Lecture tips 1

[franzh]

Taking a queue from some of my other posts, and reading follow-ups, I would like to toss this in:
I have been working with an engineer, a young woman with an MSME, on a project. One of the deliverables was to make a presentation of findings and recommendations to a group of industry manufacturers and systems engineers. She is highly qualified and toss in the fact that she certainly doesn’t fit the mold of a stereotypical MSME, she felt she lacked some credibility. English isn’t her first language, she is just at 5 feet tall, and for a gentleman twice her age, drop dead gorgeous if I may say so (she is married to an engineer too, an MSME.)
We have a good professional relationship, and the day before her presentation, we were doing a “dry run” when she started having problems concentrating on her topic and began losing eye contact, stuttering, and the ever popular, “uh, uh”.
I made a suggestion I once heard from a very prominent lecturer. “Visualize you are speaking in front of a room of people who are all naked, just realize that you are too, but you are a whole lot better looking naked than they are!” When she quit laughing, she tried it, and it worked.
The next day at the presentation, I sat on the front row and winked at her. She almost immediately changed her speaking style from halting to very professional.
Even when things are on a level playing field, you just need to have an edge, anything will work.
Franz

eng-tips, by professional engineers for professional engineers
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

 

[HgTX]

I just heard something on the radio yesterday about a course offered at Julliard to avoid stage fright. This guy used to train Navy SEALs. He has the students play their pieces while all kinds of distractions are manufactured--screaming, dropping heavy things right at their feet with a big bang, playing other music off-key in the background, having them stop and sit in dead silence for 45 seconds with everyone staring at them and then resume, just a horror gallery of nasty performance situations.

Performance under pressure is performance under pressure, and I'd think a public speaking class in the same format would be fantastic. Beats the pants offa Toastmasters, anyway.

Hg

 

[epoisses]

Franz, I guess it worked for her, but I'm sure you did not hear a word she said! ;-)

 

[franzh]

Actually, it pays to keep a professional relationship mental as well as physical, and that’s as far as it goes. I work with her husband on a regular basis too and have a great deal of respect for both of them
Franz

eng-tips, by professional engineers for professional engineers
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

 

[BigH]

Just finished attending a conference where I had to give a presentation of my paper. Two years ago, my knees were shaking on the first time I had to give such a talk. Now, after a few of them under the belt, I am a lot more relaxed. I noted that most of the other speakers just talked in dead monotones with lots of slides and tables so small you couldn't read. I kept my slides to much less information and tried to speak with some passion - that is my recommendation in public speaking. If you have passion for your presentation, you can certainly instill that into the audience.
- aww but mental is a lot harder!

 

[HgTX]

Reading rather than talking is a fast track to dull speaking. If you don't have any full sentences written out, just phrases, you won't be able to just read stuff out. No one over the age of 8 likes being read to.

Hg

 

[corus]

Nerves are usually generated because of self-consciousness. It should be remembered that most people attending a lecture are more interested in what you say rather than you.

corus

 

[NickE]

"I just heard something on the radio yesterday about a course offered at Julliard to avoid stage fright."

heard the same article. was a pretty good one.

I think that stage fright and nervousness before a show (wether its RnR bands, Theatre, or formal business presentation) is essential to performing to the best of your ability. The trick is to not let the anxiety cripple you. You have to draw that energy and use its power to provide you the excitement to thrill your audience.

Remember:
"If you're not nervous, you're dead." -nick

(a line I always tell the actors before they walk out on stage. Its true in more ways than one.)

 

[HgTX]

I dunno that nervousness is a strict requirement, though I agree that if it's there it's probably better to learn to channel it than to try to suppress it. But sometimes you just plain know what you're doing.

My primary formal public "performance" experiences are teaching college courses and playing in a band. For the teaching, I just had fun figuring out different ways to get the idea across. With the band, I feel like the audience and I are there for a common purpose, all in on the same joke.

For my job, my primary public experience has been reporting at committee gatherings. Large groups, but not a very formal setting, and I bring much of the same mentality--the thrill is not in the fear, but in the challenge of figuring out on the fly how to make sense, and there's the reassurance that we're all in that room because we all are interested in that topic.

I'm giving my first conference presentation next week. The difference there is (a) there's not much opportunity for direct interaction with the audience in a 20-minute presentation to a large group (b) I fear people will be misled by the talk title (which had to be assigned months ago, before reality went in a slightly different direction) and will be disappointed. Neither of those is good for all of us being gathered for a common friendly purpose.

Hg

 

[Ron]

Obviously confidence is the key. If you know your subject, can anticipate the likely questions (don't worry about the obtuse ones....they probably aren't valid anyway!), and can converse with your audience rather than considering yourself to be the show pony, you'll usually do well.

I taught for 5 years at a university and found lecturing to students quite easy....but speaking at conferences of my peers was more difficult. Why? Because lurking back there is always the supposition that someone out there knows more about my subject than I. So what!? There's always someone out there who knows more or knows the material from a different perspective (or at least thinks they do!). They're not up there pouring out their professional souls...you are. That in itself gives you the edge!

BigH....Your paper was quite good. Thanks.

 

[zdas04]

I once had to give a talk to all of the giants in my field. My thesis was that all of their work for the previous decade was irrelevant and I had a better way. Talking about a bunch of folks that knew more about the subject than I did!! I gave the talk. The questions were all directed at delving into my work, and these folks were a great audience.

I've never been nervous in a talk since.

David

 

[plasgears]

HgTX,

Toastmasters Intl is the most civilized means of training for public speaking, and its effectiveness should not be minimized.

The format is friendly and structured with three assigned speakers and evaluators. Others not on the agenda for the meeting can be picked for Table Topics, which is an exercise in extemporaneous speaking. Other assigned positions are Grammarian, Timer, word for the day, and Invocation. Progress is very rapid. There is the basic ten-speech course, and a flexible advanced course.

I have been generally a public Toastmaster, serving with the American Cancer Society and candidate forums. I have been quick to give eulogies for deceased relatives, which separates the men from the boys, as the expression goes. The advanced course now has Eulogies as a topic, in which I had a hand.

10 year Toastmaster, Advanced graduate