Transcripts
1. Introduction: My name is Richard
Anderson and I'm known for a successful career in public speaking in a variety of settings and that might
include foot 100 companies, television and
radio shows, books. I work with BBC live
shows that arenas for over 15,000 people and on
government boards too. This is a no
nonsense designed to take your public speaking
to the next level. First and foremost,
the real question is, what is public speaking? Public speaking overall, is a presentation which is traditionally given
to a live audience. That's important to note,
because back when I first started presenting skills, particularly, I started
out presenting on a radio show, which
then broadcast. And turned out that it went
into more live presentations. The difference there is
that you used to have the expectation of presenting
in front of a live crowd. That used to be the
skill. However, today this is all changed. Whereas it used to be within that public setting and maybe in terms of wherever you
were going to present, it was going to
be on television, it was going to be on radio, or it was going to be in front
of a live audience there, in person sitting
in front of you. Such as the work I've done at theaters, things
have changed now. It's no longer what
it used to be today. It can be performed in a
variety of different settings, Including services like
Youtube teams and Facebook, where you can have a live
audience who is there. But at the same time,
it used to be that we required to see the person there,
physically in person. But now because
things have changed, we're now looking at live. You know, we always say it
now, isn't it going live? So we might say
we're going live, and that's your live audience. It is very much the same thing as sitting in front of a crowd. So the skills required
will remain the same. You'll still have to have
that high sense of energy. And we'll go into exactly
what you require in order to get your public speaking
off the ground today too.
2. Body Language: In this section, we'll be
exploring body language. Body language is an essential
part of public speaking. It's important to keep
good posture when you're, if you're on teams, for example. You want to ensure
that you're actually sitting with good posture. That's very important because
it helps you breathe. It helps you communicate
in a better way. It also helps you to
just feel less stress. Breathing exercise
is probably one of the most important
things you can do when it comes to
public speaking. Preparing yourself beforehand to actually talk to your audience, that's also a very,
very important point. I would also say
it's very important to also maintain a good
level of eye contact. That means even if you're on teams or whether you're
there in a live audience, it's very important to actually acknowledge the
audience through eye contact. So actually looking at them, letting them know that
you're listening and making them feel like they're the
only person in the room. That's important if
you're sitting on a desk, if you're in a board room, glancing around as
you're speaking at each individual
person that's in the actual audience can make a huge and significant
difference. I would also encourage,
if you're on teens, for example, and you
are looking at notes, you can put notes strategically
placed on your screen, right underneath
the camera ****, thus giving the impression that you're staring straight
at the audience. And letting them feel very connected as you're
speaking to them. At the same time, hand gestures are a massive deal when it
comes to public speaking. I myself, during this
entire presentation, instinctively move my hands. The reason for that
is because you want the audience to
also feel engaged. You could sit there standing
still, or sitting down, wherever you are
and just looking at the audience in a very still
way and not really moving. But as you're moving, it gives the human eye room to
focus on other things. It gives them the opportunity
to look at other things, which allows them
to concentrate. It forces their attention
straight onto you as the public speaker and the presenter of the particular thing
that you'd be doing. That applies to whether
it's in person, whether it's on teams, whether it's in any
online setting. It doesn't matter
which setting in. It's very important to maintain a good level of emotional gestures and
also, as you mentioned, their posture and
also eye contact to another thing that I always
do as well is constantly, if I'm on stage, I always make sure that I'm moving
around the stage. I never stay fixed in one place. I feel that people's eyes
can often become a bit fatigued if they're just
staring at the exact same spot. What I do is I let the
audience feel engaged. Sometimes actually
get off the stage. If I'm standing on the stage, actually get off the stage,
or if I'm in a room, I work my way around the room deliberately because it helps people to just connect
with you that bit more. It brings you being the person
standing there talking, to letting them
feel like they're part of the presentation. It just creates
this whole sense of intimacy with the audience that most speakers wouldn't
really have because they'd just be looking at them
and that would end there. That's also a great technique, allowing yourself to
move if you're on an online setting that
applies to that too. As you're speaking, using
those hand gestures, making sure that you're helping
