Do you know me? I’m a hockey puck, and during this time of year, the playoffs, I’m a really busy guy!
That was the introduction to the “I Am a Rock” speech delivered by one of my sons in the 5th grade. His teacher gave an assignment for the students to pick any inanimate object and deliver a 3-to-5-minute speech as if you were that object. It was a lot of fun — we made what looked like a circular sandwich board, all black, and I got out some old hockey gear, all of which served as the costume. Family and friends were invited to attend and ask questions of the speaker when they finished. I was thankful my travel schedule allowed me to be there.
When he finished, one of his classmates asked him a question, the way the assignment called for: “You were the only one of us who didn’t use notes. You didn’t seem at all nervous — were you?”
I was standing in the back of the room, and I knew better. I’d watched him rock back and forth the whole speech, just like he used to on his hobby horse in the playroom — a tell only a parent would catch. But there he stood, answering without missing a beat.
His response is something I’ll never forget. He said, “My dad earns his living talking in front of people, and I thought if he can do it, so can I.”
Obviously I was over the moon happy for his performance, but more importantly, I knew he would be extremely successful in his career. I believe the most important attribute of an extraordinary public speaker is the premise that you can be a good public speaker.
Prepare and Practice
Acknowledging that you can be a good speaker implicitly requires the other two critical attributes of outstanding speakers: prepare and practice. If I know I am a good public speaker, I owe it to my audience to be prepared and well practiced.
When I’m coaching speakers, I always say this: Prepare each as if it were the first, and deliver each as if it were the last.
Outline, Not Manuscript
When preparing a talk, I believe in working from an outline, not a manuscript. Granted, I’m not the holder of a political office, and I’m not the CEO of a major company with shareholders to satisfy — I’m Jeff, with a lot to say about technology (although I think my advice is good for all walks of life). Reading your talk causes one major problem: eye contact. It’s incredibly difficult not to get locked in on the paper in front of you. And if I try to memorize the speech instead, one moment of nervousness may cause a word or two to be forgotten — all of a sudden you’re lost. Will the audience know?
Here’s what I recommend: facts, figures, quotes, and statistics get written out, and they get read. Right away the audience knows you’ve got it right — precision is so important. After I put together the outline, I write out my introduction and conclusion — not so I can read them, but so I can do the wordsmithing that will set the tone at the beginning and send them out like a whirlwind at the end.
In the meantime, I know that outline cold — over and over, in the shower, in the car, when I’m mowing the lawn — wherever. I know the four or five points I’m trying to make, cold. Here’s the best part: if I forget one of the points, no one knows. I don’t stumble, I just roll with the flow.