public speaking Archives

What Makes A Good Speech, GREAT? (And Why Steve Jobs Is Still Inspiring People on YouTube)

When we first thought of deconstructing a good speech, it seemed like such a great and obvious idea to showcase our public speaking programme.

After exhausting a month’s worth of data on YouTube, we realised it’s not easy to pick just one. When it comes to great, world-changing orators, there are so many to choose from!

After much thought and discussion, we finally picked Steve Jobs’ commencement speech at the Stanford university’s 114th Commencement on June 12, 2005 – 29 million views and counting!

Wow! Right?

For us, two things immediately stand out –

The power of storytelling
He is reading it out from his notes!

But seriously, one of the reasons we chose this talk – apart from the fact that this is a great example of a memorable speech – is to debunk the myth that a good speech has to be memorised!

Now to be honest when it comes to the delivery style, this speech doesn’t hold a candle to Martin Luther King’s famous civil rights speech or Winston Churchill’s radio address or Hitler’s power-packed performances.

There are no quotable quotes, no deep voices, no arm throwing – yet it is memorable; you will remember his life stories, and you will remember the last few words (Stay hungry, stay foolish) forever!

Let’s find out why this is a good speech –

Humans are wired to listen to stories, and when those stories are about love and loss and overcoming difficult life situations, we empathise! We root for the underdog, and we revel in his victories. In the end, we come out feeling good!

The speech follows the arc of his life – mapping three crucial milestones and each reinforces the same core message – Do what you love, believe in yourself, and everything will work out!

Let’s look at the first story – we start with a baby boy left in limbo while his birth mother holds out for the right parents. He builds up the importance of education and then destroys it in favour of individuality, and he does this in one of the best and most expensive educational institutions in the world; in front of hundreds of graduates – how’s that for a beginning!

And before it all gets too heavy and sentimental, he times it just perfectly to give the story a happy ending with a little bit of fun in the form of a humorous swipe at his biggest competitor –

“If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them.”

Moreover, he returns and employs this storytelling structure in the other two stories as well – starts with an idea or a hint to what the core message could be; talks about a terrible period of his life and finally presents a uplifting success story – the audience is literally living the highs and lows of his life with him.

From –

“My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.”

To –

“I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery, and I’m fine now.”

And then there is the message at the end of each story! He leaves the audience with these uplifting, life-changing mantra that inspires and transforms them. The 3 stories define a full circle – the speech is not just a collection of unrelated anecdotes from his life – they trace the pattern of birth, life, and death itself! And each episode come back to the core message – Find your calling, don’t settle for less.

We deconstructed this speech to find out some specific takeaways. We wanted to list some of the reasons that made this speech so memorable – it is certainly not the delivery style; there are no theatrics or even a slide.

After much discussion, we listed these features that we can replicate to make other speeches memorable –

Grab attention right at the start with a shocking or out of the box fact, story or an idea.
Use humour to gently bring down the audience from an emotional high.
Use the classic dramatical structure to build tension and give a resolution.
Work with one core message that you can reiterate again and again during the speech.
In the end, leave the audience with an inspiring thought or a vision that they can connect to personally. A universal idea that they can unite behind.
Finally, keep it short – Steve Jobs’ speech was barely 15 minutes!

This is just the tip of the iceberg! For those of you who might want to apply these learnings to your presentations and public speaking engagements, we have put together some more recommendations (all those hours on YouTube threw up some gems). So, if you have some time – take a look and be inspired!

A deconstruction of one of the most popular TED Talk given by Simon Sinek.

And certainly, take a look at this landmark talk on The Secret Structure of Great Talks by the guru of Presentations, Nancy Duarte

If you are feeling a tad overwhelmed before your big talk or presentation, then why do it alone. Reach out to us and we will be able to help you structure your content for maximum impact. Click on the Request Consultation button above.

Getting Ready For An Upcoming Big Presentation? Then These Top 6 Tips Will Help You to Present Like A Pro!

