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This has been a crazy month for me--a lot of travel, a lot of networking, and a lot of public speaking. This is strange when you consider my typical day is spent in front of a computer, wearing what could very well substitute for pajamas. (I've established a new category in my wardrobe--loungewear--which I sleep in, but if someone comes to the house it looks like I got dressed, sort of. But I digress...)
The transition from private thinker to public speaker can be a drastic one. You may be a loudmouth on your blog, but when asked to walk your talk, some people shut down. Fortunately I'm a Gemini and was born wanting to talk a lot. But even chatty Cathies like me get a little tongue tied from time to time, when there are beaucoup people you don't know who might not appreciate your topic, or get the joke, or care.
My snafu is details. At BlogHerCon, I wasn't nervous in my panel moving the conversation along, I was afraid I'd forget a fact about the other panelists when I introduced them. I was afraid I would forget to credit someone. I fear that I will forget the one, most important piece of data that I was asked to impart.
I also fret about logistics: I worry about not being able to work the LCD projector, or that my mike might not work. Recently, when I was delivering a keynote, I practically implored the conference producer, "You must tell me--will I be able to advance the slides with a remote?" She wasn't sure if the projector could only be operated manually. Small detail, but something that impacts the way you envision giving your presentation. Another planner told me that I would be speaking for "I dunno--20 or 30 minutes." This is not OK in my world.
Quick note to conference planners: Be specific about what you want--speakers want to come to the party equipped and wearing the right hat. And, please know their names when you introduce them--a little bee in my bonnet from a panel I was on Sunday, when the moderator couldn't even pronounce my first name. People get tripped up on my last name a lot, but my first? Shows you really prepped, Dude. And it shows immediate--even if not intentional--disdain or lack of interest from the get-go. The he described BlogHer as "not a shoe." Don't even get me started...
That's why I really enjoyed this post by Eszter Hargittai at LifeHacker. She really understood some of the intricacies of people's issues with speaking. I found it useful and engaging on beginner and more advanced levels.
One of the things that struck me was her insistence on not memorizing anything, which I couldn't agree with more. One of the best pieces of advice I was given was from one of my friends, a TV newscaster and reporter who I could swear had been born with a microphone in his mouth he was so comfortable with public appearances. I once asked him how he could memorize entire storylines so quickly.
"I don't memorize anything," he said. "But I familiarize myself so well with the overall structure of what I want to say that it comes out like a conversation." True, it helps to have had years of experience writing brief, to-the-point news stories--your brain becomes an efficient message-making machine. But even for anyone who's just starting to speak publicly this is a helpful guideline.
Equally interesting, I found, were the comments to Eszter's post, which offered tried and true methods for speaking well. Of course, Toastmasters was thrown out there. I've heard of the merits of this organization for a long time, though I've never joined it, particularly since I felt that friends who "graduated" seemed more fomulaic than engaging, but this is hardly a scientific metric of effectiveness.
Another comment pointed me to Presentation's Zen's take on good Powerpoints and speaking styles. Admittedly, this is an older post, but it's still pertinent, and it turned me on to a brilliant site, where the principles of Zen and good design are infused with good public speaking.
My dream is that more storytelling and spastic handwaving becomes seen as a cool signature of self-expression, and I won't have to worry about becoming airborne when I speak anymore.
Jory Des Jardins
BlogHer
Personal Blog Pause
