Inspired Ideas

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of giving the keynote address at the University of Toronto Mississauga Commerce Society (UTMCS) Formal (try saying that 5 times fast).

Truth be told, I would never have imagined doing that just a few years ago. Public speaking made me nervous. So nervous that my hands would start shaking. And I couldn’t explain it. It just happened every time I got up but I still enjoyed the thrill of speaking.

Something had to be done.

I started treating public speaking like a sport. I analyzed every aspect from the content to the delivery. I watched every single video on TED and PopTech and read as many books as I could on the topic.

Many people prefer free-styling. And that was my philosophy for the longest time as well. I felt it made the speech seem natural and not rehearsed. But honestly, even B-Rabbit practiced. Don’t believe me? Watch 8 mile. When the stakes are high, when you have to deliver - whether it’s a keynote address, a business pitch or a speech at your best friend’s wedding leaving things to chance is just not acceptable.

Here’s the process, over five years in the making, that I’ve started using. It’s the same process that I use for all of my speeches from keynotes to business pitches.

Step 1 (we can have lots of fun):

This is the information gathering process. On sticky notes, I write out every single thought, every single piece of research stat that I’ve come across. I would budget approximately 2 - 3 days for this process. Just keep a pad of sticky notes with you and jot something down as soon as you think of it.

Take a large surface - it can be anything from a coffee table to a window and place all of your sticky notes on it. Take a step back and start looking for the flow.

This is the flow of the presentation from start to finish. The beauty of this approach is that you can start re-arranging the sticky notes as you start finding the flow of the presentation. This can be a frustrating process but you should also have fun with it. What if you can’t find the flow? Go to bed. Trust that it will come to you, it just needs time.

I learned this approach from a great book called, The Art of the Pitch.

Step 2 (there’s so much we can do)

There’s a tendency to want to be able to say everything. You must restrain yourself. If it doesn’t fit with the flow - cut it.

Once you’ve got a general flow (it doesn’t need to be perfect at this point) now it’s time to write the script. Yes, that’s right. Open up your favourite text editing program and start writing exactly what you are going to say. I like using a basic text program such as Notepad or TextEdit because it doesn’t give you that annoying red underline each time you misspell something. That messes with your flow. You just want to be able to write. Write like nobody’s reading.

A lot of people that I speak with don’t think this step is necessary. It is, don’t listen to them. The point is not to memorize the script. The point is to help you start envisioning your performance.

Step 3 (it’s just you and me)

Practice time. Just you and yourself. Get up and start talking out loud. TOL. TOL. The first time you can use your script. After that try doing it without the script and only refer to it if you get completely stuck. By the end of it you should be able to recite your speech in your mind while also envisioning the actual performance from start to finish.

Step 4 (I can give you more)

You might want to practice as many times as you can. I would avoid doing that. After a point the more you practice the more you start wanting to look at your script because you didn’t say exactly what you wanted to say. Once you’ve got to a point where you can recite the speech or are able to get the general sense of the flow it’s time to work on your support slides.

The support slides are visuals or in some cases an important quote from your speech. The purpose of these slides is two-fold, (1) it provides emphasis to an important point and (2) it’s a visual cue for what you should talking about when you are on stage.

Freezing. It happens to all of us. Our mind goes blank and we’re lost. No matter how much you practice it can happen. The slides, as visual cues, should help you in the event of freezing.

Remember for your slides - less is more. Use it more as a visual backdrop. All eyes should be on you not on your slides.

Step 5 (don’t you know the time has arrived?)

It’s game time. The big performance is finally here. And if you’ve followed steps 1 - 4 you should be feeling pretty confident. The night before the big day I do one final practice. I spend the rest of the time doing a few vocal exercises. Yes, most people will think this is weird. I learned this from a book called Charisma Effect and it works.

Remember it’s not just the content of your performance but how you deliver it that will make it great. And we’re not going to be satisfied with a mediocre performance. Mediocre doesn’t win pitches and it doesn’t move audiences.

The day of the peformance, do a few more vocal exercises, review your slides once more and make sure you test all of your equipment. It’s a good idea to also save your presentation on a USB key.

Right before you’re about to leave, rip your script up you’ve earned your wings and you don’t need it anymore. On my way to the presentation I usually listen to some hardcore gangsta music. You don’t have to follow this part but I find it helps me find my swagger - putting me in the right mindset and giving me that extra boost of confidence that only gangsta rap can provide. Oh, 50 cent you’re so gangsta.

Show time. Go up and rock it out and have some fun. The thrill of public speaking should be a natural high. And if you’ve followed the process outlined above you should feel like this after it’s all done

Remember its about delivering your best performance. You shouldn’t settle for anything less. VICTORY!

- Nish

*Thanks to New Kids on the Block for the Steps.

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