- We're gonna talk about five effective
public speaking techniques,
and helping me this week is my YouTube friend,
Dr. Bruce Lambert.
So let's get into it.
(upbeat music)
If this is your first time on this channel
we are all about helping you
with your professional development and communication skills,
and that's why I asked Bruce Lambert
to share his five secrets for doing a great presentation.
He is a college professor like me
and has a great YouTube channel
called How Communication Works.
I'm honored to have him on this channel.
But before we get into his tips,
Bruce, can you tell us a little bit about your channel?
- Hi, Alex.
Thanks so much for having me.
My channel's called How Communication Works.
It's a channel for people who wanna improve
their communication skills so that they can improve
their relationships, succeed at work, be more confident,
and lead a more fulfilling life.
- Excellent.
I'll be sure to link to Bruce's channel below
so you can take a look.
So Bruce, tell us your five tips
on how we can become more effective presenters,
and be sure to give us that bonus tip
at the end that I was asking about
when we were talking about this over email.
- What I wanted to share with your audience today, Alex,
were five tips that I think are absolutely essential
for being successful at public speaking.
These five tips taken together
will make anyone a more engaging, entertaining,
and effective public speaker.
The first of my tips is to use movement.
Get out from behind the podium and move around.
If you think of some of the most effective
public speakers you've ever seen,
unless they're having to stay behind a podium
for television cameras like sometimes politicians have to,
really effective public speakers tend to move around.
That's because the movement provides dynamic energy
to the audience, and it also gets you out from behind
the podium where you might be tempted
to look at your notes and read from your notes,
and kind of hide from the audience.
So get out from behind the podium and walk around.
Now you don't want to pace back and forth
like you're really, really nervous,
but you wanna kind of move with a natural energy
back and forth across the stage or in front of the audience
or even walk up and down the aisles
if you're in a classroom kind of a setting,
and let people know that you're comfortable and engaged,
and want to kind of have a conversation with them.
And this movement should include not only you walking around
and getting out from the behind the podium,
but also movement in your upper body,
movement in your head, your face.
You want, generally, not to be fixed like a statue
because you're so nervous,
but moving in a relaxed and comfortable fashion
like you're having a conversation with friends.
Number two is to be passionate and enthusiastic.
One of the keys to effective public speaking
is not to bore your audience.
You wanna keep them engaged,
and you do that with energy and enthusiasm,
and nothing comes across with more energy and enthusiasm
than if you have passion in the topic
that you're talking about.
The best way to do this is actually to speak about topics
where you genuinely feel this passion
where you don't have to fake it
because you really are passionate and enthusiastic
about the thing you're talking about.
That won't always be the case because sometimes
at work and at school we have to give public speeches
about topics where, let's face it,
we're not exactly naturally enthusiastic about them.
But we have to find something in the topic
that allows us to be passionate and enthusiastic,
and then you have to share that passion
and enthusiasm with the audience.
That will keep them engaged.
Then they'll be hanging on every word.
So you'll see that I tend to speak
with a certain amount of intensity.
That's because I really do feel passionately
about these topics.
I really want you to improve your communication skill.
I really want you to learn these five techniques
to be a better public speaker,
and that comes across in the way I speak.
The third tip is to use humor.
Now this doesn't always mean tell a conventional joke
that has a traditional setup and then a punchline.
Some people are really good at telling jokes.
If you're good at telling jokes and you know some good jokes
that are appropriate to the audience,
then go ahead and tell a joke.
But a lot of us aren't like comedians
good at telling standard setup jokes.
So in that case, if that describes you,
then tell funny stories.
People love to hear stories,
and people love to hear funny stories.
Even better if they're funny stories about you
or things that have happened to you.
So work hard when you're developing your speech
to find something humorous in the topic itself
or in the way that it relates to you
or in the way that it relates to your audience.
Something humorous.
Humor can be a double-edged sword because some humor
borders on being inappropriate for certain audiences.
So you have to use your professional judgment
to only use humor that's appropriate for your audience
or else humor can really backfire,
and you can leave a very bad impression
if you use profanity or humor that in some way
offends part of your audience.
But most of the time, a funny story about yourself
on the topic will be a huge winner.
Step four is to use surprise.
Try to surprise your audience
with a fact that they didn't know,
with an anecdote that they didn't know,
with some sort of twist on the topic.
Most topics that we have to talk about
have a kind of conventional set of facts
that many people know maybe a little bit about.
Try to find that one thing about the topic
that's counterintuitive, that's unexpected,
that's surprising, and save that to the end.
Lead people along.
Lead them to believe one thing,
and then hit them with that surprise.
Surprise has a great way of engaging an audience,
drawing them in, and keeping them interested.
So find that surprising fact or story
and include it in your presentation.
Tip number five, Alex, is to use a conversational tone.
You can tell in the way that I speak
that it's like I'm having a conversation.
Well, you and I are having a conversation, Alex.
But for those of you who are out there watching,
next time you're giving a public speech,
I think this is the most important advice I can give you.
Try to speak like you're having
a conversation with the audience.
Try to bring down any artificial wall or barrier
which exists between you and your audience.
You can tell many of my other tips
are related to this tip.
So getting out from behind the podium,
being passionate and enthusiastic,
using humor and surprise,
all of these are trying to break down
the formality of the public speech.
Most of us don't have to give formal public speeches
like the State of the Union, like a politician has to give.
Most of us are giving public speeches
in relatively informal business and social settings.
So in that case, have a conversation with your audience.
Talk to them as if you're talking to them one on one.
This lowers these boundaries of formality,
opens up people's minds, gets them engaged,
and because a conversation involves turn taking,
they'll always be on the edge of the seat
as if you're about to ask them to contribute
to this conversation that you've started.
So be conversational.
- Okay, Bruce.
Now hit us with that bonus tip.
- One last quick tip.
Show some vulnerability.
This will draw the audience towards you,
and make them feel closer to you,
and make them appreciate you more.
One of the best ways to show vulnerability
is to use a little self-deprecating humor,
to tell a joke at your own expense,
to tell a story about when maybe
you did something embarrassing.
To just be a little bit vulnerable reveals something
slightly personal about yourself.
Reveal a flaw or a foible or something
that you're not completely proud of that allows you
to show a little vulnerability to the audience.
Alex, thanks so much for having me on your channel.
You know that you've been a role model
for me here on YouTube,
and I've been a big fan of you and your channel
ever since I first discovered you on YouTube.
So thanks again for having me on.
- Great tips, Bruce.
I love them all, especially that last tip
about being vulnerable.
It's really like a secret weapon.
People love authenticity.
Bruce, I'm honored to have you on the channel,
and if you would like to see more from Bruce
I've linked to a popular video on his channel
about how to listen better.
Also, Bruce will post a comment,
and I'll pin that comment to the top of that section
so you can go to his channel just by clicking on his name,
and make sure to say hi.
So God bless, and I will see you soon.