Personal Growth

All of us – from senior management to a fresher – have sat through at least one (if you are lucky) excruciatingly boring PowerPoint presentation! I remember my worst experience – it was this lady from a digital marketing agency who read out every single word of a 40-page PPT! Talk about zero presentation skills!

I distinctly remember thinking that I don’t care how good their offer is, there is no way I am giving my marketing budget to someone who is doing such a bad job of marketing themselves!

This little anecdote underscores a point we all already know – communicating well is the key to success. And not just in the corporate arena; being able to present your idea and vision clearly and with confidence, is critical to success in all professional spheres. Whether you are a small business owner, a blogger or a politician, if you cannot put across your ideas convincingly you will not grow professionally.

But presentations can be spruced up, and speaking skills can be polished. Sometimes you might need some professional guidance, but with a little bit of time and effort, it can be done. If you are looking for some quick tips to improve your presentation skills, then dive right in –

First off, know this – it is entirely possible to upgrade your presentation skills in very little time. While getting comfortable with public speaking might need some practice and experience; there is a lot you can do in a couple of days to improve your presentation skills.

Presentation Tips

A killer presentation is a combination of two things –

Content structure
The skill of the presenter

Take a look at your content and decide on a core message

Before you write down even one word or make your first slide, evaluate your entire content, and find the core message you want to leave with the audience. You could also jot down key points you want to reiterate or emphasize.

Tell a story

We all love a good tale, and nothing keeps people’s attention more effectively than a good narrative structure. Start with a bang, present problems, take them on your journey of finding a solution, and leave them on an uplifting note.

If you are presenting dry facts, then try not to do so directly; weave a story around them to make them more exciting and memorable. An excellent way to do this is to explain them through your own personal situation, through a case study or through an imaginary experience.

With every passing decade, attention spans are getting shorter, so you must structure your content to inject some excitement every 5 mins. This could be a quiz, a question, a multimedia component, a game, props or a joke – anything that breaks the content flow.

Humour always helps

Nothing breaks the ice and gets the audience behind the speaker more quickly than humour. A funny picture or a cartoon, an amusing anecdote, a quirky quote or a self-deprecating pun can lighten the atmosphere and put people in a more receptive mood.

Design visually appealing presentations

If you are using decks, then make sure that you keep these basics in mind –

Don’t put too much text on the each slide
Present one idea per slide
Make it visually appealing – there are so many templates available out there that the audience’s design expectations have gone up – simple bullet points no longer suffice
Use multimedia intelligently
Use fonts and font sizes that are readable
Keep a consistent colour or design format throughout the presentation

Body posture and expressions

Many people tend to shift from one foot to another and sway back and forth or continuously touch and adjust their clothing or hair – all this comes across as nervous, distracting behaviour. If you are not seated or don’t feel comfortable striding around on stage, then it’s best to just stand still and use hand gestures.

During a presentation, maintaining eye contact is also quite important; its best to select a bunch of people distributed evenly across the room whom you can look at directly. Along with eye contact, its also a good idea to smile – not only does it help you keep your nervousness in check it will also project a positive attitude to your audience.

Prepare and practice your presentation

Nothing beats practice! There are very few natural speakers who can go extempore; for most people, it is advisable to memorize and practice the presentation several times. If you don’t want to bank on your memory alone, then carrying cue cards is highly recommended.

Naturally, if you are presenting along with a deck, you can always turn around casually and refer to the slide. But coming back to where we started – no matter what you do, don’t start reading off the slide! It is there to create a visual reference point to what you are talking about and cannot replace your energy and your passion.

I am sure you are reading this because you have an idea or vision bubbling inside you that is just waiting to come out and I hope reading these tips can help give it the attention it deserves.

Nancy Duarte, the guru of presentation skills, puts it so well –

“..an idea is powerless if it stays inside of you. If you never pull that idea out for others to contend with, it will die with you. Now, maybe some of you guys have tried to convey your idea, and it wasn’t adopted, it was rejected, and some other mediocre or average idea was adopted. And the only difference between those two is in the way it was communicated. Because if you communicate an idea in a way that resonates, change will happen, and you can change the world.”

