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Getting into public speaking

james.brooks.page

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Re: Getting into public speaking

#41

Post by ghaff »

Rendello wrote: post #40
ghaff wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

:-) I think one of the problems with speaking for video is that you're self-conscious and feel you need to be perfect. When I started doing a lot of recorded presentations during COVID, I just felt uncomfortable in a way that I didn't with an in-person audience.

I forgot to mention that it was just audio! With video, it was even harder and I never ended up releasing anything further.

Audio only is a lot easier IMO. For one thing, you're not also dealing with waving your hands around so much and thinking about where your eyes are focused. And you can't as easily refer to at least a semi-script. I learned to create videos but podcasts were definitely easier.

(I'm fine being on video but recording yourself feels a lot harder for me.)

Re: Getting into public speaking

#42

Post by david_shaw »

In my experience, getting over the fear of public speaking is really just an exercise in exposure therapy. There are no silver bullets.

But my advice to current and future public speakers is this: never, ever add fluff to fill the engagement time. Every audience everywhere would rather you take 33 minutes instead of 50 if those 17 minutes would have been filled with, basically, garbage information designed to fill time.

It's awful how often people think giving a talk is some kind of speech class homework. It's not. You're not graded on filling the time.

Re: Getting into public speaking

#45

Post by tanin »

For an absolute beginner in public speaking who has fear of public speaking, I'd recommend joining Toastmasters.

A Toastmasters club is like a simulated environment for public speaking where everyone is extremely supportive. I was still anxious even I knew that at the beginning... even when everyone insisted anything was okay.

After 100+ speech giving at a club in Bellevue, now I don't feel anxious anymore speaking in front of 50+ people in a real-world situation where everyone might not be supportive. I can just get up and speak.

It's funny how our minds even work. It turns out simulation is good enough for training our minds.

The quality of public speaking is a separate aspect. Toastmasters do help with that but I can't claim I am good at it yet. But, for anxiety, I now feel almost nothing.

Re: Getting into public speaking

#46

Post by bcantrill »

Rendello wrote: post #24
captn3m0 wrote: post #5

Good advice. One of the things I suffer from is speaking too fast, and yet to find a good solution for it. I put a sticky note on my screen reminding me to slow down these days, but it only helps so much. Another comprehensive guide for tech-speakers is https://speaking.io/ by Zach Holman.

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 enunc…

Ha ha -- thanks, I think? For whatever it's worth, the most important advice I have for a speaker is: speak from the heart, not from the book. That is, don't tell people what you think they want; be true to yourself and speak your own truth, in a manner that is true to who you are.

To that end: different styles work for different people. Yes, I speak quickly (or can!), but there's a method to the madness: when I am speaking fastest (and... tripping over my words, I guess?), it is likely something that -- while interesting/weird -- is in fact only tangentially related to my main point. For me, it's really important to have my actual points written on my slide: my actual decks[0] are really important to me, and serve to make my main points -- albeit devoid of the visceral metaphors for which I've become (in)famous.

[0] https://speakerdeck.com/bcantrill/

Re: Getting into public speaking

#47

Post by FatherOfCurses »

tanin wrote: post #45

For an absolute beginner in public speaking who has fear of public speaking, I'd recommend joining Toastmasters. A Toastmasters club is like a simulated environment for public speaking where everyone is extremely supportive. I was still anxious even I knew that at the beginning... even when everyone insisted anything was okay. After 100+ speech giving at a club in Bellevue, now I don't feel anxious anymore speaking i…

100% agree. Additionally Toastmasters will improve: your ability to think on your feet (a portion of the meeting is impromptu speaking); your ability to provide constructive feedback (members provide feedback on speeches delivered); and your ability to lead if so desired (every club is a volunteer organization that needs leaders to operate).

Re: Getting into public speaking

#48

Post by Rendello »

bcantrill wrote: post #46
Rendello wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 enunc…

Ha ha -- thanks, I think? For whatever it's worth, the most important advice I have for a speaker is: speak from the heart, not from the book. That is, don't tell people what you think they want; be true to yourself and speak your own truth, in a manner that is true to who you are. To that end: different styles work for different people. Yes, I speak quickly (or can!), but there's a method to the madness: when I am s…

I'm glad you caught on it was supposed to be praise haha. If someone threw my speech patterns on the table and started dissecting them, I'd probably stop speaking entirely ;)

It is praise; you are my favourite speaker. A lot of what you cover in talks or on the podcast is (or was) unknown to me, but I listen because it's never made to seem uninteresting, there's a passion that comes from the heart (true of the other Oxide podcast staff too). I learn a lot of information, and the anecdotes actually stick it into my brain like thumbtacks.

As for tripping: I mean to say that in natural [non-verbetim] speech, there's natural moments where we find our footing. In a speech/talk setting, it's easy to feel like you lose that footing and fall into the volcano, if you're unsteady. You show that speed itself isn't the issue and you can actually run around the volcano without falling in (–this is still praise, I swear).

Also, I must ask: (when) will the people see the release of Netris?

Re: Getting into public speaking

#49

Post by Rendello »

ghaff wrote: post #41
Rendello wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I forgot to mention that it was just audio! With video, it was even harder and I never ended up releasing anything further.

Audio only is a lot easier IMO. For one thing, you're not also dealing with waving your hands around so much and thinking about where your eyes are focused. And you can't as easily refer to at least a semi-script. I learned to create videos but podcasts were definitely easier. (I'm fine being on video but recording yourself feels a lot harder for me.)

I saw the great Canadian raconteur Stuart McLean perform a year or so before his death. He wrote and read aloud The Vinyl Cafe, a mostly-comedic radio show about a fictional Canadian family. I was at one of the live recordings, and it was surprising how animated he was. He was basically dancing around the microphone and using his hands and body for emphasis. After seeing the show, I really noticed how much it carried through in the recordings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_McLean

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vinyl_Cafe

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