Nick Morgan, Public Words

A Speech Is a Journey

A good speech takes its audience on a journey from passive to active, as I relate in this story about a professional speaker giving a speech for the first time.  Enjoy!

 

 

Richard Branson, Public Speaking and Evolution

Our brains evolved to keep us alive and safe -- but not to speak in front of an audience in the 21st century.  My story about Richard Branson illustrates what happens when evolution takes over.  Enjoy!

 

 

Persuasion is a Physical Act

Persuasion is a physical act, as well as a verbal one.  Here I tell a story that underlines the importance of thinking about both aspects of persuasion when you're trying to convince someone of something.  Enjoy!

 

 

The 3 Postures and Authenticity

When I speak to audiences, I often do a quick demonstration with a volunteer that reveals how audiences respond unconsciously to slight differences in a speaker's posture.  Here's a quick video that explains why getting your posture right is essential to connecting successfully with an audience:

Tact and Public Speaking: How it can all go horribly wrong

Great public speaking requires the intersection of the message, the speaker, and the audience.  Even an Obama or a Reagan misfires sometimes when those three requirements, like the stars, are not aligned. 

Understanding how to put the three elements of a successful speech together requires something not often talked about in public speaking circles:  tact.  A speaker needs to have the tact to understand what is right for a particular audience at a particular time.   But what is tact, and how do you exercise it?

Here’s a way to think more precisely about what tact means.  As I talk about in more depth in Trust Me, there are 4 steps to a successful, tactful relationship with an audience.  Speaker and audience need to be first open and then connected with each other before the audience will be ready to hear the speaker’s passion.  The final step is for the speaker to listen to the audience as hard as the audience listens to the speaker.  Put all 4 steps together, and you have tact – and a successful speech. 

Now, watch what happens when someone has plenty of passion, but isn’t open or connected with his audience. The resulting fatal lack of tact is hilarious: http://bit.ly/bF7hue. 

Clinton, Blair, and the Future of the World

In 1996, when Bill Clinton was running for president for the second time, and Tony Blair was the opposition leader in Great Britain, getting ready for the election that was to make him Prime Minister, Blair made a trip to the White House to meet with Clinton.  At the end of the meeting, when the press was invited in, one of the British papers asked Clinton, “Do you hope that you’re sitting next to the next Prime Minister of the UK?” 

It was a tricky question, designed to force the President to insult one of the two UK political parties.  Clinton, without missing a beat, said, “I just hope he’s sitting next to the next President of the United States.” 

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair relayed that story during an extraordinary conversation between the two political leaders that you can watch here: http://bit.ly/ac2eTv.  Regardless of your opinion of their politics, it’s inarguable that these two men have had highly successful and (mostly) praiseworthy post-office careers.  Clinton has formed the Clinton Global Initiative, and Blair has his Faith Foundation, his work in the Middle East and Africa, and a very lucrative public speaking career. 

I recommend the video highly, even though it’s long, for public speakers, because these are two masters of communications talking about how they see the world now and doing some ex post facto justification of their own political careers.  It’s fascinating stuff, and it’s impressive to watch. 

Blair defers to Clinton, but subtly, because the former President is the alpha dog today as he was when Blair was accused of being his poodle, and the UK press lambasted him for being too deferential to Clinton and the US.  It’s not an issue that matters much in the US.  Most Americans are so US-centric that their attitude is – if they ever think about it – “well, of course the Prime Minister defers to the President.” 

Dominance aside, both men are comfortable, articulate, and effective communicators.  Blair says “actually” too much, and Clinton looks tired and practically swallows the mike, but otherwise the two commit no gaffes and have interesting things to say about peace negotiations, the Middle East, technology and the coming generation, and the shape of the 21st century.  Blair tells better stories, and Clinton has the more probing analysis of political trends, but both men demonstrate an extraordinary grasp of the current state of the world and an ability to articulate that vision. 

Both men are hopeful about the Middle East because, they believe, societal changes will push the Arab leaders in the region to make a real accommodation with Israel.  We can only hope that they are still as smart about politics as they are gifted communicators. 

For once, Seth Godin is wrong!

