

Ask HN: Any tips on giving speeches? - weaksauce

I know that public speaking is a skill that has a lot of power in business. People tend to work for people that have the skill. I cannot remember where the quote came from and I am paraphrasing a bit but the quote goes something like this: "You either know how to speak well or end up working for someone who does." I think that a lot of the people on HN give speeches regularly. So I was wondering if anyone has any good advice on giving a speech. I have to give a best mans toast at a wedding so it brings public speaking to the forefront of my mind.
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ScottWhigham
A few tips:

* No caffeine - it makes you more jumpy, more anxious.

* No heroin - talk too slow

* Practice 10-20 times going through the whole thing

* Practice doing the first paragraph 50-100 times - nothing derails a speech more than a stumble at the beginning.

* Practice acting comfortable - don't just read/deliver

* Alcohol - you need to be prepared here. Some people are more fluid (ahem...) with a drink while it messes other people up. Decide prior to attending the wedding what your plan is

* Flirt with the pretty girls with your eyes. I find that I can maintain that "randomness" factor of scanning and including the whole audience if I look for the hotties and then make eye contact. It also makes me more comfortable looking at pretty girls than men or women twice my age.

* Look your best - confidence comes from looking good and feeling good. The "looking good" should be easy - you're in a suit - and the "feeling good" should come from the fact that you are prepared due to all of your practice.

Good luck!

~~~
jamesbritt
"No caffeine"

Caffeine calms some people down. Lack of it can throw people off, make them
edgy.

Better to just not change your usual habits unless you really know how you'll
respond.

Practicing really makes a difference. I've tried, though, to be sure I know
the points I want to make more so than the specific words, and when rehearsing
try to see if some phrasing work better than others (and try to keep) them.

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jamesbritt
Be sure you know what your goal is.

For a best-man toast, maybe it's to make people laugh, foster warm feelings
towards the groom/couple, keep the party moving, whatever.

For other speeches, it might be sales, or passing on information, or political
persuasion.

But know what it is you want to accomplish and plan the length, topic, style,
etc. around that.

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ca98am79
I found this very helpful:
[http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/html/icb.topic58703/winston1.ht...](http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/html/icb.topic58703/winston1.html)

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bkovitz
Talk much more slowly than you think is reasonable.

It will seem slow to you, but it will sound normal to the audience.

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13rules
Read Dale Carnegie on effective public speaking: [http://www.amazon.com/Quick-
Easy-Way-Effective-Speaking/dp/0...](http://www.amazon.com/Quick-Easy-Way-
Effective-
Speaking/dp/0671724002/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252717709&sr=1-1)

Also, agree with the others that there is no substitute for actually doing it.

One thing you might try is videoing yourself giving a speech. Then watch the
video and see what you like, what you don't like, what is effective, etc.

~~~
13rules
One more thing -- get comfortable with pauses. When you stop speaking and are
trying to think of what your next sentence is going to be it may seem like a
very long time, but in reality it is usually just a few seconds.

------
steerpike
You will feel tense. Don't fight it.

Hold your hands behind your back as you face the audience just before you
start.

Clench your hands into fists as tight as you can while also clenching up your
butt.

Hold that pose and your breath for a few seconds and then relax and breath
out.

Anyone facing you will not be able to tell what you're doing if you just
clench your stress in your fists and your butt until you release it.

~~~
weaksauce
That's a good tip for stress release. Thanks! I think I am going to use that.

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jacquesm
Fortunately no speeches for me. But the few times I had to speek to a bunch of
people to do a presentation it was hard enough. The trick I picked up from a
friend is to pick out one person in the audience, address them but let your
eyes wander around so everybody else is included too, make eye contact if the
audience is small, if the audience is larger spread your attention around.

Good luck!

~~~
weaksauce
Thanks! The audience is 100+ so it will be the largest audience I have
addressed. I think once it gets past a certain number it gets less
intimidating, but only time will tell.

~~~
jamesbritt
I think the largest crowd I've presented to was a little over 500 or so
people. I would not have guessed that from my view from the stage; seemed much
smaller.

But something to keep in mind is that even if you can't see people you need to
occasionally direct your attention to those in the back or up in the balcony
so they don't feel ignored and tune out.

Also, assume that the audience is on your side and want to like you.

~~~
jacquesm
I could have sworn I read 1500 there, I was wondering... must stop drinking
tea.

~~~
jamesbritt
:)

I bet the crowd size wouldn't have mattered. Last two times I gave a talk to
any sizable crowd the lights were such that it was sort of hard to really see
past a few rows.

Now, had the crowd gotten unruly, yeah, big mobs are worse than small mobs and
you find out soon enough :)

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defunkt
Practice, practice, practice. Record yourself practicing and watch it later.

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tptacek
Practice. Write your whole talk out, print it out somewhat large, tape it to
the wall in multiple sheets, and rehearse to the wall, marking up the parts
that don't work. Repeat until you can get through it without changing it on
paper again.

You won't use the written version when you actually give the talk, but you
will be 10x more confident.

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jetsnoc
Read your slides and notes, recite, recite, recite. You get through most of
your nervousness, awkardness, blunders and the plain old issue "rushing
through slides" and talking too fast practicing your speech atleast three
times.

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edw519
Join Toastmasters - <http://www.toastmasters.org/>

There's no substitute for actually doing it.

~~~
yan
I heard about toastmasters before. What are the meetings actually like?

~~~
edw519
My experience (other chapters may differ):

1\. Everyone who comes speaks to the entire group for 1 or 2 minutes. This was
called "Table Topics". A different member is assigned each week to administer
the Table Topics. I remember one time the Table Topics person handed each one
of us a paper bag that we had to open, remove the object inside, and give an
interesting talk. My object was a clothes pin.

2\. Everyone gets a mentor when they join to help them through the education.

3\. Everyone cycles through the program at their own pace giving longer and
longer prepared talks. 5:00, 10:00, 15:00, etc. You give one of these every
month or so.

4\. Every single talk is publicly critiqued by at least one judge. They are
usually ruthless and very, very helpful. It took me months to stop playing
with my hands when I talked. They finally got me to stop.

5\. I remembered speaking about my business in all my prepared talks. I can't
imagine having a better place to practice than Toastmasters.

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ivankirigin
[http://giantrobotlasers.com/post/176847959/bill-hickss-
princ...](http://giantrobotlasers.com/post/176847959/bill-hickss-principles-
of-comedy-1-if-you-can)

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diiq
A rule I have learned from improvisational comedy: everything you do in front
of a crowd is right. Don't apologize, just smile and continue, because
everything you do is right.

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gaius
The usual advice is to imagine the audience naked.

Don't.

