Disrupting public speaking | Laura Penn | TEDxEcoleHôtelièreLausanne
-
0:09 - 0:11I haven't always been
a public speaking coach. -
0:13 - 0:20Believe it or not, I'm a scientist
specialized in conservation biology, -
0:20 - 0:24which is the science of protecting
wildlife and wild places. -
0:25 - 0:28Six years ago, I was sitting
in an auditorium -
0:28 - 0:30that looked a lot like this one,
-
0:30 - 0:34listening to a string of presentations
given by colleagues -
0:34 - 0:37who had just returned from field missions
-
0:37 - 0:41involving the conservation
of various plant and animals species. -
0:42 - 0:48One after another, the presentations
were unbelievably... -
0:49 - 0:50awful,
-
0:52 - 0:53mechanical,
-
0:53 - 0:55monotones,
-
0:55 - 0:57unrehearsed,
-
0:57 - 0:58soulless.
-
1:00 - 1:05For me, they were BAD, which stands
for "broken and dysfunctional." -
1:06 - 1:09They were ticking off every single box
-
1:10 - 1:13of what not to do
while speaking in public: -
1:14 - 1:16speaking too fast - tick;
-
1:17 - 1:21saying too many "ums" and "ahs" - tick;
-
1:22 - 1:26spending more time
looking at the screen behind them -
1:26 - 1:29than at the audience
in front of them - tick; -
1:30 - 1:34I felt numb, disengaged,
-
1:34 - 1:38and totally uninspired.
-
1:38 - 1:40Looking around me, I realized
-
1:40 - 1:44that I probably wasn't the only person
in the audience who felt this way. -
1:44 - 1:48No, my fellow audience members
were busy doing all sort of things: -
1:48 - 1:50some were taking power naps;
-
1:50 - 1:54others were crossing
their arms and legs tightly like this -
1:55 - 1:58and looking up at the ceiling,
thinking about who knows what; -
1:58 - 2:03and others were shifting uncomfortably
in their chairs looking ill at ease. -
2:04 - 2:06You know what this feels like, right?
-
2:07 - 2:10All you have to do
is to remember the last BAD - -
2:10 - 2:13broken and dysfunctional presentation -
-
2:13 - 2:15to know what this feels like.
-
2:16 - 2:20And I'm willing to guess that you probably
don't have to think back very far -
2:20 - 2:22to remember this presentation,
-
2:23 - 2:26because the kind of presentation
that I'm talking about -
2:26 - 2:29is ubiquitous, it's happening everywhere.
-
2:30 - 2:35In boardrooms, classrooms,
and auditoriums - except this one. -
2:36 - 2:39All over the world, all the time.
-
2:39 - 2:44In presentation, after presentation,
after BAD presentation, -
2:45 - 2:47and most of the time, we, as the audience,
-
2:47 - 2:50just sit there, politely listening,
-
2:50 - 2:55watching, waiting, wanting more.
-
2:56 - 3:00longing for movement and laughter,
and human connection. -
3:02 - 3:06Why do we accept such a low standard
for public speaking? -
3:07 - 3:10Why is it okay to deliver
BAD presentations? -
3:11 - 3:14These are the exact questions
that I was asking myself, -
3:14 - 3:18as I was sitting in the audience,
listening to my colleagues, -
3:18 - 3:24drone on and on and ooo-n
about their subjects. -
3:26 - 3:29And I started to feel irritated.
-
3:29 - 3:33And then that feeling changed to anger.
-
3:33 - 3:35I got angry.
-
3:35 - 3:39I was angry that such
precious information was spilling -
3:39 - 3:43so carelessly from their lips,
-
3:43 - 3:47like gold dust draining from one's hand.
-
3:48 - 3:49Gone.
-
3:51 - 3:54Public speaking is one thing.
-
3:55 - 3:59But conservation is a crisis discipline.
