Getting into public speaking

This is how I present as well.

When what you’re presenting is something you have actual knowledge about, it can be easier to say what you think rather than stress about “sticking to the script.”

True of public speaking just as much as interviewing.

Many people unnecessarily stress about public speaking because they believe the script is the only thing that matters.

Though I admit there is no one size fits all when it comes to speaking.

I wonder if speaking fast is a problem in and of itself. Bryan Cantrill's talks are some of the best around, and he talks very fast. For other speakers, I usually put them at 1.5x speed.

It seems to me that the problem isn't speaking fast per se, but almost speaking where you're tripping over yourself unconfidently. Bryan, for example, often does trip over his words, but he's confident in what he has to say and enunciates very clearly (he's basically yelling).

During the pandemic I made a few Youtube videos, basically public speaking without an audience. I was amazed at how hard it was, I spend hours and hours trying to speak with any confidence. Funnily enough though, at tech meetups, I'm pretty comfortable presenting in front of everyone even though I see others struggle so much. Not sure what's the difference.

Mind-body techniques provide a good solution to this.

First exercise. Breathe out. Take a full breath in for a mental count of 2. Hold for a mental count of 4. Breathe out for a mental count of 6. How do you feel?

It sounds ridiculous that this does anything. But it relaxes you because your brain recognizes the rhythm of a contented sigh - then rushes to put you in that state. Do that the moment that you stand on stage. Do it again any time you need it. You'll be amazed at how much of a difference it makes.

Next exercise. Put, commas, in. The act of standing silent is an act of control that leaves you feeling in control. Trying to slow down results in, "I'mRacing,I'mRacing, SlowDown, I've slowed down, I'mRacingAgain!" But putting in a comma makes it easy to slow down.

This has a second benefit as well. If we're feeling nervous silence is hard on us. So we put in those filler "ahs" and "ums". It is very rare for people to be conscious of how much we do that. Instead we process it subconsciously, as an awareness of anxiety. And our awareness of our own anxiety, creates more anxiety, and off we go!

And so I like to say, "Put in a pause, or you'll say your ahs!" Try it. Those commas really work.

The third thing is this. When we stand in front of an audience, most of us get a shot of adrenaline. We frame it as "social anxiety". But it's really not. It's social adrenaline. If you learn to interpret it as "on a rollercoaster" instead of "there's a tiger", it goes from scary to fun.

This takes a bit of practice. But (with the mind-body skills), less than you'd expect. And it is easy to find a place to practice if you join a local Toastmasters club.

This approach can work for experienced speakers, in particular if you have spoken about the given topic before, but I'd strongly advise against not rehearsing for folks a bit newer into their speaking career. So often I have seen talks where folks either were time after half of their time slot, or they ran out of time towards the end. Or they lost track of the plot, went off on a tangent for way too long, etc.

All this is not great for the audience (who have "invested" into your session, by paying for the ticket, spending time away from work and family, not attending other concurrent sessions, etc.), and it can so easily be avoided by rehearsing.

The most common reason I have seen for folks skipping to rehearse is the awkward feeling you might have when speaking loud all by yourself. If that's the issue, it can help to do a dry run in front of colleagues. In any case, "winging it" is best reserved for later on, after having gathered quite a bit of speaking experience and having spoken about the same, or very similar, topics before.

I'd also recommend to avoid reading from slides during a talk as much as possible, it's also not a great experience for the audience. There shouldn't be much text on slides to begin with, as folks will either read that, or listen to what you say, but typically have a hard time doing both at once.

(All this is a general recommendation, not a comment on your talks which I have not seen)

It’s more like “plans are useless but planning is indispensable” for me. I don’t follow a script when I speak, but the rehearsal sometimes gives me the opportunity to realize when I have trouble articulating something, or it helps me pick and focus on the important pieces of anecdotes so I’m better able to land them in the actual speech.