Public Speaking for Not-Naturals

A not-too complicated approach to getting rousing applause.

The following model for giving a talk has kept my clients and me in good stead.

Even a great speaker gets boring after 20 to 25 minutes. Keep your talk to that or a bit less. Have you ever minded if a speaker went a little shorter than expected? In contrast, how did you feel when s/he went longer? If you’re allocated more than 25 minutes, right before your closing story, do Q&A.
Ask yourself, “What does my audience really want and need from my talk? List only points that are not obvious and are important to your audience. And what one behavior change would you ask of them?

Beware the tyranny of content. Think of all the talks you’ve attended. At most, you probably remember only a few of its main points. Don’t include too much content.

For each point, have an example, compelling statistic, or 15-60-second anecdote. Don’t have an anecdote? A Google search may help. Or maintain a Word file with anecdotes from your life that might work in a talk.
After telling one or more of your points, ask the audience to turn to the person next to them to discuss if and how the point is relevant to them. That gets everyone actively involved and provides a necessary break from your nonstop talking.
Create an opening anecdote that bonds with the audience—That makes them feel like you’re one of them rather than The Oracle. Your credibility will come from your content and humanity. Pomposity makes people want to find fault with you.
Have a closing call to action, driven home by a powerful or humorous anecdote. Again, a Google Search on, for example, “perseverance” should get you a number of anecdotes to choose from.
Don’t use Powerpoint—The audience will stare at that the whole time, which eliminates the human connection that is a live presentation’s hallmark.
Practice your talk using only one index card as a crib sheet. More than that risks too much loss of spontaneity or even temptation to read, which is a speech’s death knell. Don’t focus on being too polished---canned speeches are usually a turnoff. Focus on being real. If the audience wants something letter-perfect, they can read an article. When they attend a live talk, they want a human experience, and that includes, umms, ahs, an occasional apology for a misstatement or forgetting where you were.
Tonally, again do not try to sound oracular. Unless you’re amazingly charismatic and practiced like President Obama, you’ll have a much better chance of success if your tone is that of a colleague wanting to share her experience. People crave authenticity ---be conversational, your real you---Serious and easygoing, fast and funny, whatever. But be you. Unless you’re a professional actor, fakery is transparent. The only change you might want to make from your normal conversational tone is to speak a little slower than normal so people can process what you’re saying. That’s especially true for any difficult ideas you’ll present. Also, if your conversational voice tends to be monotonic, add a little variation in volume and speed just as a musician does to keep things interesting.
If someone will be introducing you, write the introduction and offer it to the introducer.
Arrive an hour before your talk. That’s not just to do the crucial act of ensuring the sound system works well.--The greatest talk fails if people can’t hear you or your voice is distorted. But also, you want to mingle with attendees. That builds a bond with them and may provide an anecdote for you to begin your talk with.
To help ensure that human connection with your audience, don’t deliver your talk from behind a podium. And if possible, use a lapel mike, not one on a mic stand. Stand at the front of the stage or down with the audience in front of the first row. People don’t like oracles from on high. They like a colleague who’s there to share experiences.
Right before beginning, remind yourself that you can survive even having given an embarrassingly bad talk. But if you follow this article’s principles, even poorly, you’ll have done better than many speakers. And if you implement this article's ideas well, you’ll probably get rousing applause.
After delivering your bonding anecdote(s) quickly list the points you’ll be telling them, so they know what to expect. Then tell each point with its example. As it feels right, after a point, as mentioned, ask them to turn to the person next to them to discuss if and how the point is relevant to them.
After you’ve made all your points, list them again briefly as a summary.
If there’s time, take questions before your closing story. It is okay to not know an answer. Take advantage of the expertise in the group. Say something like, “I suspect that someone in the audience might have a better answer than I could offer.” Then look around the audience. Someone will likely jump in.
Close with the call to action, driven home with a powerful or funny story.
Don’t overprepare nor insert too much content. Put it all on one index card---with lots of white space!
Be real, not a pontificator, not some keynote speaker persona that’s not you. Authenticity is far safer than fakery.
Structure your talk as
Realize you can survive failure but almost assuredly won’t fail if you even modestly follow this article’s guidelines.

Toastmasters International named Marty Nemko its non-member Northern California Speaker of the Year. His nine books are available . You can reach personal coach Marty Nemko at [email protected] .

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Marty Nemko, Ph.D ., is a career and personal coach based in Oakland, California, and the author of 10 books.

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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.