupted, few people will take it. It’s a bit
intimidating as an audience member to raise your hand and ask a question that
interrupts the speaker’s flow
2.
Speak in your voice and style
This one is pretty simple – play to
your personality. Back in college, I played a lot of poker and to help improve
my game I read almost every poker book ever written. The best advice I got,
besides learning the odds, was to “play like your personality.” When I first
started playing, I was extremely conservative and would only play with the
strongest hands. It made me nervous and honestly made playing pretty boring; I
would sit for hours and not say a word.
I like to talk, so a more
aggressive, playful style fit me better. This was backed by results as this
strategy led to more winning sessions and ultimately more enjoyment from the
game.
I think the same goes for speaking.
You don’t need to be stiff to look professional and prepared. This is easy for
both Christian and me because we generally have a pretty casual style. Speaking
in your natural style makes you more comfortable, which makes you more
confident and trust me, your audience can tell. Find what fits you and
own it.
3.
Tell personal stories
The best way to make a connection
with your audience is to be genuine. I’m 26 years old and don’t really have the
experience to spout clichés like “stay the course” and “fight the good fight.”
Someday I hope to, but I’m not quite there yet. All I have to back up my
credibility is personal experience.
But wait, why would you want to tell
your embarrassing stories to a group of complete strangers? Aren’t you supposed
to be some sort of expert who makes no mistakes? For me the answer is simple
I’m not an expert yet. The reason I am speaking to anyone is to help others
learn from my mistakes.
Luckily for me, I do not get
embarrassed easily. Countless sales rejections have given me a tough skin. If
you are speaking to entrepreneurs then chances are they have a tough skin too.
People in Silicon Valley fail all the time. I’ve learned the mistake you make
is not nearly as important as your reaction to it. The key is to make sure it
never happens again. In fact as a personal goal, I try to make a mistake every
single day.
Some of my favorite stories to tell
are about how we built (and painfully removed) features, and how we (almost)
reached an agreement with a key customer. Personal stories elicit an emotional
response from the audience, your real goal as a presenter. To avoid awkwardness
you can remove specific names and some of the more sensitive details (that is what
a journal is for).
Emotional reactions lead to
discussions both during your lecture and after. I have learned that it is the
discussion after the lecture that is sometimes the most illuminating. I
hope that some of my experiences with public speaking will be helpful to you
next time you get up on stage.
http://neiljoglekar.com/what-i-learned-from-our-guest-lecture-at-cmu
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