
Tricks to better public speaking - njoglekar
http://neiljoglekar.com/what-i-learned-from-our-guest-lecture-at-cmu
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bravura
Three more tips for important talks that you want to _nail_ :

1) Go through your slides and remove as much math/code as possible, until you
have a minimal amount of math/code. Now, go through your slides and remove as
much _text_ as possible, replacing it with images.

2) Rehearse your talk until you can do it without ever looking at the slides.
e.g. practice it under your breath in the subway.

3) Do a practice talk in front of a few friends, a week before your talk.
Incorporate their feedback.

I did this recently for the most high-profile talk I've ever given (How to do
"AI" in 2013:
[http://new.livestream.com/gigaom/gigaomroadmap/videos/579403...](http://new.livestream.com/gigaom/gigaomroadmap/videos/5794034)),
and I feel like it was my most polished talk to date.

~~~
pserwylo
While we're on the topic of slides, read Edward Tufte's "Cognitive style of
PowerPoint". It is short, cheap and sweet discussion about all he sees wrong
with most powerpoint (or keynote or libreodfice) presentations.

~~~
njoglekar
Agreed, Tufte is a powerhouse: [http://www.phil-fak.uni-
duesseldorf.de/fileadmin/Redaktion/I...](http://www.phil-fak.uni-
duesseldorf.de/fileadmin/Redaktion/Institute/Kultur_und_Medien/Medien_und_Kulturwissenschaft/Dozenten/Szentivanyi/Computerspielanalyse_aus_kulturwissenschaftlicher_Sicht/tufte1.pdf)

~~~
casca
This link is to a PDF scan of The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint that came from
a library

~~~
whit537
Here it is for sale on Tufte's site:

<http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/powerpoint>

And here's his sample:

[http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-
msg?msg_id=0...](http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-
msg?msg_id=0001yB)

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durpleDrank
Being a music guy, I've played a load of shows in front of hundreds of people.
There are a couple of things I've learned over the years that I'll share.

1 second feels like an hour. There were times where I remember a very
uncomfortable moment in a set but when I played the video back later, it was
really all in my head. It's ok to pause/wait. Don't let a 3 second silence
anxiety snowball into something that will throw you off the rest of your
set/talk.

They are there to see YOU. There is no reason to be nervous. People really
don't care, they just want to get to the destination. You are driving the car.
Present with purpose. You don't have to be some toast masters grand master.
You need to have the conviction of someone who is up to bat. Like it's YOUR
TURN and a line of 40 people are behind you. Go do your thing and dont dilly
dally about it.

30 minutes TOPS. When in doubt, be like the Ramones. Do not go over 30
minutes. Don't give the villain speech. Convey as much action and pragmatic
appeal as possible. Be blunt and concise. It's a street fight, not a fencing
match.

Talk to the back of the room, and look at the back wall (focusing on people in
the audience can throw you off).

TL;DR Go up there and own it. That's your platform, deliver a solid message.

~~~
whit537
"A simpler variation on the deathtrap is the villain speech, also known as
monologuing. The villain, after having captured the hero or another victim,
gives a long speech [...]"

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathtrap_(plot_device)#The_vi...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathtrap_\(plot_device\)#The_villain_speech)

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whit537
Love these! This is exactly what I find myself thinking every time I end up in
a church listening to a sermon or a classroom listening to a professor. For
me, the point of bringing people together is something like finding the
serendipitous connections amongst them. It's such a frustrating shame to go to
all the trouble of bringing people together face to face only to squander such
a precious moment with a flat, wooden wall of words.

I'd actually go one step further with the first point and suggest _asking_
questions, not just soliciting them. In my experience some questions flop and
you have to be quick on your feet to find another one. Really it's like
improvisation in music, I find. It's not unstructured but it's definitely real
time. And in fact, the more I prepare (as bravura recommends), the better the
"conversation" goes, in my experience. Unfortunately, interactivity doesn't
scale beyond a small audience.

On the third point I find that one of the most fruitful questions is "Why?"--
and a particular kind of why: What are the experiences in your life that lead
you to hold that belief? There's a personal story behind every proposition,
and to my mind the story is way more interesting than the proposition alone.
The story is the _content_ of the proposition, even.

Example: At drinks recently a philosopher friend announced his contempt for
what Dostoevsky(?) called "men of nature and the world"--brutish, unreflecting
politicians and captains of industry, these sort. Taken aback by his tone, I
asked who he had in mind. "You know, George Bush ..." _yawn_ "... and my ex-
girlfriend's dad." Oic. NOW we're getting somewhere. :^)

I suppose this goes back to the idea of emotional connection that you mention.
For all our vaunted rationality, I don't think that it exhausts us.

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casca
TL;DR:

1\. Don’t give a presentation - have a conversation

2\. Speak in your voice and style

3\. Tell personal stories