the audience feel engaged and not standing very static
in one place, just talking. It helps the audience to feel engaged and adds that
level of intimacy. Also, another point
is expressions, If you're telling a story or whatever it is that
you're delivering, you're even delivering
instructions. Having expression, even if it is a list of instructions,
of things to do, a process to follow by adding expressions to the
way that you're speaking, it helps the audience
feel connected. I've always found that
public speaking is more about the fun element and
the connection element. Even if it's a serious topic, people still want to enjoy it. It's a form of escapism As far as I've seen throughout
my length of career, these 15 plus years. It, they want to feel and they want to connect with
it again by giving people that emotional journey as they're doing whatever it is
they're participating in. Whatever it is that
you're delivering. In terms of your
public speaking, it allows them to be
engaged and involved at the same time by having expressions that does an
awful lot for the customer. Or if it's in a
business setting, it does an awful lot also for the person who's
participating. Whether it's a Facebook live, a Youtube live, or
whatever it might be, it might even be a Tiktok. The same principle applies. Expressions, make or break
your public speaking. Finally, I would also say your
tone of voice coming from a radio background
tone of voice is always going to be very,
very important to me. And I would always even
say, top of the list, you want your tone of voice
to bring the audience in. You want them to feel involved and engaged in your
public speaking. That includes the
way you're speaking. Whether if you're telling a story and you want
them to feel engaged in that story about a very horrific incident
that happened recently. Taking pauses, taking breaths, letting the audience feel
the silence again is another very dramatic tool that you can use in
your public speaking. Again, if it's a
very happy story and you're trying to
tell that story about that one time that you left your house in the
morning and got out. And then you couldn't
help but notice the sun was shining and
it was an amazing day. And you set out and suddenly a still breath through the whisk of the night
just so happened, I noticed in the distance. Again, through that example, you can see that that's a clear way of
illustrating a story. And also showing
people how you can use your tone of voice in order
to engage the audience. That is the point
of public speaking, wants them to feel engaged and
involved at the same time.
3. Having a Clear & Simple Message: Your goal as a public
speaker should always be to portray a clear
and simple message. You want the audience to
take home your main point. The way you can do
that is by having a very clear and simple message. Take for example, that
you're looking at cars and the impact of
cars on the environment. That is your main message you want the audience to take home. What you would do then
is you would open your public speech with a simple version of what it is that you're
trying to get at, the impact of cars
on the environment. You might start off
with a dramatic story, such as there are 10,000 cars in the city
which you live in. The impact that that's having on the environment can
be significant. And then you would follow that with some statistics as well. Again, prepare, think about what it is that you want
the audience to remember. What it is that you
want them to take home. Once they've left that speech, once they've left
that public setting that you have put them in. No matter which way it's in, whether it's on alive, so whether it's on teams, whether it's a live audience, whether they're
physically in person or whether it's a Tiktok
or whatever it is, prepare the main
point that you want that audience to take home because that is what
they'll remember. The way to do that is again, by opening your speech with
that take home message. So that dramatic point
which will help to focus the audience's attention on
you as the public speaker. You can then look
to weave it in. So again, looking at the impact of cars on the environment. And you know weave that into your presentation by introducing statistics and anything else that you can weave
into there as well. And then closing
your speech again, this instance looking
at the impact of cars on the environment. You might end again
in this example, cars are having a
significant impact with the 10,000 cars that are currently
operating in this city. It is having a
detrimental effect to the ozone layer and then
leaving them with that. And then thank you
again that thought, those words re, echo in people's minds as they
leave whatever it is. So if it's a theater, if it's a business presentation, or no matter what it is, if it's alive, if
it's a teams meeting, they'll leave with
those closing thoughts and that closing message about how cars are having a major
impact, you know, on society. So that's a very, very
important one to note there. So again, what you
would like to do in this instance is make sure
that you're portraying a very, very clear and very, very simple message that the audience can take
home and unpack. And when they go and
tell their friends, or whoever it is about the
wonderful presentation that you've just
delivered for them, they'll be able to take that clear and simple
message with them all the way home
and share that with friends and family
and so on too.