-
4:00 - 4:05Species live or die
based on presentations like these. -
4:06 - 4:10Critical funding,
global support and awareness, -
4:10 - 4:13community consciousness;
-
4:14 - 4:17all of these things rely
in such a large part -
4:17 - 4:22on how conservation professionals
are speaking about the issues. -
4:22 - 4:25And then, it happened.
-
4:26 - 4:30I was hit by a lightning bolt idea.
-
4:30 - 4:33"What if," I thought to myself.
-
4:33 - 4:37"What if I could put together
-
4:37 - 4:39all of my experience
as a conservation biologist, -
4:40 - 4:43with all of my experience
as a performing artist?" -
4:44 - 4:47Because I've been dancing
and doing theater for 20 years as a hobby. -
4:47 - 4:50"What if I could put
those two things together -
4:50 - 4:53in order to fix this speaking problem?"
-
4:54 - 4:55What if
-
4:55 - 5:02I could help to promote conservation
through effective public speaking? -
5:02 - 5:04And that's exactly what I did.
-
5:05 - 5:08Today I live to disrupt
-
5:08 - 5:12the broken and dysfunctional
status quo for public speaking. -
5:13 - 5:16And I'm working, not only
with the conservation community, -
5:16 - 5:20but with anyone who's willing
to put in the elbow grease, -
5:20 - 5:23the sweat, and yes, sometimes even tears,
-
5:24 - 5:30to learn the magnificent art
of effective public speaking. -
5:31 - 5:34That's right, you heard me say "art"
-
5:35 - 5:40because I believe that public speaking
is a performing art, -
5:41 - 5:44like theater, and dance, and music.
-
5:44 - 5:49A speaker's art is the effective delivery
of the spoken word. -
5:50 - 5:54In order to be successful, the speaker
has to both create compelling content -
5:54 - 5:58and perform that content
in front of an audience. -
6:00 - 6:04Performance is what makes
your presentation interesting, -
6:04 - 6:06so that people pay attention.
-
6:07 - 6:11Performance is what makes
your presentation memorable -
6:11 - 6:16so that people inhale
and absorb your message. -
6:17 - 6:21And performance is what makes
your presentation stirring. -
6:22 - 6:25So that guess what? People give a damn.
-
6:27 - 6:32In short, performance is what makes
your message matter. -
6:33 - 6:36And by the way, I'm not talking
about the kind of performance where -
6:36 - 6:39you go all out on stage
in front of the audience -
6:39 - 6:41and act like somebody
you are not, uh-uh. -
6:42 - 6:48I'm talking about the kind of performance
where you stay authentic to who you are, -
6:49 - 6:53but you have polished, and honed,
-
6:53 - 6:57and refined those elements,
-
6:57 - 7:02which I believe, constitute
the performance of public speaking. -
7:02 - 7:05There are four such elements:
-
7:05 - 7:12The first one is appearance;
this is all about what you look like, -
7:12 - 7:15from the outfit that you are wearing -
-
7:15 - 7:18because what you are wearing's
a part of your performance - -
7:18 - 7:23and it goes on to include
how you walk into the space -
7:23 - 7:25and what presence you radiate.
-
7:26 - 7:31And then, there is voice;
your voice is an instrument, -
7:31 - 7:36and your job as a speaker
is to play it, and play it well, -
7:36 - 7:41creating melody that the audience
wants to listen to. -
7:42 - 7:44And then, there is body;
-
7:45 - 7:48when you are speaking,
you are not only speaking from your mouth. -
7:49 - 7:51No, what else are you speaking with?
-
7:52 - 7:57You're speaking body language, of course,
your dancing body language. -
7:57 - 8:01As a speaker, you need
to be fluent in this language, -
8:01 - 8:05understanding what gestures
and positions mean -
8:06 - 8:11so that you know which ones to use,
and which ones not to use. -
8:13 - 8:16And then there is
audience connection, of course. -
8:16 - 8:19This is all about creating
a relationship with the audience -
8:19 - 8:23so that you form bridges
between yourself and them. -
8:23 - 8:26And this begins by you doing your homework
-
8:26 - 8:30so that you know who
the audience is in the first place. -
8:30 - 8:36That way, you can take on their needs
and interests, and speak to them. -
8:37 - 8:41Those are the four elements that constitr
the performance of public speaking. -
8:41 - 8:44And those are the four areas
that your job as a speaker -
8:45 - 8:49is to enhance and polish like a diamond.
