'CONNECT' 54 - Tips on Public Speaking - After the Speech

The philosophy of the wisest man that ever existed, is mainly derived from the act of introspection.

William Godwin

After the speech....

For a singer every concert is an experience. For a lawyer every case and for a surgeon every operation is an experience. It is so for a speaker also! There are occasions where I will be extremely happy after giving a speech. There are also occasions when I felt that I could have done better. I introspect my own performance after every speech.

The following checklist could be useful:

·         What was the theme of my speech? Did I do justice for the theme?

·         Did I manage my time effectively? Did I take more time or less time?

·         Did I effectively reach out to the audience?

·         Were the stories and jokes I gave relevant? Could I have used some other?

·         To what extent I met the expectations of the audience? Could I have done better?

·         Did I match the wavelength of the audience? Was it too high or too low?

·         If there were other speakers along with me, how did I fare compared to them?

It will be a good idea to write down three areas of improvement after every speech. A friend of mine has a journal in which he has his audit findings for the past 20 years!

NC Sridharan

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'CONNECT' 53 -Tips on Public Speaking - Using flash cards

'Only the prepared speaker deserves to be confident'.

Dale Carnegie

Using flash cards....

How well you are organised while giving your speech is also very important. It is like travelling. If you are well organised during the travel, you will enjoy the same.

While giving your speech the most important issue is how you handle your notes. Your notes should be handy and organised properly. Small handy flash cards are better than papers. If you are holding the paper in front of your face and speaking, you may be hiding your face and this will stand in the way of making eye contact with the audience.

The number of words per flash card is also very important. The font size of the notes should be large enough that you can access it without any difficulty. You should not 'read' from the flash card. You should 'glance' it and mention what is in the flash card. It should not be very obvious that you are reading from the flash card. This means that you should have read the cards couple of times and taken the contents into your memory so that the cards are there just a memory aid.

This small preparation will go a long way in building your image as a good public speaker!

NC Sridharan

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'CONNECT' 52 - Tips for Public Speaking - Preparation

'By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.' 
 Benjamin Franklin

Getting organised for your speech

One important aspect in public speaking is getting organised to deliver your speech. The preparation that you do before getting on to the stage is very critical to dleiver a quality speech. It is part of your planning portfolio.

For example, making notes to refer during the speech. Flash cards are very good. If you are used to note pads, it is better. However, I always find a flash card even more comfortable since it is easy to spread the card in front of you for easy eye access. Moreover the fact that you write a joke or a quotation on flash cards helps you register the same into your memory better than typing on a note pad like gadget.

May be you can choose a few jokes, quotations, stories and anecdotes and ensure that what you have chosen is appropriate for the topic you are going to speak on. Once you have chosen the same, ensure that you have them in front of you, especially the most appropriate ones. Sometimes you may forget give them during your speech and regret that you should have done.

It is also a good idea to have a check list on how you want to deliver and in what sequence. 

N C Sridharan

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CONNECT' 51 - Tips on Public Speaking - connecting with the audience

'A good teacher, like a good entertainer first must hold his audience's attention, then he can teach his lesson.

John Henrik Clarke

Connecting with the audience...

The audience play a very important role in your public speaking. You need to build and maintain a good rapport with them. In some way you may have to involve them in your speech. Here are some suggestions.

• You may start with a question to the audience. For example: 'do you know what Neil Armstrong said first when  he landed on the moon?
• You may make them curious. For example: I have something very funny to share with you which you will remember forever. But I will tell this only at the end!
• You may get some clarification from the audience. For example: Can anyone explain what causes colour blindness?
• You may five some interesting information which is common for all the audience in general. For example:  I am sure all of you have school going kids. I am going to explain what causes loss of memory.

It will be a good idea to know about the profile of the audience and their mix, their age group, their interest areas etc. You can talk to the organisers of the event to know this.

These may appear to be small issues, but they are relevant to make your speech interesting.

NC Sridharan

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'CONNECT' 50 - Tips on Public Speaking - Daily Preparation

Daily Preparation

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” 
 Benjamin Franklin

Being an effective communicator also requires certain amount of consistent preparation. Like singing and dancing, public speaking is also a skill to be developed on a continuous basis. This is more so when you want to be a professional speaker. A professional singer practices singing every day. Periodically he updates his skill and looks forward to the next opportunity to apply something he learnt recently.

This principle applies to a professional speakers also.

