Tricks to better public speaking

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...), and I feel like it was my most polished talk to date.

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.

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.

TL;DR:

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

2. Speak in your voice and style

3. Tell personal stories