Public Speaking : PACE YOUR INTENSITY

by Jim Tunney, EdD, CSP, CPAE

Public speaking audiences expect intensity. They like it. They arrive wanting an 'experience.' They want the emotion, the meaning, the sense. To develop the speaking flow and energy that delivers that to them, use variation in pace in the same way a major league pitcher uses a change-up to keep the hitter concentrating. Monotones moan. Variety electrifies.

In music, it is the pause of silence between the notes that makes the melody. Include such pauses. They allow your audience to mentally massage and absorb your message. Use silence as a partner.

Public Speaking : Timing

Timing in public speaking is one of the most important aspects of humor and NO ZZZZZs speaking. Not only is timing involved in an individual piece of humor, it is also involved in the placement of that piece of humor in the overall presentation. Timing is also involved in spontaneous reactions to 'expected' unexpected developments during the presentation.

Jack Benny said, 'When you are speaking, timing is not so much knowing when to speak, but knowing when to pause.' He should know, because he delivered one of the funniest and most famous lines in the history of comedy after an extremely long pause. He was being held up by a robber at gunpoint. The robber said, 'Your money or your life!' Jack didn't speak a word for an extended period of time. The robber became impatient and said, 'YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE!!' Jack finally replied, 'I'm thinking.' His persona as a cheapskate, coupled with a long pause indicating he was having trouble deciding whether to give up his money, or die was hilarious. A pause lets the audience catch up and draw pictures in their mind. It is the audience's signal to imagine.

In public joke telling, a pause just before and just after your punch line gives the audience a chance to laugh. Absolutely do not continue speaking when laughter is expected. Laughter is hard to get and easy to discourage. Hold eye contact a little bit longer than you think you should when delivering punch lines because time is hard to judge when you are pumped-up for a speaking engagement.

The size of your audience will affect your timing. Your presentation will take less time to deliver to smaller audiences. Smaller audiences should mean quicker laughter. Conversely, presentations will take longer for big crowds in large public arenas. Your pauses will be longer to compensate for the wave effect created because of the physical distance between you and the back row of the audience.

Public Speaking : Stand Still

One of the most common problems I see, even with experienced public speakers, is that they do not seem to be capable of standing still when they should. It is very distracting to try to listen to a public speaking presentation when someone is wandering and swaying around on stage.

I have stated in previous articles that you should move at least three steps, in a particular direction, and for a purpose whenever you move on stage. Small to and fro movements during your speaking engagement are very distracting. As we move into a century that will likely include more distance / TV training, keeping still is even more critical when you are speaking in public.

When you are on TV or video your movements are magnified. I got a good reminder lesson in keeping still while doing the weather and traffic report for a broadcast station in Orlando, Florida. I was all set to be my highly animated self. They put me at an anchor desk and turned me loose with a set script on the teleprompter. My normal performance looked absolutely ridiculous. In fact, it wasn't even close to being acceptable for the tight shot they used. I had to stay perfectly still with the exception of my head and eye movement and facial expressions.

You can practice this at home with a simple video camera zoomed in to a tight close up shot. Either stand or sit and don't move your shoulders and arms at all. Talk to the camera and only allow movement from the neck up. To do an el cheapo simulation of a teleprompter, cellophane tape a script on to the bottom of the lens of the camcorder.

Once you master this technique and can convey all your non-verbal information with only head and eye movement and facial expression, you can add small amounts of body, arm and shoulder movement as the video shot gets wider.

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Public Speaking : Start Low

Unless you are doing some type of surprise or big rah rah opening in your public speaking engagement, consciously start out with a slightly lower than normal voice inflection. In the excitement or nervousness that many of us feel at the beginning of a speaking engagement, it is easy to go the other way and start out with a voice inflection that is too high. The problem with this is that if you are already at a high range when you start, you have nowhere to go as you attempt to crescendo the audience to a big peak of excitement at the end of your program.

When you present in public . . . start low.

Public Speaking : Bounce Around

I recently had one of the toughest public speaking engagements of my career. It was a three hour afternoon session on Martin Luther King day in Baltimore, Maryland. It was difficult for many reasons, but one of the most trying was that the audience consisted of all the employees of one company. They ranged from the lowest level to the highest level in the company.When you have all managers or all executives, it is relatively easy to hone in on their interests and concerns.

When you have such a varied group you have to 'bounce around' and not spend too much time on the interests and concerns of any one type of audience member. If you do, you will lose the interest of all the other groups.