The following tips may be useful:

• Attend to as many public speaking events as possible. Keep watching the talk shows on television. Observe how a news readers delivers the news watching the diction and pronunciation.
• Keep collecting short stories to be included in your speech. Make a flash card or have it handy on you iPad.
• Collect as many jokes as possible and have them readily accessible. You can categorise them as students jokes, doctors joke, lawyers jokes etc.
• Update your language proficiency on a regular basis improving grammar, idioms and phrases, metaphors, similes etc.
• Improve your listening skill so that you can meet the arguments in a group discussion or debate etc.

Remember that unless you have the passion, you will not do the above!

NC Sridharan

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'CONNECT' 47 - Tips on Public Speaking - Telling a Joke

How to tell a joke

“The gods too are fond of a joke.” 
Aristotle

Since public speaking is face to face communication, you have to keep the attention of the audience on what you say retaining their interest. One way to do this is by using humour.

But there is one word of caution: if you are not a humorous person, don't attempt it. Telling a joke should have a natural flow, else it will be counterproductive.

There are lot of advantages in telling jokes in your speech. Jokes will bond the audience cutting across age, race, gender or class barriers. Humour relaxes the audience and makes them more receptive to what you say. In this frame of mind they may be more interested to listen to you. It may make them to link what you said before the joke, what you are saying currently and what you are going to say next. Humour makes your speech live. Humour will help to enliven your speech especially when the subject of your speech is dry.

You should use the right type of jokes which will fit into the subject. You should do a good home work in selecting subject wise jokes, contextualising the same with your speech and practicing before your speech. Else, it will be a failure. Timing is also very important.

N C Sridharan

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'CONNECT' 46 - Tips on Public Speaking - How to tell a story

How to tell a story

Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.

Robert McAfee Brown

Story telling is also an art! Anyone can tell a story, but everyone cannot tell a story in an interesting way. The purpose of telling a story is to retain the attention of the audience on us. We can make a story from our own experience also. For example, we can explain what interesting experience we had when we were trekking last summer.

You may note the following tips for telling the story in an interesting way:

·         Make the story short. If it takes too much, the audience may switch off.

·         Make use of simple words and sentences so that everyone understands it.

·         Make the story relevant to the context.

·         The story should not offend the sentiments of the audience in any way.

·         Use variations in pitch and voice modulations to retain the attention of the audience.

·         Make eye contact and ensure rapport while telling the story.

Let there be a beginning, the body and the end. Explain how this story is relevant for the subject of your speech. Have a good collection of short stories and have them handy. Keep updating the list. Ensure you don't tell the same story everywhere you speak!

Practice story telling regularly and get the skill.

NC Sridharan

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'CONNECT' 45 - Tips on Public Speaking - Using Stories and Jokes

Stories and Jokes

It is 10 times harder to command the ear than to catch the eye.”

Duncan Maxwell Anderson

When you have to reach something to someone, you should deliver it in the same shape you intended without any damage. The package should ensure that there is no transit damage or loss. This applies to delivering your speech also. You should plan how to deliver it and ensure that the audience receive the message in the same way.  You should also use the concept of 'packaging' your speech so that the content, the logic and the spirit of communication is 'not lost in transit'!

Stories and joke serve this purpose. They help to retain the attention of the audience to what you say. You should understand that unless and until the audience are interested in what you say, they will switch off.

Stories and jokes help you to package your speech sin such a way that the listener understands the substance of your message correctly. They help your message to 'embed' in the minds of the audience. That is what grand parents did when we were young! But over the years we have forgotten how to tell a story or a joke.

In the next few newsletters we will know how to tell a story or a joke to make our speech interesting.

N C Sridharan

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'CONNECT' 44 - Tips on Public Speaking - Pitch of Your Voice

The Pitch of Your Voice

He who wants to persuade should put his trust not in the right argument, but in the right word. The power of sound has always been greater than the power of sense.
Joseph Conrad

In a way public speaking and singing in a concert are similar. Both use voice is the medium to impress the audience. Both use the throat and the vocal muscles to project what the person wants to deliver. Both have to be pleasing and appealing to the ears of the audience. Both establish an emotional bond with the audience using the sound as the medium of communication.

Pitch is the highs and lows of our voice. Varying and using the appropriate pitch will be pleasing to the ears of the audience both in singing as well as in public speaking. Pitch is determined by the rate of vibration of the vocal cords and by how tight or relaxed is our vocal cord. This vibration in turn is determined by the thickness of the vocal cords. Whenever we are overcome by extreme emotions such as irritation, anger etc., the thickness of the vocal cords are affected.