I’m a big Seth Godin fan, and usually find his blogs insightful and thought-provoking.  Rarely, I disagree with them entirely.  Recently, Seth posted the following blog, with which I disagree so violently that I have to blog in opposition: 

Rehearsing is for cowards
Jackson Browne gave us that advice. He would rather have you explore.
Exploring helps you figure out what you can do the next time you present or perform or interact. Rehearsing . .  . means figuring out exactly what you're going to do so you can protect against the downside, the unpredictable and the embarrassing.
I'm not dismissing study, learning, experimenting or getting great at what you do. In fact, I'm arguing in favor of this sort of hard work. No, I'm talking about the repetition of doing it before you do it, again and again. Just drilling it in so you can regurgitate later. Better, I think, as they say, "...let's do it live."
A well-rehearsed performance will go without a hitch. An explorer seeks the hitches, because hitches are the fissures and chasms that help us leap forward.

For public speakers, this is terrible advice.  I often work with executives who say, “I don’t want to rehearse.  I’ll just get stale.  I’m better when I wing it.”

And when they wing it, what happens?  They ask the first person they see, after the talk, “How did I do?”  Of course, the first person is the Senior Vice President for Stuff, and he says, “You were great, Chief,” because that’s his job. 

In fact, what happens when you wing it, or you don’t rehearse, is that your body language signals to the audience, “Hey, folks, I’m doing this for the first time!”  It's unconscious, but the audience picks it up subliminally right away.  Now, some people are terrified when they’re doing something for the first time, and some people are merely excited, but everyone is at least a little uncertain. 

If a little uncertainty is what you want to telegraph to the audience, then by all means don’t rehearse.  But if you want to show up, instead, as confident, or cool, or in charge, then you need to rehearse. 

The idea of getting stale is widely misunderstood.  It’s your job as a speaker to show up for your speech with 3 things:  a great talk, a passion for your subject, and a willingness to listen to your audience.  To have a great talk – which means knowing it thoroughly – you have to rehearse.  If you bring your passion to the performance, you will never look stale or canned, because you will be genuinely there, in the moment.  And similarly, if you show up in the moment, you will be able to listen to your audience. 

That’s why you have to rehearse.  And that’s why Seth’s blog, just this once, is terrible advice for public speakers. 

The Career Clinic Podcast -- Part 5

To wrap up this series of podcasts with Maureen Anderson of the Career Clinic, we talk about:

1.  David Meerman Scott's new book, as well as what Pam Slim and Steve Farber spoke about at the Public Words Speaker Forum 2010. 

2.  The secret to always being interesting in front of an audience

3.  The two things you need to do to be successful as a speaker

Thanks again to Maureen for a fun interview and series.  Monday, I'll take on Seth Godin. 

The Career Clinic Sept 2010 -5

 

The Career Clinic Podcast -- Part 4

I continue my podcast with Maureen Anderson of the Career Clinic, covering the following points:

1.  How to interact with audiences

2.  What NOT to do the night before you're giving a speech

3.  Why we still need public speaking in this virtual age

Enjoy!

The Career Clinic Sept 2010 - 4

 

The Career Clinic Podcast -- Part 3

In chapter 3 of the Career Clinic Podcast with Maureen Anderson, we cover:

1.  The secret of charisma

2. How to structure a speech to make it interesting

3.  How to connect with your passion in speaking

4.  Why you should involve your audience

5.  How to be an authentic speaker

The Career Clinic Sept 2010 -3

 

Enjoy!

The Career Clinic Podcast - Part 2

For this second installment of my podcast with Maureen Anderson of the Career Clinic, I cover:

1.  How to take your audience on a journey that keeps it engaged

2.  How long attention spans are today and what to do about them

3.  Connecting with your audience

4.  How the 80-20 rule applies to public speaking.

Enjoy!  

The Career Clinic Sept 2010 -2

 

The Career Clinic Podcast - Part 1

Saturday morning, when I should have been working on my to-do list, I was interviewed by Maureen Anderson of The Career Clinic.  Maureen and her husband Darrell create this consistently interesting show from deep in the Midwest.  Maureen also speaks on the subject of finding the right job, and she's written a book, The Career Clinic:  Eight Simple Rules for Finding Work You Love.  I'll post sections from the program throughout the week.  Thanks to Maureen and Darrell for making the show fun and the podcast available.   In this segment, I talk about the importance of passion, how to begin a speech, and what to do about introductions.

