Confessions of a Public Speaker
- p 5: People with clear ideas and strong points are the ones we remember.
- p 5: “Stop being perfect because obsessing about perfection stops you from growing” - Tyler Durden, Fight Club
- p 9: Never plan to use the full time given.
- p 14: the following four things are bad for survival:
- standing alone
- in an open territory with no place to hide
- without a weapon
- in front of a large crowd of creatures staring at you
- p 16: “There are two types of speakers: those that are nervous and those that are liars.” Mark Twain
- p 17: Fear focus attention.
- p 17: Fear gives us energy to proactively prevent failures from happening.
- p 18: The main advantage a speaker has over the audience is knowing what comes next.
- p 18: Confidence not perfection is the goal for preparing a talk.
- p 21: respect your body’s unstoppable fear responses.
- p 58: people come to listen because
- want to learn something
- wish to be inspired
- hope to be entertained
- have a need they hope you will satisfy
- desire to meet other people interested in the subject
- p 59: eating the microphone - its the moment when the audience confidence in having its met had lost!
- p 60: prepare well for a talk in four points:
- take a strong position in the title.
- think carefully about your specific audience.
- make your specific points as concise as possible.
- know the likely counterarguments from an intelligent, expert audience.
- p 85: don’t waste time giving your resume or telling the back story.
- p 88: you are the star - speak louder, take stronger positions, and behave more aggressively than you
would in an ordinary conversation
- p 90: tension and release to grab the attention of the audience.
- p 91: involve the audience: Ask for show hands? Ask trivia and let people shout out answers! Give them a problem to
solve in the next 30-60 seconds.
- p 118: most speakers evaluations are useless because the most valuable data is missing: How is your scoring in
comparison to other speakers
- p 120: the speaker must match the audience
- p 120: good feedback questions
- How did my presentation compare to others?
- What one change would have most improved my presentation?
- What questions did you expect me to answer that went unanswered?
- What annoyances did I let get in the way of giving you what you needed?
- p 122: good questions for surveys about the speaker:
- Was this a good use of your time?
- Would you recommend this lecture to others?
- Are you considering doing anything different as a result of this talk?
- Do you know what to do next to continue learning?
- Were you inspired or motivated?
- How likeable did you find the speaker?
- How substantive did you find the speaker’s material?
- p 121: ask the host: “What effect do you want me to have on this audience?”
- p 131: how to teach:
- Make it active and interesting.
- Start with an insight that interests the student.
- Adapt to how the student responds to #1 and #2.