When we speak, as I said earlier, we should use inflection. Here is how the pitch of our voice is important to show our emotions. Pitch is not a genetic factor, though we may our own natural pitch. We can certainly control our pitch while speaking as present a emotionally powerful voice.

NC Sridharan

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'CONNECT' 43 - Tips on Public Speaking - Voice Projection

Voice Projection

'To speak and to speak well are two things. A fool may talk, but a wise man speaks'

Ben Johnson

Your voice projects your personality. Unlike in writing, in public speaking how you 'sound' is very important. Your voice should be attractive enough to keep the attention of the audience on what you speak. stop reading this page and do an exercise. Take a voice recorder. Your mobile phone is good enough for this exercise.

Speak for one minute on anything. It could be your hobby, the weather, politics or anything on which you can speak for one minute. After speaking, plug in your earphone and check on the following parameters which will decide your voice projection:

• Is your voice high pitched?
• Is it nasal?
• Is it whiny?
• Is it hoarse, husky, rough etc?
• Is it monotone?
• Is it too soft?

You should be audible in the first place. If people cannot hear you, they cannot follow what you are speaking. Your voice level should be adequate. Shouting may be jarring to the ears. Mumbling will not deliver the message. If you are using a microphone, check the volume before you start addressing the audience. If you are not using a microphone, ensure that the person seated in the last row will be able to hear you without any difficulty.

N C Sridharan

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'CONNECT' 42 - Tips on Public Speaking - Pace of Your Speech

The Pace of Your Speech

The trouble with talking too fast is you may say something you haven't thought of yet.
Ann Landers

You may be very proficient in the language in which you speak; you may use metaphors, similes and idioms; your diction, pronunciation, articulation and inflection may be good. But, what if you speak too fast or too slow? Your rate of speech is very important to decide the quality of your communication.

We should know that the audience in front of us should not only 'hear' but also 'listen' to what we say and translate the same into understanding. The way we deliver our speech will affect the quality of their listening. One important parameter in our delivery is the pace of our speech and its speed.

Speaking too fast is a common mistake some speakers commit, knowingly or unknowingly. There may me various reasons for this. May be by nature we talk fast. Or we may be tensed up or excited and speeding up our speech may be our physiological response to manage our tension and excitement. Whatever be the reasons, we need to keep the audience perspective when we speak.

If we are too slow or too fast, the audience will switch off and disconnect. It will be a good idea to record our speech and listen to it to check the above parameters.

N C Sridharan

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'CONNECT' 40 - Tips on Public Speaking - Using Similes

'Eloquence is the power to translate a truth into language perfectly intelligible to the person to whom you speak'

Ralph Waldo Emerson

How to use similes

Use of similes is also another way to make your speech interesting and attractive. Just as in metaphors, in similes also two things are compared. But the difference is we use 'connecting' words such as 'like', 'as' in a simile which is not the case in a metaphor. In metaphor we say 'A' is 'B' as though the two are identical. But in a simile, we say 'A' is like 'B' since A may not be identical to B.

I give below some examples of similes:

• He marched off to the field like a soldier on a mission
• His laughter was like a thunder
• My child screamed like a police car siren
• He ran like a race horse across the finish line
• He looked as proud as a peacock
• Like a newly hatched chick, the infant stared at her proud parents
• My son is as smart as Albert Einstein
• She sang as a cuckoo

The purpose of metaphor and simile is to paint a vivid picture in the mind of the listener. However, we should use them as naturally as possible. We should read a lot of novels and stories and understand how to use them with a natural flow.

N C Sridharan

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'CONNECT' 34: Tips on public speaking...the first 30 seconds

I don't get stage fright, I actually love the energy, I love the spontaneity, I love the adrenaline you get in front of a live audience, it actually really works for me.

Brooke Burke

How you in the first 30 seconds of your speech is very important. Even if you are a professional speaker with years of experience, you may have some tension and stress inside you which is natural. Do you think that Serena Williams will not have tension when she goes to play a game of tennis?

When you reach to the podium, do not rush to speak. Do not lean on the podium. It may mean that you are nervous which you are trying to hide. Take a few seconds to get set. Look at the audience and try to make eye contact with them . Arrange and organise your papers or flash cards and keep them at a place where you can access easily. Take a deep breath. Smile. And then you may start your speech.