 

 

The Career Clinic Sept 2010-1

 

 

 

Five Steps to Take to Improve Your Public Speaking This Fall

Returning to work in the fall after summer holidays is a good time to take stock and make resolutions for the rest of the year.  If you give regular presentations, you’ve probably had some time off and are looking at a fall calendar with some dates marked in red.  Here are a few steps you can take today to ensure that those speaking occasions will be successful.  Make these steps regular practice and you’ll find yourself in demand as a great speaker. 

I. Research the audience and find out what you have in common

If you know what’s on the minds of your listeners, you can focus the speech on their needs rather than on a data dump of the information you already have.  If you know what you have in common with them, you can connect with them better.  And if it’s appropriate, mention those common links early in your speech. 

II. Prepare the speech 3 weeks before you give it, then learn it thoroughly

As good as you think you are at winging it, your body will betray you unconsciously if you’re doing something for the first time.  The audience will pick up – unconsciously – on those little betrayals and will read them as nervousness.  That will make the audience nervous.  The result is a doom loop you don’t want to start.  Instead, prepare and learn the speech 3 weeks out – you need that much time to get it in your bones. 

III. Rehearse the emotions of the speech

What makes a speech memorable is emotion – it’s the glue that makes memories stick in our minds.  So make sure you know what your emotional attitude is toward the material in the speech, and then practice feeling that when you deliver it.  If you’re excited, show it!

IV. Check out the venue beforehand

Many speakers are flummoxed by something unexpected at the venue.  Even the great ones are – Seth Godin once told me that the reason he displayed some awkward body language at a TED speech was that he was thrown off by the unexpected presence of a piano on stage that restricted his room to move. (He recovered and still did a great job!)  So check out the space beforehand – ideally well beforehand – and visualize yourself moving confidently and successfully through the speech in the space.

V. Walk the room before the speech

Just before the speech, perhaps at a rehearsal, or perhaps the night or morning before, walk the entire room.  Get a sense of how big it is, and how the stage looks from every seat.  That way, you’ll be able to project to the entire audience, not just the front row – a classic mistake many speakers make.

Take on these 5 to-dos and watch your public speaking improve rapidly. 

J. K. Rowling, Harvard, and the memorable commencement speech

A reader was kind enough to send me a link to J. K. Rowling’s commencement address to Harvard in 2008 and ask what I thought of her performance.  Watching the video brought to mind how much public speaking has changed and what the new requirements are now for success in public speaking. 

Let me begin by saying that if you’re a die-hard Harry Potter fan, stop reading.  You won’t brook any criticism of J. K., so it’s time to check out now.   I’m a Harry Potter fan too, but public speaking is public speaking, and I have to call the shots as I see them. 

J. K.’s  is a classic commencement speech.  It has touches of humor and irony, some humility from the famous person invited to hold forth for the benefit of the new grads, and the requisite dollop of good advice.  Failure and imagination are the themes.  You need them both. 

It’s a good speech – it’s well written – but there is something about it that feels terribly old-fashioned.  Rowling reads the speech from start to finish, looking up occasionally to see the audience, but for a good deal of the time her head is buried in her text.  The result is an elegantly worded, ultimately remote speech.  It reads as a text better than it sounds.  

Of course, an author as famous as J. K. Rowling thrills her audience simply by showing up.  It’s a coup for Harvard to have her on the dais.   Nonetheless, audiences today expect a conversation and a connection with the speaker.  The remote, text-oriented, read speech simply doesn’t seem interesting enough to audiences brought up on the intimacy of television and talk.  Worse than that, it doesn’t really connect with the audience. 

Commencement speeches, and political conventions, because of their formal quality are the last bastion of the read speech.  That’s why they seem so boring.  As J. K. herself notes, she remembered nothing of the commencement speech given at her graduation, despite the famous philosopher who gave it.  