4. Know Your Audience: It's important to know
your audience because it helps you to focus on
what's important to them. You'll need to determine
who your audience is. Research that in advance. You'll need to actually look up. Do a bit of a search, who
it is you're speaking to. That's something that I
often do myself before I go into any specific talk
of whatever it is, whether it's a show
live or in person, or it doesn't
matter the setting. I always need to know who it is that I'm talking to
because they're going to receive whatever message
you're giving to them in a very specific way
and you want to tap into their local
understanding. Also use the call and
response techniques. Use questions geared towards
learning about the audience, some questions as well. You can also do that in a very
fun way using things like, would you prefer a
summer or winter, which are great ways to
learn about your audience. You can also intertwine things about the subjects you're
about to talk about as well. So that's a great way to get to know your audience
more and build rapport before you even begin the session
that you'd be doing. Another great thing you can
do is greet the audience as they join the presentation
via teams or at the door. If people are joining via
teams or other media platform. Great thing you can do
is I always look at the names and as they come in I always say
hi such and such. As long as I can get
the first few in. If there's a few hundred or so, then you can only do it as far as time will
permit, of course. But greeting them as they come in or even if you're
doing a presentation. Recently, I was doing
a wedding and as I was presenting the
wedding or hosting it, if you like, I would always greet the audience as they
came through the door. I'd always say hi to them. The reason for that is because you want to warm them
up and you want to build that connection before
you've even begun speaking. Once you do begin speaking, you've already won
the audience over, which is usually 90% of the battle getting that
introduction right. Letting people feel warmed and welcomed so that when
you do start speaking, they're already fully
engaged and fully immersed into whatever it
is that you'd like to do. So it's very, very important
to know your audience. And a great way to do that is by greeting them as they
join the presentation. So whether it's
live or in person, greeting them before they enter. Greeting them as they enter, if that's a possibility as well. And of course, you know,
getting to know them using what's called the care
and response techniques. So use some questions geared
towards learning about them. And also you know who
your audience is, so learn about them in advance whenever it's
possible to do so.
5. How to Control Nerves: Nervousness when it
comes to a presentation that is a key component
of public speaking, and I think one that no
one can get away from. I have been doing
public speaking for 15 plus years of my life, and I still get nervous every single time I'm
about to present a show. Sometimes it would
almost seem irrational given the length of time that I've actually
been presenting. One of the best
things that you can do is to remind yourself that, in fact you were there to help the audience rather than
the other way around. If you're there to
help the audience, the focus then shifts to
how can I help these people understand what it is that I'm teaching them or I'm
talking to them about. As a public speaker,
910 out of ten, you're there to
provide information in some capacity by you
helping the audience. Guiding them in some capacity at your role is
actually to help them. Therefore, the focus of the
nervousness shifts from you about how nervous you are to help the nervousness
of the audience. Because most of the
time it's actually the audience which is actually quite nervous rather than you, even though you're
quite nervous. The truth is that the audience is actually more
nervous than you are when you begin to
understand that actually your role
is to help them. Because they're also worried about how they're coming across. They're worried
about how they look in front of their peers. They're worried about, if they speak up during
your presentation, during your public speaking,
how will they look? Then that shifts the
nervousness from you to them. And you're helping them feel at ease and you're helping
them feel more settled. Again, reminding yourself, that is one of the best
things you can do. Reminding yourself that
you are there to help the audience is one of the
best things that you can do. It's also important to
remember that the audience is likely more
nervous than you are. That's an important
point to note down. The audience is likely
more nervous than you are. What you can also do
is you can also list your worries and the probability that that worry will occur. That's quite an important one. Listing down what it is that
you're afraid will go wrong, then the probability
that that will happen. Most people are worried that if they start public speaking, then what will probably happen
is the audience will say, I don't want to talk to you,
I don't really like you. Please go away nine
times out of ten. That is not going to happen. Usually there will be one
person in the audience who may not necessarily like
your public speaking, however, they're not going
to be very vocal about it, or you might need
to win them over. The only way you can
win them over is by keeping them involved
with the group. That's also important
to note, again, just listing your
worries down and the probability that that
worry will actually occur. Because nine times out of
ten that will never happen. It's important to note that in reality our worries are just
that, they're just worries. And it's okay to be worried
and it's okay to be nervous. Finally, I would also suggest
that you know your topic. It's important that
you know exactly what it is that you're
going to talk about that puts you on the best footing
because you'll also be quite energized and quite excited to talk about whatever it is that you're going to talk about. Knowing the topic means that
you wouldn't be afraid of the questions that
people may have as a result in any form
of public speaking, whether you're delivering
notes in your workplace, or whether you are in a
public setting, on the radio, on the television,
or whatever it is, Knowing your topic means
that you feel very, very prepared, very, very aware of what's
going on as well.
