Public Speaking Tip

[tijmenklip]

I have been struggling a while with public speaking in my job. I was okay performing for a small group. But as our company grew, so did the size of the audience of potential customers and partners attending presentations. Resulting in ever increasing anxiety levels before and during the gigs. My head would feel flaming hot and this gut level reaction was preventing me from enjoying my work. It halted growth personally as well as in my career. Then I stumbled upon some remarkable insights.

I was convinced that the if-this-then-that structure of the body and mind; like feeling confident would lead me to acting and posing like a confident person. Although this is true, it also works the other way around!!! Apparently the neurological structures in our mind and body have so much feedback loops, that if you act confident (standing straight, brisk walking, relaxed smile) you will feel confident as well! I came to these findings after seeing this TED talk;

https://tinyurl.com/nwuuukp

and subsequently reading this book:

https://tinyurl.com/o7dkl27.

I took this advice to heart and started using confident body language and postures. And it worked! First a little, then more, and right now I enjoy public speaking! I give better presentations and feel way less anxious during and before my talks. I even get something of a positive rush during.

I hope you guys can learn something from this. So what is your experience with public speaking? And how do you cope with the stress involved with the act of presenting?

 

[JohnRBaker]

I've been giving presentations for years to groups ranging from a few co-workers to hundreds, and on a couple of occasions, over a thousand of our customers at national and international user conferences. Once you get past about a 100 it doesn't make a lot of difference anyway. One thing to keep in mind, and this really helps, is to remember that the people sitting in the audience are there to hear what YOU have to say. For that moment, irrespective of whether people consider you egotistical or not (however, having a big ego DOES help), you are the SMARTEST PERSON IN THE ROOM! After all, you have to assume that you know something that the members of the audience does not and that they are there to learn exactly what that is. If you approach public speaking with that in mind, you will do fine.

I was lucky that even back when I was in college (the late 60's) in several of the classes that I took we had to give oral presentations, some prepared and some impromptu. I also worked as a DJ at our dorm radio station so that helped as well to get over the idea that people were listening to you. And another thing, I also lector at our church on Sundays where typical attendance can be around 800 or so, and on Holy Days, well over 1000. Again, once you start doing this on a regular basis it really becomes second nature.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Digital Factory
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[msquared48]

My biggest problem is a dry mouth. Need water every 5 minutes or so to continue. Working on speaking normally - extemporaneous as it were. Still stuck to a script/outline crutch.

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)

 

[tickle]

The thing that made me more confident is watching a video of myself presenting. I could then see that the pauses that I believed went on forever and crippled me during the presentation, actually came across as "thought gathering" time and helped the presentation flow. I thought I came across as scared and incompetent, but for the most part I was not. And the bits where I did, were actually quite natural. I guess most of the time people want to listen to present because of the way you are in normal conversation, so aim to be natural, do not become a stuttering robot as soon as the powerpoint presentation fires up.

I am by no means the best presenter, but I am comfortable with that.

 

[SkipVought]

If you want to be an effective presenter, as well as being more comfortable with fielding questions extemporaneously, look for a Toastmasters club. There may even be one already started by fellow employees in your company. There were several in mine.

Consider it a laboratory for practicing and sharpening your speaking skills, both prepared and on the fly, in a non-threatening environment. Nearly all of us have annoying speech habits that distract from the intent of the message. How often have you focused on these distractions rather than on the meat of the someone's message? You'll get help toward making you a better speaker.

Otherwise you're practicing on your most important audience, rather than on fellow speech polishers.

Skip,

_{Just traded in my OLD subtlety...
for a NUance!}

 

[JohnRBaker]

Yes, in one of those classes I took back in college they had just acquired a reasonably priced small studio quality video camera and portable tape recorder (back in 1970 when I took the class I'm sure that it still set the school back $20k or so, but I think they got some grant or something to pay for it). This was one of those 3/4 or 1 inch wide tape machines that could record about 30 or 40 minutes of B/W video per reel. Anyway, we used it in one of my classes for a couple of presentations and then would play the tape back and do a peer review/critique with our instructor and the other class members. I think it really helped and of course we were still all young enough that we were able to catch things before they became habits since none of us had ever done anything like this before and even knowing that it was being taped added to the hurdles that you had to learn to get over and move on.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Digital Factory
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[berkshire]

I did an instructors class a few years ago where they used the videotape. They played it back about 20% faster that it was recorded.
This really highlighted the useless hand gestures and nervous ticks you did not want to know about.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[Ron]

I cannot do a scripted presentation. I can use a PowerPoint outline, but I can't memorize and repeat. I also can't "practice" a presentation. Once is it....good or bad.

I've spoken to many, many groups of a variety of sizes from university classes to TV interviews.....my point is that the more you do this, the easier it becomes. Multiple exposures to such presentations or speeches will make you better at it each time.

It can be gut-wrenching at first, but that eventually goes away.

 

[JohnRBaker]

I agree, except for when I'm lectoring at Mass, all of my presentations are unscripted. As for PowerPoint, I have a title slide, an outline of topics, some pictures of my granddaughters, my contact information at the end, and that's about it. Since I'm generally demoing the latest versions of our software, 95% of my presentation is live (I don't even use AVI's or macros) and yet people, usually our sales staff, are always asking me for my script and slide deck. They look so disappointed when I explain that it's all done live with no net. They just can't understand it. I've told them on more than one occasion that if you want my presentation, you'll have to videotape it, but be careful as I've never given the same talk or demo twice in a row.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Digital Factory
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[Sparweb]

Smaller groups are not necessarily easier to speak to. People in large groups know that they won't all get a chance to speak or ask questions. By group consensus you may get a quieter or more respectful room when there are a lot of people there. Members of a small group may expect a chance to speak up (depending on culture). There are times when these interruptions have interfered with my train of thought or the explanation I am making.

I sometimes give presentations to colleagues who LOVE to interrupt each other. Asserting my points during these demonstrations is giving me BAD public speaking and discussion habits. These include talking in long sentences that have few natural pauses. Fewer pauses leaves them with fewer opportunities to cut in. But it then makes my point hard to follow. So the audience has a role to play in listening to the message, rather than just waiting for their turn to talk.


STF

 

[KENAT]

Management here decided to videotape everyone a couple of years ago to help us improve or what have you.

I was pleasantly surprised with how good I appeared. Management asked us to list 3 things we'd like to improve, I came up with:

1. Controlling the meeting/keeping it on track.
2. Diction/Pronunciation.
3. Preparedness/Practice. Previously I’ve always run through presentations a couple of times by myself but I ran out of time for this one to do so properly. Also having notes/comments prepared beyond the slide points.

1. Has since got worse if anything, I've asked my manager about it and he doesn't seem remotely concerned - pretty much that it's a given with our management.
2. I've improved a bit, but may not have been that much of an issue to begin with.
3. I rarely have time to rehearse these days so probably still too many 'ums'.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[tijmenklip]

Thank you all for your great tips and insights.
Will definitly try taping my speeches.

You all mention a variety of sources to learn from; Toastmasters, academic and company courses.
Totally worth looking in to!

Does anyone recommend any books concerning public speaking? Or is it really just a matter of experience?

 

[SkipVought]

Experience, like muscle memory!

Skip,

_{Just traded in my OLD subtlety...
for a NUance!}

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Experience is a big help, but personality quirks ("uhms"and "ahs", hand-wringing, pregnant pauses, etc.) can only be mended with awareness.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[SkipVought]

...and that's where an ongoing program like Toastmasters helps you become aware of those annoying quirks and improve by way of experience. Positive feedback!

Skip,

_{Just traded in my OLD subtlety...
for a NUance!}