-
8:49 - 8:52Now, I'm sure that you can imagine
-
8:52 - 8:57that doing all that polishing
takes a lot of effort and time. -
8:58 - 9:00But just as with any skill,
-
9:00 - 9:03whether it's learning how to bake
the perfect lemon meringue pie, -
9:03 - 9:08or reciting Shakespeare,
or skiing moguls, like Edgar did, -
9:10 - 9:14public speaking is no different:
it requires practice. -
9:14 - 9:18And then more practice,
and then more practice after that. -
9:18 - 9:21But the good news is that
it can be mastered. -
9:22 - 9:26And as George Leonard said
in his book called Mastery: -
9:26 - 9:29"Mastery is available to anyone
-
9:29 - 9:34who is willing to get on
the path, and stay on it." -
9:34 - 9:36So there is hope.
-
9:36 - 9:41But there is one method
that is a little bit easier to take on -
9:41 - 9:43than all of the stuff
that I've just described here. -
9:44 - 9:47This is one of my favorite methods
to teach because it's sort of a short cut. -
9:47 - 9:51It prevents you from having to go through
the hoops of fires of these areas, -
9:51 - 9:53and it allows you to switch on
-
9:54 - 9:57the performance
of your public speaking, right now. -
9:57 - 10:00I call it putting on a new hat.
-
10:01 - 10:03You see, hats have a magical power.
-
10:04 - 10:09Hats can make you imagine things,
and believe things, -
10:09 - 10:12and most impressively, to do things.
-
10:13 - 10:18I first tuned in to the illustrious power
of hats back at university -
10:18 - 10:20when my best friend
and roommate Sarah and I -
10:20 - 10:25had a whole wall of our student apartment
dedicated to silly hats. -
10:25 - 10:29There were big ones, and blue ones,
and tall ones, and small ones. -
10:29 - 10:31A hat for every occasion.
-
10:31 - 10:34Sarah and I would use these hats
to help us to do stuff. -
10:35 - 10:39So when it came time to study for exams,
I had a favorite study hat. -
10:39 - 10:44It was my Dr. Seuss hat, which was tall,
with red and white stripes. -
10:44 - 10:47You may know it from
"The Cat and the Hat." -
10:47 - 10:53This hat, I believed,
I had a responsibility when I wore it. -
10:53 - 10:58And that was that I needed
to fill its tall column with knowledge. -
10:58 - 10:59So I studied harder.
-
11:00 - 11:02And then after the exam was over,
-
11:03 - 11:05I'd put on my other hat
which was my relaxed hat, -
11:05 - 11:08my floppy, velvet, lovely hat
that made me chill out. -
11:08 - 11:10You get the point.
-
11:10 - 11:14Hats have a magical power,
but the really neat thing besides that, -
11:14 - 11:18relating to hats,
is that they can be invisible. -
11:20 - 11:24People who are broken
and dysfunctional speakers -
11:25 - 11:29are wearing an invisible hat that says,
-
11:29 - 11:33"I'm a boring presenter,"
-
11:33 - 11:37in big, bold, tattered letters
on the front. -
11:38 - 11:44This ugly hat, it makes them give dull
and unremarkable presentations -
11:44 - 11:49that are neither interesting,
memorable, nor stirring. -
11:49 - 11:52In short, that are not performances.
-
11:52 - 11:57You can choose to wear a hat like this too
if you don't care about your subject -
11:57 - 11:58or the audience,
-
11:58 - 12:01or whether or not
your message is memorable. -
12:01 - 12:03This kind of hat, it works everytime.
