Silver Bullets for Your Public Speaking Gun

The more authors I meet, the more conversations I have about author life. It seems that everyone I talk to brings up how author life is not just writing and editing. A surprising number are surprised at how the author is part of the product, not just the book, the short story, the script. Some say it’s Arthur Miller’s fault for marrying Marilyn Monroe. Others blame authors for making cameos in movies. The thing is, I wonder if there ever really was a line. Shakespeare was famous in the early 1600s. For that matter, Aeschylus was famous enough to be invited to Sicily from Athens in 470 BCE. So maybe it’s the idea of the author not being part of the product that’s the illusion.

In these discussions, public speaking always comes up (without fail), so I give advice, because I taught college public speaking for 25 years. Once again, I am always asked for the one thing that makes someone a “good public speaker.” That leads into another hour of discussion, because there is not one thing. There is no silver bullet that works for everyone. There are many that work for a lot of people, but not one that works for everyone. This being an Education Advice newsletter, it seemed an appropriate to address some of those silver bullets.

1) Practice. The expression “practice makes perfect” is ridiculous, but practice definitely leads to improvement. I am a strong believer in repetition. As a wrestling coach, my wrestlers would drill certain moves a thousand times each season. The problem that many of my students had was not wanting to practice because they didn’t want to put in the work. The thing is, Thomas Jefferson summed it up pretty well when he said, “I’m a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”

2) Practice In Front of a Mirror. This is specific to public speaking. Next to practice, it’s the best silver bullet I have in my arsenal. More times than I can count, I have literally been watching my students delivering their speeches and known exactly when they decided to take my advice and practice in front of a mirror. They would typically improve from a C to a B or a B to an A after doing so. It was that dramatic of an improvement. I’m sure there is all kinds of psychobabble about why it’s so effective, but my explanation is this: when you practice in front of a mirror, you realize that you don’t look nearly as stupid as you think you do.

Note: Do this before videoing your performance. Yes, videoing yourself to self-critique can be great, but hearing your voice come from something other than your own mouth is about as unnatural an experience as possible. Practicing in front of a mirror does not add this problem to the mix. Self-critiquing a video is best left for when you’re a more advanced public speaker.

3) Warm Up Beforehand. I am a big believer in ritual. If you are or were an athlete and had a ritual you performed before a game or a match that got you in the right headspace, you are already programmed for that ritual. It will work for public speaking just like it did for that sport. That said, continuing with the sports analogy, you would never just walk out and compete without warming up. So why would you go out and speak publicly without warming up? You need to warm up the apparatus, which is your voice. What I did was usually in the car while driving to the event. The radio would be on and I would sing ... loud. I would warm up the apparatus with music. I did this before public-speaking engagements, job interviews, auditions, etc. I would also act out the interview, playing both parts, trying to anticipate what questions might be asked and how I might answer them. That not only warms me up, but it is also practicing.

4) Trouble Making Eye Contact? You Have a Problem. In Western civilization, direct eye contact is not only preferred, it is expected of anyone who is supposed to be in a position of authority (like a public speaker). There are several steps to overcoming this issue. When people have trouble making eye contact, they often look down, look away, etc. I had serious issues with this growing up. I don’t know why. Maybe I thought, if I looked someone in the eye, they would steal my soul. Whatever the reason, it caused me problems and I tried several things that were bad choices and made things worse and more awkward and it persisted until I was in college. If you are one of these people, a much better option is looking at someone’s forehead. When speaking to a crowd, choose someone to make eye contact with. Others will know you’re not looking them in the eye, but they’ll know you’re looking someone in the eye. Later, you can look two people in the eye, then three. Spread them out around the crowd, so it looks like your making better eye contact than you actually are. In time, you’ll find that you actually are making eye contact with people and they will be responding much more positively to you.

5) Move Or Don’t. If you’re in a setting where you can move around and it feels natural to you, then do it. If it does not feel natural and comfortable then do no do it. If you feel uncomfortable, it will communicate to your audience. Seventy percent of what we communicate is not the words coming out of your mouth. People are empathetic. If you are uncomfortable, it will make your audience uncomfortable, and that’s the last thing you want. If you do not feel comfortable moving around, plant your feet, face your audience, and own that space. Period.

Note: Some people try to do both. They rock back and forth, forward and back, twist at the waist. Don’t do that. Move or don’t. Make a decision. It’s your presentation. Make a choice and own it.

6) Avoid Slang and Jargon. Do not assume that your audience knows something. In very rare occasions (maybe 5 percent), you’ll know the makeup of your audience, such as their education and work background. In that case, you might be able to assume that they have a certain level of education or certain background. But even if you’re speaking to a professional organization of engineers ... what kind of engineers are in the audience? Mechanical engineers? Electrical engineers? Software engineers? Those are all very different. Safest bet, avoid jargon or at the very least, define those terms on first reference. It’s also good, as a general rule, to avoid slang. It’s just not very professional.

7) Smile. Max Eastman said, “A smile is the universal welcome.” Well ... when it’s appropriate. When you’re introduced, at least, smile. When you’re finished and signing off, another good time to smile. If you’re talking about very heavy, gruesome material, then don’t smile. That comes across as psychopathic. I think you see what I mean.

8) Just Start. There are lots of different ways to start a presentation. The easiest is to just start. Don’t try to be clever or fancy, just start going. I’ve had students say, “But, shouldn’t we warn the audience that we’re starting?” I have answered that question the same way a thousand times. “No. When you start, they’ll understand that you started.” If the student still looks confused, I might add, “They understand because you started.”

What you do not want to do is start with “All right” or “okay” or something along those lines. No matter how you might inflect it, what it sounds like is “All right, let’s get this over with.” That’s not the impression you want to start with.

9) Thank Your Audience. There are lots of ways to end a presentation. The easiest is to just say, “Thank you.” It’s a showing of respect to your audience for giving up however much time they sacrificed to sit and listen to whatever you had to say. If they were respectful and listened, there is absolutely nothing wrong with reflecting that respect back at them.

Is this all there is to public speaking? Absolutely not. But these things will help anyone at least a little. Some will help some people more than others. (The first two are the biggest hitters, followed closely by number three.)

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