Thanks to comedian Ben Gleib and DocStoc founder Jason Nazar, for sharing helpful and entertaining tips on public speaking tonight at Startups Uncensored in Santa Monica.
Here are takeaways from tonight’s awesome “Mastering Public Speaking” event.
- Learn to talk to people about them, not you.
- People are just glad they’re not on stage. And they want to learn something, get some content.
- The trick of public speaking is to learn how to replicate your conversational style. @jasonnazar
- Be natural, be yourself. No one else is you. @bengleib
- Start with your thesis, give examples, & go back to your thesis.
- Content and confidence are the two biggest factors you need to succeed.
- Eminem lose yourself in the moment
- Your energy needs to carry the crowd, the audience feeds off if it. Smile!
- Talk in 30second sound bytes.
- Silence is the most important tool for emphasis and understanding.
- Silence helps your reader to build comprehension. Try 5 seconds of silence.
- Hold eye contact with one person for 5 minutes.
- Ride the wave. Surf the crowd. Read the room. Improvise.
- Be like Heinz ketchup, the best things come to those who wait. Take your time.
- Don’t take yourself so seriously.
- Speak dynamically by learning to stretch your voice. Use your voice! Make it interesting. Use your voice as an instrument. Draw people in: use your voice as a tool. Jack Nicholson
- Use the power & control of the sound of silence.
- Have fun!
- Practice is invaluable but actually seeing yourself is much better.
- Always practice just outside your comfort zone.
- Presentations: don’t read, stare, filler, carry on, or assume.
- Have the slides be a picture.
- Make eye contact to keep people engaged.
- “Um”, “Like”, “So” —- avoid.
- At the beginning of every meeting give 5 points what’s going to be covered during the meeting.
- Be memorable.
- Whatever you do, make sure it sticks with people. Don’t be so egotistical that you can’t look vulnerable. Don’t be so important that you can’t be silly. : )
- (Side Note … Best story: hiring 3 Spanish guys from home depot to stand in as his copywriters for MTV pitch.) : )
- If it’s worth saying it’s worth repeating. Create a meme.
- It’s all about stories. Use open loops. Stop worrying. Focus on your content, the jokes.
- We all learn through analogies. Be a really great storyteller.
- Tell stories in your presentations. Use examples.
- Dont be like pancakes. Start string and end stronger. Save the best for last.
- Confidence is how well you present yourself to the world. There’s no difference between what you pretend and what’s real. You’ll have an “aha” moment when you realize you are the real thing.
Awesome and memorable presentation. Thanks Ben and Jason!