Public Speaking : Make 'em Wonder

I suppose most of my readers know by now that when I'm speaking in public I push the limits most of the time to make sure my audience stays awake. It should be no surprise to you then that I will attack another common old style snoozer technique (and I know I will get letters from educational theory folks, but that is OK) . . . that is, telling the participants what you are going to cover during your presentation. I say let 'em figure it out as you go. If they think they know where you are going during a public speaking engagement, then it is easy for them to 'zone out' since they 'think' they know what you are going to say. The way I do it is to make them wonder, 'What in the heck is he going to do next?,' which forces them to stay alert to find out.

Public Speaking : Vulnerability

I learned a great public speaking tip, at the recent National Speakers Association convention while standing around talking shop in the hotel lobby.
John Meluso
spent some time with me and noted that I was not showing any vulnerability at all near the beginning of my program. I would roll along and then tell a signature story at the END of my talk that bared all. John, pointed out to me that being the hard charging kind of public speaker that I am, that I probably have been alienating many of the more sensitive audience members. It is likely that my style ran over them right from the start and caused them to retreat for cover, thus making them very distant from me emotionally. Because of his astute observation, when I'm speaking I will change the order of some of my material to better connect with more subdued audience members.

An old boy coal miner friend of mine once told me, 'The schoolhouse door is always open.' John, I want to thank you for reminding me that we all can get better.

Public Speaking : Wake 'em Up!

Want people to remember you and talk about you in the hallways? Well, I mean talk about you in good way. Use some outrageous skill or opening that grabs 'em by the brain. My friend Mike Stahl breaks six solid concrete blocks. Jim Ziegler memorizes the name of each participant in the room.

I'm not strong enough or bright enough to break blocks or memorize, so I shoot confetti or fire in the air. You could do a beautiful painting quickly like Conni Gordon might do, or you could ride in on a horse for all I care. Just do not let them stay in their comas. Wake 'em Up!

Public Speaking : Lay Down the Law

When speaking in public, it is always best to communicate a clear set of ground rules near the beginning of your public speaking engagement. For instance, if you do not want questions until the end of your program, state that up front and get agreement from the group.

If comments from the audience are allowed, ask that they be kept to a certain amount of time (like 30 seconds or less). Getting everyone to agree to your plan in the beginning puts enormous peer pressure on an individual violating any of the rules.

Public Speaking: The Front Row

In the research I did on my recent public speaking trip to Thailand, I discovered that a meeting or seminar custom is to seat VIP attendees in the front row. No one of a lesser status either socially or in business would think of sitting closer to the front than their boss, or someone of a higher social ranking. This is a very loose and largely ignored custom in Western meetings, and carries a significantly higher decorum in Thailand and Asia. Since many meetings are rather westernized anyway, don't fret if your speaking engagement is not run this way, but your knowledge and adherence to this custom can earn you some real points with the people that count.

Room Setup

I normally use a semi circular theatre style room setup whenever I can. In my Thailand talk, I found out approximately how many VIPs there would be and set the front row with plush chairs that were obviously nicer and different than the rest of the typical hotel chairs. I befriended one of the attendees who knew what the VIP attendees looked like. When a VIP was identified, either me or my assistant escorted them to a front row seat. I had some time to blow while awaiting the arrival of the Governor so, I went around the room allowing the attendees to name themselves and their affiliations. I started at the back of the room and ended with the most senior official in the front row. These gestures were very well received and paved the way for a very productive speaking engagement.

Public Speaking : Equipment Photographs

I've talked about this tip before, but ran into the same situation again this month while doing a public speaking engagement in Morocco. The primary languages there are Arabic and French. Just arranging for an overhead projector was very difficult.

When I arrived as the opening speaker (after having confirmed three times an overhead projector and screen), none was to be found in the room. The manager of the gigantic ballroom could not speak English and because of tight scheduling of other events, I was not able to be in the room early as I always am.

I forgot to bring my equipment photographs which would have gotten the point across to the manager immediately whether he spoke English or not. It really didn't matter though, because the projector he finally brought was so terrible I had to scrap all the overheads.

I am ALWAYS prepared for total equipment failure and went on with the program without hesitation. Tips when speaking in a foreign environment:

1. Have photographs of the equipment you need.

2. Have a backup plan and be ready to use it

3. When you leave you own country start smiling and don't quit until you are locked safely in your bathroom (smile then too if you want to). Never get upset in public. Getting upset will only make things worse for you and your speaking engagement will suffer.