May be there are occasions where you may not be comfortable. May be there are speakers who are much more senior to you. Or there may be great personalities and legends on the stage and you may not be comfortable to speak in front of them. Still feel comfortable. Fake it to make it! Yes, even if you feel uncomfortable, fake as though you are comfortable and you will feel comfortable!

N C Sridharan

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'CONNECT' 33: Your speech should also be a visual treat!

'People trust their ears less than their eyes'

Herodotus

Your speech should be a visual treat to the audience and not merely a treat to their ears!

I want you to watch good public speakers delivering their speech. Watch the news hour on the TV channels and watch how professionals speak. On the YouTube you will get great speeches from leading personalities such as Bill Gates, Steve Job, Narendra Modi, Barack Obama etc. Listen not only to the contents of their speech but also how they deliver their speech. Watch their non verbal aspects of their communication. Watch their body language, how they stand, how they move and how they present their speech. Log on to https://www.ted.com and watch how professional speakers deliver. You will also find some good samples in YouTube.

Expert speakers know how to present themselves elegantly. They pay special attention to this important aspect of their speech. They also get trained on this. Novice speakers move their body in unwanted ways, constantly shift their weight from one side to the other, fidget with their papers and pens etc. Some speakers become statues and stare at their audience showing that they are nervous and uncertain about what they have to speak.

This is where attending a good public speaking course becomes very relevant.

N C Sridharan

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'CONNECT' 31: Making eye contact with audience

'Communication is depositing a part of yourself in another person'

Anonymous

In as much as the eyes of the audience is a window to their mind, your eyes also speak volumes about how you feel inside as you deliver your speech. As you get ready for your speech and stand in front of the podium, the few seconds that you span the audience is enough for them to gauge you. If you have stage fright your eyes will reveal it. If you are not sure of the topic you are going to speak, your eyes will say this. If you are confused your eyes will say this. If you are not comfortable or embarrassed with some questions from the audience, your eyes will inform this to the audience. If you get angry with the audience your eyes will expose your feelings!

You can also use eye contact to establish a good rapport with the audience before you actually deliver your speech. You can plan to arrive little earlier at the venue and spend a few minutes with the audience by talking to them one person at a time making eye contact. You may engage in a casual conversation with them to know what they expect from your speech. While doing so make sure that you make eye contact with them.

N C Sridharan

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'CONNECT' 30: Tips on Public Speaking: Establishing Eye Contact

'An eye can threaten like a loaded and leveled gun, or it can insult like hissing or kicking; or, in its altered mood, by beams of kindness, it can make the heart dance for joy'

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I read somewhere that eyes are the windows to the soul. Universally it is agreed that establishing eye contact with the audience improves the quality of our communication. Eyes by themselves may not communicate any emotions. however, how you use your eyes and the areas around your eyes such as the eyebrows etc, may mean a lot to those who are in front of you.

When addressing an audience, look into their eyes in a friendly and pleasant way. It will improve the rapport. It is not merely looking at their eyes which matters, but also how you look. If you have a piercing look into the other person, he may not like it. It should make the other person feel at ease and connected.

When you are addressing a group of people, looking only at one person or a section of the audience may convey an impression that you do not care about others. If someone is looking at your eyes, you should also connect. If you don't, it may mean that you are avoiding him.

You can also divide the audience into sections like the left, the right, the front and the rear and make eye contact as though you are a light house beam.

NC Sridharan

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'CONNECT' 29: Tips on Public Speaking: Mind Your Facial Expression

The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said.

Peter Drucker

When you are addressing someone, two things are taking place: you are evaluating others, and others are evaluating you! In fact, even if you are not evaluating others, others are always evaluating you. It is very important that you get the feedback of the evaluation. Some may give their feedback directly. But many may not. Non verbal cues are very important.

Next time when you speak to someone, notice the their facial expression. People can communicate with you without uttering a single word! Research on body language say the following:

• Pursed lips may mean that emotions are held back
• Yawning may mean that the person feels bored and sleepy
• Raised eyebrow may mean that the person is surprised at what you say
• A head nod may mean that either the person agrees or disagrees
• If the person is not maintaining eye contact with you, it may mean that his mind is wandering or he is avoiding you
• If someone is looking at his wrist watch, it may mean that you are not engaging his mind interestingly or that you are exceeding your time

A good public speaker is sensitive to understand the mind of the audience through their facial expression.

N C Sridharan

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