For working professionals and business owners, a presentation is an essential part of their work. If you feel you need to upgrade your skills in this arena, click on the Request Consultation button above.

Why Do We Fear Public Speaking? And What You Can Do Immediately To Vanquish This Fear Once And For All

Personal Growth

Have you ever come across someone who tends to freeze in front of an audience, even a couple of people? They find that their mouth dries up, their voice goes weak and their body starts shaking. They may even start sweating profusely, go red in the face and feel their heart thumping rapidly.

Has this happened to you sometime? Do you often shy away from any opportunity to speak in public? Does the thought of speaking in public leave you frozen with fear?

Glossophobia – fear of public speaking

Yes, there is a cool Greek-inspired name for fear of public speaking as well! And as much as 75% of all people are affected by it. Not surprising really, we have all felt butterflies in our stomachs before going up on stage, and most of us have an anecdote or two about public speaking disasters.

But why does something as straightforward as speaking in front of a bunch of people, cause so much dread for so many people?

Studies across the globe have identified four main reasons –

An Anxious Nature

For some people predisposed to anxiety, public speaking can trigger a threat perception hyperarousal – basically your body senses and experiences it as a threat and reacts accordingly – making it even more difficult to perform well.

Your Thoughts

You build it up to be more important than it is, you don’t think you are good enough, you think everyone will judge you and so on – basically your thoughts take over and inflate the importance of the situation to such an extent that natural nervousness snowballs into full-blown fear of public speaking.

Past Experiences

Did you have a bad public speaking experience in the past? Do you speak in public regularly? Your skill and past success or failure play a big role in how you approach public speaking situations.

New or Unfamiliar Situations

It is natural to feel more anxious if you are encountering a new audience or trying out an untested idea or are in an unknown setting. Even something like speaking in your second language or on an unprepared topic can trigger anxiety.

If you are trying to grow your business or climb the corporate ladder or have a fantastic idea that you need to communicate – you need to look your fear in the face and vanquish it.

How? Well keep reading – we have put together some simple tips to help you become a better and more confident speaker.

Know your Content

With anxiety comes the loss of concentration and memory — the first thing to go out of the window is the speech or the presentation you memorised. To avoid a black-out its best to understand your content thoroughly. Don’t just learn the lines; you should know the content well enough to be able to convey the idea in entirely different words.

Practice

For nervous speakers, practice makes perfect! Practice the speech, the pauses, the stance, the gestures and practice in front of a mirror and front of friends. Rehearsing your speech or presentation bakes it in your mind and when anxiety strikes, being over prepared will come in handy.

Relax

Relaxation techniques like breathing exercises, meditation or even some physical activity can help you tamp down the anxiety. The goal is to start the speech with a calm frame of mind, a lower heartbeat, and controlled breathing. If you start off nervous, chances are it will keep getting worse.

But relaxation techniques don’t just work overnight – you will need to make them a habit and practice them constantly to see the benefits.

Know your Limitations

Like everything else, public speaking also requires practice and time to perfect. Don’t try to just jump into a big gathering straight away – know your capabilities, start small. If you are having trouble memorising your content, carry bullet points; don’t force a joke or an anecdote if you don’t want to; don’t speak in front of hundreds of people if you can’t handle ten.

Becoming a good orator requires time and experience. Understand which stage you are at and take your time.

Lastly, ask for Help

You don’t have to go at it alone; if a big presentation or an important speech is coming up, then bring in the professionals.

Counsellors can help you structure your content, help you practice, give you useful and actionable tips to improve and also provide the much needed emotional support.

Don’t let the fear of public speaking close opportunities and stunt your professional or personal growth.

Ralph Waldo Emerson puts it so well,

“All the great speakers were bad speakers at first.”

If you want to become a confident and engaging speaker, then don’t hesitate to get in touch!

You might not end up loving the stage, but we promise you will learn not to hate it.

To know more, click on the Request Consultation button above.