Public Speaking

[Aubs]

Giving my first true lecture on Wednesday morning. 200+ students, my professor, friends that TA with me, and other professors in the department will be there. Super nervous.

It's an hour lecture on ancient Egypt. Spoken to 100/150 people before when I was in high school, but that was only for 5 or 10min.

Have the powerpoint all done - filled with pictures and key words. Finishing up all my notes tonight. Going to the classroom tomorrow to practice with all the computers/screens/i-clickers/etc. a few times.

Any public speaking suggestions from my wakeboarder.com family?

Thanks in advance.

[Jester]

Few things:
1) 1 slide per minute is a good pace
2) When you're up there, make sure you're speaking slowly. If you feel like you're speaking at a normal pace it's probably too fast (adrenaline and all).
3) If you're using a laser pointer and your hand is shaking a lot, steady it with the other hand. It's annoying to watch a shaky laser dot.
4) Ask friends to listen to a practice talk, they'll find things about your speech that you aren't aware of (ie; saying "like" too often or starting every new slide with "so" or "okay, moving on")

Knock 'em dead!

[htownbdr]

Take a few deep breaths before you go on.
Keep your eyes moving across the crowd. You will find a few friendly faces in various parts of the room. From then on when you scan the crowd they will give you positive feedback which will give you confidence.

Don't read from the slides. Have something relevant not on the slides to discuss.

Make a conscious effort to slow your speach down.

Don't say like. Or "such as". . Short pauses are better than filler words.

Have a decent plan for the first minute. After that it is a piece of cake. But, If you botch that part it will start on the wrong foot and you will feel like you are catching up for a few minutes after that.

Take a few deep breaths before you start.

If all else fails, flash'em.

[Nor*Cal]

Don't forget to have fun... This is one of the big parts of your career path. Nervousness is natural, just be confident and allow the audience time to absorb what you're trying to say.

Good luck!

[smokinheels10]

htownbdr, I completely agree with the filler words part. There is nothing that gets me more than listening to someone give a presentation and say um, like, uh, or any other variation of those repeatedly. Quite annoying.

Other than not using filler words, I would just say make sure you practice it and you know your stuff. Once you get to going you will be fine and the nervousness will disappear as you go along. If you are confident, the crowd will see you are confident and you will have fun speaking.

Best of luck to you. Let us know how it turns out.

[Aubs]

Jester - Have a slide for every 2 minutes or so. Most professors have a slide for every 4min or so, so I actually have a lot. Have a laser pointer, but don't think I'll even need it.

htown - Will avoid 'like' as best as possible. Notes are pretty thorough, so as long as I stay on track, I'll avoid them.

nor*cal - Not nervous about the lecture, nervous about the questions posed by students after. Just praying none of them come up with anything abstract or too out of the box.

[Neognosis]

I presented 6 hour classes for a proffession for 7 years. The best thing i learned was to ignore everything you learned that makes a "good" public speaker and just talk to them as if you were discussing the topoc with your friends. If you want, move around. Relax and be casual. Ame remember, even if you are good and engaging and interesting, at any given point most of the room is not paying attention after the first 20 minutes anyway. If you want to get real engaging for your next one, i can share with you some techniques for class involvement that appeals to multiple learning intelligences.

[taitrt]

As a high school science teacher I do a fair amount of speaking, though usually only to around 30 students. I've discovered through my years of teaching that the most important thing when giving a speech or lecture is enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm is totally contagious, if you act like ancient Egypt is the most exciting thing in the world your audience will believe you and will be excited about what you have to say. Even if you need to feign enthusiasm, do it. It won't take long before your fake enthusiasm translates into real interest by your audience and that will be awesome motivation for you to put forth some genuine enthusiasm. No one wants to listen to a lecture about something that the lecturer doesn't even want to talk about.

I always drink a Mountain Dew before giving an important speech (not just a classroom lecture) and I find it gives me a little more energy that I can transfer into enthusiasm for my topic.

[ridininmd]

[taitrt]

[STPHNSN23]

if you get flustered, take a breath, and remember that you know what you're talking about. that's my biggest key. once i remember that i know what i'm talking about instead of being focused on speaking to the class or group or whatever, things go a lot easier.

