Confessions of a Public Speaker
An inspirational joy. I did not expect to find this book even half as enjoyable as it turned out to be. If you are a public speaker of any kind or are a regular attendee of talks, read this book.
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Ketil Moland Olsen
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Wayne Mitchell
Some people like seeing how sausage is made, but many do not.
Most people listening to presentations around the world right now are hoping their speakers will end soon. That’s all they want.
I was given 10 minutes to speak, and since the average person speaks 2–3 words per second, all you need is 1,500 words of material (600 seconds x 2.5 words per second).
Andrew Doran
A useful yardstick.
Good speakers usually find when they finish that there have been four versions of the speech: the one they delivered, the one they prepared, the one the newspapers say was delivered, and the one on the way home they wish they had delivered.
To your body, saber-toothed tigers and orgasms and turkey gravy look remarkably similar.
To your body, saber-toothed tigers and orgasms and turkey gravy look remarkably similar.
friends are less likely to try to eat you
Most of the things we say are so wonderful and amazing will lose without a fight to an extra hour of sleep.
Andrew Doran
I know this to be true from when my sons bound into my bedroom at 6:30am asking to be read a story and my eyes feel like they are bleeding.
Before Edison’s light bulb, we averaged 10 hours a night; in 2009, we average nearly half that.
Andrew Doran
Sleep.
looks like a place the Spartans would say is too spartan.
I’d prefer to have more time than money, since you can never earn more time.
I also think it would be good if salaries were made public, which is why I offered my fees and income. If more people did this, the overpaid and underpaid would be visible and more likely to be corrected. Or, total anarchy would ensue and civilization would end. Either way, it would be fun to watch.
Andrew Doran
Agreed. Only works if it applies to everyone though.
we solved most lecture-room problems about 2,000 years ago. The Greek amphitheater gets it all just about right, provided it doesn’t rain.
crowd size is irrelevant—what matters is having a dense crowd. If ever you face a sparsely populated audience, do whatever you have to do to get them to move together.
Even if you’re a Flying Spaghetti Monster disciple speaking at the Vatican, someone in that room will hate you less than everyone else.
Andrew Doran
A glass half-full truth for public speakers. Love it.
the average person isn’t that smart—and worse, half the population is dumber than that average person.
there must be an outline of points supporting whatever you put into your talk for this reason: all presentations are narratives, and all narratives are a sequence of points.
There’s something unnerving about large, empty rooms. They look like graveyards.
Andrew Doran
I never noticed that before. Looking at the photos in the book, they really do.
People often complain that they only learned a few things in an hour-long lecture, but would they be willing to go at all if the talk was only 10 minutes long?
Don’t waste time giving your resume or telling the back story (“I first read about blah blah at blah blah”). They don’t care.
Standing at the front of the room blasting a foghorn while you drop your pants every 60 seconds will certainly keep everyone’s attention
Andrew Doran
Not recommended.
I have no idea what is going on, yet I’m the center of attention, much like how it would feel to be invited over for dinner by a family of cannibals.
Most people say they’re afraid of performing for an audience, but this is bullshit.
Most people say they’re afraid of performing for an audience, but this is bullshit.
A savvy speaker must ask the host, “What effect do you want me to have on this audience?”, and a good host will think carefully about that answer.
A savvy speaker must ask the host, “What effect do you want me to have on this audience?”, and a good host will think carefully about that answer.
I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
Henrik Berggren
Wish I would have known this in school. It's so so true.
old ideas said well have surprising power in a world where everyone obsesses about what’s new.
No matter how much you hate or love this book, you’re unlikely to be a good public speaker.
I can’t recommend taking an improv theater class strongly enough.
Silence establishes a baseline of energy in the room.
Force a point of view into the title, and let it grow into the points you make.
Unless slides are essential and the clearest, simplest way to make your point (which they almost never are), use fewer of them.
Unless slides are essential and the clearest, simplest way to make your point (which they almost never are), use fewer of them.
Ask the host to monitor Twitter or the event chat room as a way to get the best questions and comments from the back channel into your presentation.
Learn to say three words: “I don’t know.” They are easy to say. You will not die instantly if you say them.
Unsavory things being done to butts flashed up on screen, followed by gasps and laughter, some fainting, and one “Yahoo!” A quick Alt+F4 came in handy.
Andrew Doran
Hilarious!
Starting with presentation software nearly always makes you think slide-centric and not story-, point-, or audience-centric.
And thus, in a few simple sentences, you have now read the greatest, most miraculous colophon of all time.
Andrew Doran
It may well be!
Long live the colophon.
I just bought this book yesterday, and am looking forward to read it now. Thanks for sharing!