A few years ago I did a presentation on the art of effective public speaking.
Recently I found the slides for that presentation and decided to publish it as an article here.
My ideas mainly come from these 2 great books:
TED Talks by Chris Anderson; The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs by Carmino Gallo
Alright, let’s get right into it.
Ingredients:
Gen AI; ingredients
I think a great presentation like a great meal has a few important ingredients: connection, revelation, throughline, worthwhile message, action call.
What each of these ingredients try to accomplish?
- Connection -> why should I trust you?
- Revelation -> can you take my breath away?
- Throughline -> where are you taking me?
- Have Sth Worth Saying -> what matters to you, why?
- Call for action -> what should I do now?
Let’s go a bit deeper on each ingredient.
Connection
To make an impact, there has to be a human connection.
Gen AI; Human Connection
Steve Jobs used techniques like:
storytelling, humor, and empathy
to create a connection with his audience.
You can give the most brilliant talk, with crystal-clear explanations and laser-sharp logic, but if you don’t first connect with the audience, it just won’t land.
get personal, tell a story, show vulnerability & humor
Your very first job as a speaker is to build a trusting human bond with the audience SO that they’re willing —delighted, even—to offer you full access to their minds for a few minutes.
But why humor?
Because:
Humor breaks down the communication barriers.
Gen AI: Humor
It also hacks away the resistance to listening to a talk.
Part of the evolutionary purpose of laughter is to create social bonding. When you laugh with someone, you both feel you’re on the same side. It’s a fantastic tool for building a connection.
You can find just one short story that makes people smile, it may unlock the rest of your talk.
What you’re looking for instead of jokes, are hilarious-but-true stories that are directly relevant to your topic.
For an example check the beginning of this talk on YouTube:
How I Read 32 Books A Year & Lessons Learned
Talk: How I Read 32 Books A Year & Lessons Learned by Daniel Daneshi
The next technique for creating connection is storytelling.
But why I’m keep hearing about storytelling everywhere I look?
Because stories are instant generators of
interest, empathy, emotion, and intrigue
They can brilliantly establish the context of a talk and make people care about a topic.
Gen AI: Storytelling
We’re born to love stories.
When you can pull together
humor, self-deprecation, and insight
into a single story, you have yourself a winning start.
Tales of failure, awkwardness, misfortune, danger, or disaster…
told authentically, are often the moment when listeners shift from plain vanilla interest to deep engagement.
The next ingredient is:
Revelation
A powerful opening that takes my breath away
Gen AI: Captivated audience
A provocative question ** or statement** that grabs your audience’s attention and makes them curious to hear more.
Example: here I started with a provocative quote by Aristotle:
“95% of everything you do is the result of habit!”
Revelation could also be a compelling story or anecdote.
Or even a dramatic visual or music.
Next ingredient:
Throughline
Throughline answers: what’s your point and where are you taking me?
Gen AI: Journey
Trhoughline is about sparking curiosity & desire by promising what you are going to give them. It’s about painting a picture.
It is the connecting theme that ties together all elements.
When the audience knows where you’re headed, it’s much easier for them to follow.
Think of a talk as a journey. But if you want the audience to come with you, you probably need to give them a hint of where you’re going.
The throughline traces the path that the journey takes.
The next ingridient is about inspiration:
Worthwhile Message
You need to have something worth saying. Preferebly something inspiring.
Someone is inspiring not because they look at you with big eyes and ask you to find it in your heart to believe in their dream!
Someone is inspiring because they actually have a dream that’s worth getting excited about.
Why does what you care about matter?
And the last ingredient:
Call for Action
At this point, you communicated your ideas and what matters to you.
Now it’s time to call your audience to join you on your path.
Gen AI; Inspired Audience
Ask them to imagine themselves doing what is a significant contribution to the future.
That’s it!
(but there are a few more ideas: If you want some more tips on how to prepare and improve your talk, check out the original presentation where I share more ideas in the last slides here in tome.app)
What’s an important ingredient to you?
Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts, I love to hear them.