[Aubs]

camera - I've taught a bunch of hour long classes, but just to 25-30 students. And I try to use a lot of discussion in those, and not just lecture. Not easy to involve a class of 200+. I have a few photoshopped pictures and amusing videos/pictures thrown in throughout (ie. Steve Martin's 'King Tut' impression)

tait - Ancient Egypt is actually one of my interests, so I love the topic. Enthusiasm will definitely be there.

ridin - The smallest font I used was 32 - there are two ginormous screens in the lecture hall, so that should be more than fine.

tait - I use the 'Great question, but I'm not sure of the answer, e-mail me the question and I can get that answer for you.' 99.9% of the time, the student will forget/not care enough to e-mail, so problem avoided. The .1% of the time they do e-mail you, I don't mind looking it up because I know they legit care.

Stphnsn - Tom Brady was incorporated into my powerpoint, I have no fear that I'll be able to look at him when that slide comes up, sigh, take a deep breath, and smile LOL.

[Aubs]

Introducing King Tutankhamen with this clip:

http://s266.photobucket.com/albums/ii280/Hoecus/?action=view&current=SNL-SteveMartin-KingTut-ComedyCentr.flv

[ontrider]

[ScottyB_RochNY]

Smile. Smile the whole time. It will naturally encourage your enthusiasm and the crowd will be more receptive to you.

[key]

ontrider, you beat me to it....

[BrentC5Z]

Rub one out before you start.

Helps to calm the nerves.

[Aubs]

ontrider - LOL I'm thinking I might lose my job if I did that!

Not wearing a pencil skirt tomorrow, for anyone that remembers my interview from hell story, you can be happy that won't happen again tomorrow.

[eeven73]

low cut, skin tight, blouse.

FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jt09]

dammit even! you beat me to it!

show cleavage. it's your best asset!

[Faust]

Don't use a laser pointer, it could amplify your shaking.

Bring water... this will help keep pace and help if your mouth gets dry.

All the other comments are real good, I like the smile one.

[pet575]

All good points so far. Really good one I use when I speak from time to time to classes is to find a few students/people in general who look engaged-one on each side of the room. Looking into the crowd, move from one student on one side of the room, to some random spot in the middle, to the other student on the other side of the room.

And RELAX. You know your stuff or you wouldn't be doing this. So relax and have fun with it. A little humor ALWAYS goes a long way with this kind of stuff.

Use Steve Martin to get the crowd involved (assuming it is a video clip and not just a photo)

Start a chant:
Left side of the room: "BURIED IN HIS JAMMIES!!!"
Right side of the room: "SHOULDA WON THE GRAMMIES!!"

You'll at least pull the people who checked out back into the talk for a little bit.

[ryan351w]

Agree with everything, the thing about pausing instead of saying "like' or "um" what seems like an eternity for you is really 2.4 seconds in real life. So take your time.
I like the water idea take a quick sip instead of talking if you looking to catch up. Just make sure you didn't down a 20oz in the first 10min!

I also like the walking around part. It will actually keep you calmer and not look like your as nervous.

[Okie Boarder]

A lot of good suggestions. Like CB saud, treat it like a discussion over a couple beers with friends except they don't get to talk much.

I used to do a bunch of seminar type things on very dry, technical subjects. Humor, being relaxed, walking around the room when possible and keying in on a few people in the audience that are engaged really makes a difference.

I also found confirmation phrases help. Things like "Does that make sense?" at the end of a point while looking at a particular person or two helps.

[arof]

[Aubs]

Night before. Ran through it twice today. 57min and 58min, so timing is perfect. Wearing a cute outfit, but nothing super sexy (sorry). I'm excited - not nervous, just want it to be over by now lol.

Thanks for all the advice. I'm lecturing at 11:45, so I'll let ya know in the afternoon how I did!

[ontrider]

Is it being webcasted?

[jt09]

for god's sake wear your hair pulled back.

[Aubs]

LOL why is that jt09?

Been up watching the Gamecocks win the CWS tonight - so happy for them! Time for bed now!

[jt09]

because you have a giant head of hair and it will look MUCH more professional if it's pulled back.

[arof]

good luck!

[Aubs]

Rocked it. So happy its over with. Thanks for all the suggestions - time to head to class and then out drinking to celebrate

[key]

surely you recorded it. give it to us to accept or deny....

[jt09]

congrats aubs! for you...