3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on Public Speaking Secrets
Becoming a ‘Natural’, the Spotlight Effect & a Secret to Public Speaking
I. Becoming a ‘Natural’
Public speaking can be learned. Science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson explains how he prepared for his first appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart:
When I got my first appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, I said: “Oh my god, that’s dangerous. This guy is all in your face, let me watch a few of these shows.” So I watched it. And I timed how many seconds he gives his guests to speak before he interrupts comedically.
If you’re a politican you got your stump speech and you gotta get it out and he interrupts. Oh my god, you’re flustered and you’re a deer in the frickin’ headlights. And I said: “That is not going to happen to me.”
So I said I’m going to parcel my information that I’m going to share on that show in six to nine seconds increments. So that when he does jump in, the thought has been completed. Then we can both laugh and then I go on to the next thought and there’s no deer in the headlights.
Not only that, I monitored how far back he reaches for current events that he will then throw into the mix; and he doesn’t go back more than a few days. There’s a news cycling. Because if he makes a current event reference and it’s not current then it doesn’t hit as a joke.
So I would study current events for the previous three days deeply. I’d bring that to bear in those conversations and I’m invited back 14 times. And what do people say? “Neil, you’re such a natural on his show.”
II. The Spotlight Effect
When under the spell of the Spotlight Effect, we miscalculate how much others pay attention to us. Our flaws and mistakes. The good news is that we’re much less in the spotlight than we think we are.
In reality, people care surprisingly litttle about us and our supposed inadequacies. If they do scrutinise us, chances are they forget it again quickly. Perhaps they’re too concerned about how they appear to others?
III. A Secret to Public Speaking
On a similar note, here’s philosopher Naval Ravikant’s take on how to become a better public speaker:
The secret to public speaking is to speak as if you were alone.
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Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com