6. How to Own the Room: The sign of any great public
speaker is to own the room. I would always start
by entering the room and then making any adjustments
that I feel are needed. That includes even
if it's online. So I would always enter
the room and then prepare if I need to prepare
the breakout rooms on teams, for example, I would
prepare that ahead of time. I wouldn't wait until
the time and then do it. I'd always do it ahead of time. So that's a very,
very important one. If you're in a physical space, then again, I would do
exactly the same thing. So I would get into the
room and I will try to anticipate every single thing that could possibly go wrong, which is something
that we covered in one of the sections there. So anticipating what
could go wrong. Could the batteries run out as you're holding a microphone
in a public setting? Is that a possibility?
Yes, it is. So again, making sure, what would you do
if that did happen? So I'd have a back up
pair of batteries. Or is it better to use a corded microphone
to ensure that, you know, that speech continues? You're able to continue
public speaking as well. What else could
possibly go wrong? You know, do you have
a sound engineer? Are you going to be
doing it yourself? Anticipating every single
thing you would need to do helps eliminate a
lot of those problems. And that helps you,
indeed own the room. I also look at potential issues, such as how does
your voice sound, does it carry to the end
of the room, for example? Or if you're online
are the volumes, are the levels, Okay. Is that sufficient for
you and you're speaking, will there be some
intermittent Wi Fi cutouts because you're currently
having Wi Fi issues at home. So will your broadband
support it, for example. Again, looking at anything
that could possibly go wrong, even such a thing as looking
at how you look and sound, how your voice is coming across, how you are coming across, how you're looking when you're
doing the presentation. Are you happy with
what you're seeing? Is the lighting about rights? Do you look to
overcast you in shadow so the audience can't
actually see you again, even if it's a live setting. The same situation as well, physically there in person. Does it look the way that
you're intending it to look? Also, it gives you a great opportunity to
practice your hand gestures. Looking at how your hand
gestures are actually, looking at how it looks when
you're doing eye contact. Again, all of these things
help you to own the room. That's something
that I've regularly done on a regular basis. I always find it to be very, very effective
because it allows you to see exactly what
the audience is seeing that in turn helps them connect with you
that a little bit more. You should also accept
that it's okay to make mistakes and that
the audience is more likely to root for you than
they are to not root for you. So even if you do make mistakes, they're more likely to
overlook it because most people are actually
happy to see you up there. I believe that most
people are quite happy to support someone because they
don't want you to fail. They actually want
you to do well. So they're more likely
to cheer you on, even if you do make mistakes. So again, owning the room, knowing that it's okay
to make mistakes, and knowing that no
matter what it is the audience is more
likely to help you along, will help you become one of
the greatest public speakers.
