Top Ten Public Speaking Tips
Jessica Fiddes
Posted January 22
Br. Kevin Tidd, OSB, shares his top ten tips for effective public speaking.
Newly enlightened public speakers move on to their next classes...
...while Br. Kevin returns to teaching history.
Go forth, my sons. Speak publicy, and well thanks to great advice from Br. Kevin Tidd.
On January 21, 2010 the History Club invited Forensics Society Moderator Br. Kevin Tidd, OSB, to stumble his way through a lecture on public speaking. Actually, he was significantly better than that, but he did try to dupe the audience by fumbling around for his notes as he began his presentation, and several shills in the audience started to walk out in disgust. Thus did Br. Kevin deftly demonstrate public speaking lesson number one: Present with confidence. Stand up straight, behave as if you are in charge, even though your knees are buckling and you have this really queasy feeling in your stomach.
Br. Kevin then quickly ran through another nine basic rules of Public Speaking, including:
Appearance counts: For example, ‘wear socks that match’. He did not come right out and say ‘Your mother is always right when it comes to proper, professional attire” but we know he was thinking it.
Be respectful of your audience: Do not condescend to your listener, and always express your thoughts in a dignified manner.
Be an expert. Learn everything there is to know about your subject, then learn more. Inform your listeners of news they didn't already know.
Be organized. Don’t meander through your presentation with no beginning, middle or end, making audience members feel like they are human GPS systems that have lost their way. “Tell them what you are going to tell them…tell them…then tell then what you told them.” Sort of like writing an essay – but with your mouth.
Document what you say. Support your points with evidence. Dig deeper than Wikipedia (uh oh, looks like we’ve been busted).
Be passionate. Nervous energy can sometimes be confused for passion, but Br. Kevin is talking about the real thing: showing an authentic belief in your ideas and opinions. (Note: It is a known fact that most people would rather be thrown under a bus than speak in public. At Delbarton, students are forced to get over public speaking anxiety quickly. You arrive nervous in 7th or 9th grade. You leave a public speaking god by the time you graduate. Okay, we can't prove that last statement but we feel passionately that it is the truth.)
Be aware of your limits. Stay on topic and do not go off on tangents that, while interesting, are contrary to your intentions for the speech. Set a goal, execute it and exit the stage to thunderous applause.
Consider your audience. Be sensitive to its interests and perspectives. Do not ‘tee up’ an idea to an audience full of non-golfers. Don't use the word ‘sanguine’ when speaking to a group of youngsters (but do look 'sanguine' up so you can use it with gay abandon when speaking to adults).
And finally, maintain your sense of humor. After all, speaking in public is not a life or death proposition, unless you're a defense attorney in a murder trial, in which case we urge you to check your socks because, yikes, this gig is really important.
At the conclusion of Br. Kevin’s excellent presentation there was just enough time for a Q&A which allowed him to share several more public speaking nuggets.
On the subject of using the words ‘quote…unquote’ to frame an oral quotation, Br. Kevin is not a fan. Instead, he suggests that you introduce the quotation with the originator’s name and affiliation, pause, then recite the line. Pause again at the end of the quotation. Your listener will (quote) ‘get it’ (unquote) if you employ proper timing.
What about appropriate attire? One student pointed out the president of the United States doesn't always wear a tie when speaking in public, so why should he? Because, my fellow American, the President uses the non-tie strategy when he wants to appeal to a mixed, presumably tie-less, audience. You, my boy, are not the President of a global super power. Instead, you are trying to inform and impress classmates and teachers at Delbarton School, so hang on to that cravat.
Final salient point, eye contact: Make alot of it. When you speak before a large audience of, say, 540 members -- coincidentally the number of students at Delbarton School -- make eye contact with 5 or 6 individuals. (You may ignore the other 534 or 535 – they are merely listening in on the conversation you are having with your eye contactees.) Do not try to make eye contact with each member of the audience because this will cause you to feel very dizzy and listeners will suspect that you are seriously over-caffienated.
Br. Kevin followed every single one of his public speaking rule during the M Block lecture: he was a respectful, impassioned expert who illustrated his well-organized points with appropriate analogies, made eye contact with several lucky members of the audience (yes, we made the cut) and cracked more than a few funny jokes. We assume, but did not confirm, that he wore matching socks, and his listeners departed with ten important tips they did not have when they entered the FAC Theater that morning. Go forth, my sons. Speak publicly and well.