Those few commencement speeches that stick in the minds of their witnesses do so because of the ways in which they break the conventions of the boring read text.  Here are three ways to make your commencement speech memorable:

1.    Talk to the audience; don’t read to them.
2.    Make the speech interactive.
3.    Don’t give advice.

If you must read your commencement speech (why?), then here are four ways to make the speech seem more lively:

1.    Use a teleprompter.  That will at least keep your head up out of your notes.
2.    Keep your sentences short and conversational in style. 
3.    Look down at the text to get the next sentence, then deliver it with your head up facing the audience.  Only look down when you’re finished, to get the next line.   That takes some practice, but it is possible with effort.
4.    Vary your pacing, your pitch, your tone – everything.  Just like in conversation. 

I hope J. K.’s next commencement speech is less formal and more engaging.  Given how little of a commencement speech is remembered by the audience, the speakers should just relax and talk to their audiences.  They’d have a better chance of being heard. 

Can you change the world in 15 minutes?

A little book arrived in the mail recently:  15 minutes including Q & A:  A Plan to Save the World from Lousy Presentations, by Joey Asher, president of Speechworks, a communications coaching firm in Atlanta.  Let me say from the outset that I love just about everything about this book.  It’s a polemic against long, boring, over-PowerPointed business speeches, and that’s a subject I’ve been blogging about for 4 years now.  So what’s not to love?  More, within the polemic is some crisp, good advice for organizing brief speeches and delivering them. 

There are only a couple of points about those brief speech tips that I’d argue over with Joey, and I’ll cover those below, but overall he’s just about right on the money.  This is a great book for mid-level executives, speakers preparing to lead breakout sessions, speakers in internal meetings – the great silent majority of speeches given in a thousand companies around the world every day. 

Here’s my one main problem with the book:  because (as I’ve said many times) the only reason to give a speech is to change the world, our business as speakers is changing the minds of our audience.  Now, changing people’s minds is both an intellectual and an emotional exercise.  And to make a real, lasting emotional decision to change our minds takes more than 15 minutes including Q & A.  As I’ve seen in thousands of speeches over the years, changing people’s minds requires time because you have to take them down into the problem and wallow there for a while, before you can lead them back up into the solution.  Otherwise, we listen, and we even engage intellectually, but we don’t change our minds fundamentally.  If I’m going to come over to your point of view, then you’re going to have to stay with me a spell and show me you really get my problem, and that you’ve got a solution that’s worthy of my consideration.   

So if you have to change the minds of the audience about something important, something that matters, something that people care about deeply, you need more than 15 minutes including Q & A.  That’s a fact of psychology.  But if your speech is, say, a breakout session on “Maximizing the Online Marketing Impact of X,” or “Improving SEO Rankings for Local Real Estate Offers,” then this book provides an excellent template for your speech. 

And further, Joey raises a good point:  what justification do we have to take more than 15 minutes of people’s time these days?  I love – love – the implicit courtesy to the rest of us time-deprived people.  The only justification for taking more time is to have an issue that’s important to the audience, a point of view that’s sincere, and genuine respect for the audience’s need to make a decision for itself. 

The few minor points that I disagree with Joey about in his excellent little book follow.  First, his recommendations for organizing the 7-minute speech are fine, but they contain more recapping than I think is really necessary.  In that short a speech, you simply don’t need as many signposts as he suggests.  Second, his ideas for transitions are too simplistic; it gets a little tedious to say, “That’s point one.  Point two is next.  It is…..”  Good storytelling takes more than mere enumeration.  And finally, in the delivery section, he makes good (if rather basic) points about eye contact, but strays into dangerous territory when he tells people to “exaggerate” as a way of making your presentation more interesting.  That does work for some people, but for others it creates hilarious results.   Of course, it’s difficult to provide one-size-fits-all advice in a book, especially one this short, but nonetheless, I think the idea of exaggeration as the only fundamental approach to mention is wrong.  There are other approaches to bringing out your personal style that work better.   Imagining yourself talking to a close friend or family member, for example. 

Overall, I recommend the book highly as an intelligent, bracing polemic with a great deal of useful advice packed into a very brief space.  Nice job.  If everyone took Joey’s advice, the business speaking world would be a much better place.  And we could perhaps save the longer speeches for the ones that really matter.