-
12:05 - 12:07Or, if you do care,
-
12:08 - 12:12you can choose the kind of hat
that I am wearing right now. -
12:13 - 12:16Do you see what it says
in big pink letters on the front? -
12:17 - 12:20If you can't read it
from where you are sitting, -
12:20 - 12:25it says, "I'm a performer!"
Exclamation point! -
12:26 - 12:31This magnificent moss green velvet hat,
-
12:31 - 12:34shaped like the Matterhorn mountain,
-
12:34 - 12:38with a crooked tip, and a peacock feather
sticking out at the top, -
12:39 - 12:43this sublime hat gives me magical powers.
-
12:44 - 12:49It gives me permission
to take up space on this stage, -
12:50 - 12:53and to be a larger version of myself.
-
12:53 - 12:55This hat allows me
-
12:55 - 12:59to take risks and experiment
with how I use my voice. -
13:00 - 13:04And how I use my body
so that my messages can come alive. -
13:05 - 13:10And this hat gives me courage
so that I can interact more with you, -
13:11 - 13:14so that we can have
a more meaningful connection. -
13:14 - 13:15I love this hat.
-
13:15 - 13:18And the good news
is that you can have one too. -
13:19 - 13:22All you need to do
is to imagine it, believe in it, -
13:22 - 13:27and then the most important part is
you need to surrender to its powers. -
13:28 - 13:31Make a ritual ceremony
out of putting the hat on. -
13:32 - 13:35Begin by imagining the hat.
-
13:36 - 13:37What does it look like?
-
13:38 - 13:40Design it. Create it.
-
13:40 - 13:44Make it peculiarly you, like Jeremy said.
-
13:45 - 13:50And then slowly put the hat on your head.
-
13:50 - 13:54When it touches your head, poof!
-
13:54 - 13:59You transform into a performer!
Exclamation point! -
14:00 - 14:03Let that energy take over.
-
14:03 - 14:07Enjoy yourself and be present
in the moment. -
14:08 - 14:11If more people wore hats like these,
-
14:11 - 14:14and if more people
regarded public speaking -
14:14 - 14:18as the performing art that it is,
-
14:18 - 14:22then I believe, that broken
and dysfunctional presentations -
14:23 - 14:25would be a thing of the past.
-
14:25 - 14:31And we would revolutionize how we speak.
-
14:32 - 14:33Thank you.
-
14:33 - 14:34(Applause)
- Title:
- Disrupting public speaking | Laura Penn | TEDxEcoleHôtelièreLausanne
- Description:
-
How do you become a great public speaker?
Laura Penn's speech will teach you what it takes to improve your public speaking skills in order to take your speaking to the next level. Her dynamic talk will reveal the origin of her fire and will dig into the nuts and bolts of this exciting approach, leaving you with some of the tools that you need to try out for yourself.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 14:37
Ellen approved English subtitles for Disrupting public speaking | Laura Penn | TEDxEcoleHôtelièreLausanne | ||
Ellen edited English subtitles for Disrupting public speaking | Laura Penn | TEDxEcoleHôtelièreLausanne | ||
Ellen accepted English subtitles for Disrupting public speaking | Laura Penn | TEDxEcoleHôtelièreLausanne | ||
Ellen edited English subtitles for Disrupting public speaking | Laura Penn | TEDxEcoleHôtelièreLausanne | ||
David Hsu edited English subtitles for Disrupting public speaking | Laura Penn | TEDxEcoleHôtelièreLausanne | ||
David Hsu edited English subtitles for Disrupting public speaking | Laura Penn | TEDxEcoleHôtelièreLausanne | ||
David Hsu edited English subtitles for Disrupting public speaking | Laura Penn | TEDxEcoleHôtelièreLausanne | ||
David Hsu edited English subtitles for Disrupting public speaking | Laura Penn | TEDxEcoleHôtelièreLausanne |