7. Stories to Engage an Audience: One of the most powerful
things that you can do as a public speaker is to engage your audience
using stories. It is one of the age old most powerful things that you can
do, and I'll repeat that, it is one of the
most powerful tools that you can ever have
as a public speaker. It helps keep your
audience engaged. It helps ensure that
they're listening. And also helps to
drive your point home. As a story I always talk about when I was stop and search
by police officers. And this is a very, very powerful story where I take the audience through
my experience and let them feel
exactly what it was like walking from a studio, going down a tube station, coming out the train station, tube station, and coming out the barriers,
opening them up. Seeing this flood of police
officers being called over and having your bags stopped and searched and
rummaged through, driving that point home. It's a very powerful
tool that I used to in order to help the
audience feel very, very connected and feel involved and engaged
in the story. It also helps to help
them listen as well. As we mentioned there, it's important to note that your
story must have a beginning, middle, and a end. There has to be an outcome. There has to be a start,
a middle, and an end. That helps the story to have a very consistent theme and lets people see when
the story started, as it's proceeding, and
what happened as a result. People want to know this story like a red riding hood story. They want to know
that red riding hood went to the forest. They want to know that
there was a part where that dramatic piece
happened in the middle. And then right at the end, the big bad wolf was
eaten by the grandma. In effect, they all went home and they
had their tea again. That's a very
beautiful illustration of a beginning, middle, and end. People want a congruent
story as well. Should also have a
very simple message to emphasize your point. And the story should also be told as though it's
in the present, so don't tell it as though
something that happened. You want to take
your audience there. They want to be there in
that specific moment. They want to feel the
feelings that you felt as you're telling the story
as though they are there. You should also make sure that your audience feel as
though they're there. And help them visualize
the experience. Again, helping them
to see it visually. Again, me talking
about my experience of what it was like being
stopped and searched. Again, it's important that they feel exactly
what it was like. What was the train line like? Was it busy that day? I was talking about how it was very hot on the train line. As I'm going through
the train line, it was crowded. It was very hot. And I came through the barriers, I touched my card on the reader to open the gates, and it open. And as I went through the gate, I saw this flood of
police officers. Again, it's helping
them visualize. They know what a police
officer looks like, they know all those feelings. They know what it's like
to be on the train, especially when it's hot
and when it's crowded. Helping them visualize and see exactly what you're seeing is another way that you can help the audience connect with you. Because it takes
your public speaking to a very, very intimate level. And helps them
connect with you on a deeper psychological level, rather than you even
showing them anything. Just the story in itself is a very powerful tool to
connect with the audience. Use stories to connect
with your audience.
8. Rehearsing for Public Speaking: Rehearsing for your public
speaking is an absolute must. It must be done. As I mentioned earlier, rehearsing for, it
helps you be prepared. It helps you to
anticipate a number of mistakes that could
happen beforehand. It also helps you to gain the confidence that you need because you know how
you're going to sound, how you're going to come across. Ways to do that is I would
practice in front of a mirror. So go right in front of a
mirror, look at yourself. You might feel silly
for a moment or two, but it's something that
you'll thank yourself for. And literally stand in front
of the mirror and give the presentation as though
you have an audience there. So grab a little mirror, big mirror, wherever mirror is. Even if you're in
the bathroom and you're about to begin
the presentation, you know the public, speaking
of whatever kind it is, go in front of a mirror
and look at yourself. Look at how you come across.
Look at how you seem. Are you smiling enough If
it's appropriate to do so? Are you engaging with
the audience enough? Are you using those
hand gestures? Are you giving off
the right energy? Is your posture appropriate
for the audience that you're talking to
practice in front of a mirror? I would also record your speech, so actually just hit record. So use your mobile
phone or whatever it is that you have to hand
and just record it. And see how you look. Again, seeing how
you come across, seeing how you're engaging with the audience and how
that might come across. How do you feel you're
watching that recording? It does sometimes take a bit
of time for people to get used to seeing themselves
in a recording setting, but it is one of the
best things you can do, Look at it objectively,
and just see how you feel by just
looking at that. I would, if you can do so, I'd also ask someone
that you know and trust to just sit there, be in the audience, or
pretend that they're the audience and give the
presentation to them. By having them there, you're able to get some
constructive feedback. Ask them, how did they feel? I feel that this is very important because when it
comes to public speaking, that is one of the main points. How did you actually feel? That is the main question
you can ask them as well. Look at some of your mannerisms. Do you use a lot of S and Rs unnecessarily and not
for dramatic effect. Are there things that you can take out of your public speaking that the way that you're coming across
