Jul
15
It’s time to toll the bell. It’s the final day of Public Speaking Week at the NDD.
I come from a family who has the Irish gift of gab and I don’t think any of us would say fear of public speaking is big on our list of phobias. I wouldn’t rather be dead, that’s for sure. I do get plenty nervous though. Usually that is much earlier in the week leading up to the speaking engagement when my presentation hasn’t yet come together. It’s just a hodge podge of images and ideas searching for a hook to hang themselves on. Until I figure out the hook I am very nervous.
It really isn’t a fear of speaking in public. It’s a fear that I won’t be ready, that I won’t have done my job to inform, entertain or enlighten my audience. But once I do find that hook I start to organize the presentation and can start to practice it. Then the nervousness dissipates and confidence that I can do it builds.
My first practices usually are before I am done, maybe just the first third. But the act of practicing it is often the activity that helps me discover the unifying series of words (the hooks) that will make the ideas and images have some logic and purpose behind them. It all starts to lead somewhere in other words.
A couple of days before the presentation I usually am starting to practice the whole thing, timing it and making changes in imagery and flow to make sure what I am saying is as clear as I can make it within the time allotted. In my last presentation I was practicing in my car in the parking garage an hour before I was due to be on stage. That last run-through made a big difference in my confidence.
Do you suffer from fear of public speaking? If you do, what do you do to overcome it?
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote is an adaption of one by Jerry Seinfeld, 1954-not dead yet, American comedian
Jul
14
I am writing it down: it’s day 4 of ‘Public Speaking’ week at the NDD
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And so you say to yourself, “Wait a second, this is a writing lesson, not a speaking lesson!” And you are right. BUT, where do you think speeches start? They all start by being written. The only difference is the delivery, will your audience read it or listen to you speak it?The key in writing, no matter the delivery, is edit, edit, edit.
I used to develop, design and write a large website for a medical college. I had to spend a lot of time with doctors who wanted to put up information about their department, research, etc. My main effort was always in first convincing them that their audience on the website was not primarily an academic audience but a general information audience. Then, after they edited down their material based on my instructions, I took that same material and winnowed it down much further with my own edits.
It had to fit the audience expectations, and the expectations for the web reader was to be able to get quick, easily seen and understood information. We always gave them access to more detailed, scholarly information if they wanted it, but the vast majority didn’t.
Who is your audience? It’s important to consider whether writing a query letter to an agent, a thank you note, a novel or a speech. Write for them and leave out the parts they will want to skip.
Jul
11
It’s Public Speaking week at the NDD!
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I gave a Napkin Dad presentation this past weekend to the Oklahoma 4H Parent Volunteer Conference. It took place at the OSU Alumni center in Stillwater, OK. The topic was ‘Coping with Change Within and Without’.
I spent many hours getting the presentation ready. I first threw in all sorts of napkin drawings and ideas that I felt applied. While I did this my ideas were all over the map. It was disconcerting. I don’t like that feeling of not having the message together, knowing it just doesn’t make sense yet. I was nervous, would I be able to find a cogent message?
At that point I hadn’t really found the major points to hang the presentation on. I was like a gold miner looking all over the mountain, with just a few clues as to where the gold might be. I eventually stumbled upon a set of compelling ideas. That made me worried, could I make the ideas make sense together?
Once I did that, the task became even harder. It was editing and arranging time. What drawings and quotes went with the ideas. Which ones would be visually interesting? Which ones would confuse and distract the audience? Did I need more drawings or less? That made me anxious, would I be able to fit my presentation to the time allotted?
Finally I started practicing the presentation, even though it was only the first half I had together. Giving the speech to myself helped me understand what was working because I found myself completely stopped dead in my tracks saying ‘uh’ many times. It was my clue that I needed to work more. I started to build the second half, arranging and rearranging it. I ended up doing about 4-5 dry runs of the presentation. My last dry run was in my car, an hour before I had to give the presentation, parked in the parking garage. That made me increasingly confident, knowing I had the ideas, organization, message and timing pretty well covered. But I worried, wondering if I would be able to stay on topic, keep the pace and timing going in a dynamic situation.
By the time I was up in front of the crowd I was comfortable. I was feeling that I could do it, and do it well. I think I did. One can never know, some may have thought it was confusing, some too long, some too this or that. but in my mind I gave them my best.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by George Jessel, 1898-1981, American comedic actor