isn't exactly how you'd like to come across. Look at your own mannerisms. Look at things that
you can change. Perhaps that might
enhance your message and enhance the point that you want to give off in your
public speaking. Also, practice if you can in the location that
you're presenting. It's a live presentation. And even if it's
on Teams, again, I would go on Teams and I would also click
the device viewer. And I would actually just
look at the camera to look at myself in the actual
window and see how it is. I would actually do
the presentation as though I'm on teams
at that point. If I'm at home or going to a live presentation,
so they're in person, physically, I would
actually go to the venue and I would stand there and
I would use the microphone. I would just get
used to being there. Again, that would allow me and that would allow you to in order for you to be prepared, I would strongly,
strongly recommend that. That's something
you can do as well. But also rehearse in the clothes
that you intend to wear. That's very important from a
psychological perspective. A lot of the time it can be
very difficult to rehearse, but then your mind isn't
actually connecting the two. That this is something
you're going to do if you're going to
be wearing a suit. I would put on that suit
and I would actually rehearse right in front of a mirror wearing the suit
that I intend to wear. Because it helps you yourself visualize yourself in
that specific setting. So that when you are in
that specific setting, your mind is automatically
linking those two things. And it helps you see exactly what the audience
is going to see. It allows you to see what the
audience is going to get. If there's anything that
you wanted to change, that would be a great
opportunity to change it by looking at how you're
going to look on the day, visually, how you're
coming across. Should you be wearing a suit, should you be wearing something
more that's more casual. Something perhaps
formal yet informal. At the same time, those are considerations that
you can look at too. Finally, I'll rehearse
using any prepared text. So looking at the
language of the text, if you are reading off a script, it's important then to look
at the language that is used. Is this the way that you want
your speech to come across? Do you notice perhaps a
pause that you'd like to in? Would you like to
audience to feel a certain way and
changing the language of that text help you in
order to do that? Of course. Finally, to be prepared, I would also keep an
eye on any time limits. Try not to go over time. Try to stick to the
scheduled time. Particularly if it's a scheduled event where you only have a limited amount of
time to keep an eye on the clock or the
minutes if you have one. If you don't, then I would
encourage you to use a watch or any other clock
that you might find around. Usually there's a
clock in a distance, even if it's on your computer. Just following those
time limits too. That's something you can do in order to be prepared
to give off one of the greatest public speaking
events of your life so far.
9. Helping Others: One of the most
rewarding parts about public speaking is knowing that you're helping
someone else. That for me, is one of the greatest things that you can ever take away
with you from this. Which is knowing that
you are actually helping and giving
happiness to someone else. It's one of those
rare instances where your audience actually
wants you to succeed. These people are
rooting for you. They actually want
you to succeed. The organizer, if you've
been contracted to do that, public speaking wants
you to succeed. The audience wants you to succeed because they're
there to have a good time. The best thing you can do
is let the audience who is highly invested in you know that you are
having a good time. So let them see that
you're smiling. Let them know that you're
happy to be there. That you're grateful
to be there. And in turn, that makes
you have a good time, and it helps them to
have a good time, and in turn, everyone's
having a good time. So it's very, very
important to just have fun, enjoy the moments, and just appreciate what's actually
going on at that time. I'd always make it a point to actually signal that
you're happy to be there by smiling and just
helping them engage as well. Of course, if it's
appropriate to do so. Again, thanking
them for welcoming, thanking them for having
you be there as well. Another important point
to know is just have fun, enjoy the moment
whilst it's there. And let the audience enjoy the time that
they're there too.
10. Conclusion: In conclusion, communicate
using body language such as hand gestures as it helps the audience
to connect with you. It helps them to feel that
you're there with them. And it just helps them to engage just that little bit more. Also have a clear
and simple message. The audience let the
audience be able to take a very clear and
simple message that they can take home to their
friends and family and talk about that great public speaking event
that they went to. Also know your audience, research who your audience are before you start
your public speaking, so that you're very
well prepared. Except that nerves are a very common part
of public speaking. It's not something that
we can get away from. We can always use that in
order to detect what could possibly go wrong and anticipate what could go
wrong in any situation. Own the room again by just anticipating
what could go wrong. Practicing and just
giving yourself a chance, believing in
yourself and knowing that the audience
wants you to succeed. Connect with your audience
with stories using that very, very powerful age old tool. People actually want to connect. They want to hear a story, they want to beginning
a middle and an end. And also I would also rehearse, making sure that
you're very well prepared for that
public speaking. And finally, I would
also have fun with that. I bid you a wonderful
rest of day and all the best in your
public speaking journey.
Richard Andersone, BCA, Author, Voice Over, Finance Expert
