How to Feed Your PowerPoint Addiction

Who knew there were smartphone apps designed to help people give better presentations?

In this week's "Killer Apps" on Slate.com, Farhad Manjoo shows us a few:

http://www.slate.com/id/2288534/

I was disappointed to see that the main app featured enables further dependency on PowerPoint. The app actually lets you download your PowerPoint presentation right onto your phone.

What a brilliant way to merge two addictions - PowerPoint and Smartphones!

Could someone design a public speaking app that teaches speakers to get away from the screen - and connect with the people in the audience?

But perhaps this is a lesson that's better given in person.

Speaking Advice from SNL

In this week's New Yorker, Tina Fey recounts nine "Lessons from Late Night" - what she learned from working with Lorne Michaels.

Lesson #7 is "Never cut to a closed door." Tina writes:

Lorne said this once in exasperation...the director had cut to a door a moment too soon, before the actor entered, and in that moment Lorne felt we had "lost the audience"...Lorne would have preferred that the camera cut follow the sound of the actor knocking on the door. Which is to say that the sketch should lead the cutting pattern, which is to say that content should dictate style.



From the Green Room: Let your message and your content dictate your speaking style. Most delivery problems stem from a lack of clarity about the content. If you are 100 percent clear on what you are trying to say, your delivery will flow much more naturally and the your audience will stay engaged.

Anne Hathaway and James Franco: What Not to Do

Clearly, Anne Hathaway and James Franco bombed as hosts of this years' Academy Awards.

Their downfall can be summed up in one word:

Status.

From the moment they stepped on stage, Hathaway and Franco lowered their status. They managed to appear even younger and sillier than they actually are. Franco acted as though the evening were a joke, and Hathaway acted like a star-struck teenager. Both did not act hosts, but rather like annoying kids taking over a grown-up party. And as a result, they lowered the status of the entire event.

Another word for the host of an event is "Master of Ceremonies." The key word here is "master." The MC's job is not just to keep things moving, but to do so masterfully - with a sense of authority and grace, thus elevating the event.

This was painfully highlighted when Hathaway and Franco introduced Billy Crystal who then
"introduced" Bob Hope. For a brief moment, we were reminded of what a host is actually supposed to do.

From the Green Room: The next time you MC an event, be masterful. Remember, you are the host - not the guest, and your job is to elevate - not to ingratiate. Rather than lavish praise upon the other speakers and the audience, (which many of us are tempted to do), aim to bring a sense of dignity, respect, and elegance to the affair.

Colin Firth: How to Make the Universal Unique

Could there have been a duller set of speeches than the ones at this year's Academy Awards? How many times must we witness the same old "incredulous" reaction of the winners?

Last year, Sandra Bullock stood out from the crowd. This year, it was Best Actor Winner, Colin Firth. He managed to communicate the giddy joy of the moment without sounding like a tired cliche:

From the Green Room: The speeches we remember the most are the ones which express universal truth in a voice that is both distinct and authentic.

Speaking Lesson from Gabrielle Giffords

I find Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' recovery process inspirational, particularly as a speech trainer.

How does a person begin to recover from such traumatic brain damage? How does a person relearn the ability to speak?

According to a recent NYT piece by Marc Lacey and James C. McKinley Jr., one way is through singing:


With a group of friends and family members acting as a backup chorus, Ms. Giffords has been mouthing the lyrics to “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love, Baby.” And as a surprise for her husband, who is celebrating his birthday this month, a longtime friend who has been helping her through her rehabilitation videotaped her mouthing the words to “Happy Birthday to You...”

According to Dr. David Langer, an associate professor of neurosurgery, the use of singing... is a standard technique to help restore speech in people with brain injuries.

This reminds me of an earlier post, in which I quoted speaking advice from Roger Love, one of the foremost vocal coaches in the world:

Try practicing singing your speech.

Love explains:

"When you do (sing your speech), you'll find yourself discovering interesting ways to emphasize words, you'll hear them a different way, and you'll begin to hear the real message shining through...Singing gives you new perspective on your material because it's one of the only times both sides of your brain -- the creative, imaginative side and the orderly, logical side -- operate together. When you practice by singing a few phrases, then going back to speak them, you tap into the power of your whole brain...and you can't help but express yourself in a way that feels whole. You might even surprise yourself. Your delivery feels fresh and people can't help but listen to you."

(Roger Love, Set Your Voice Free, p178-9)

From the Green Room: Practice singing your speech. Singing opens up your voice and helps you tap into the essence of what you are trying to communicate.

End the Silence. Overcome Your Fear.

In Saturday's NYT, Adam Liptak writes that it has been nearly five years since Justice Clarence Thomas has spoken during a court argument:

In the past 40 years, no other justice has gone an entire term, much less five, without speaking at least once during arguments, according to Timothy R. Johnson, a professor of political science at the University of Minnesota.

Apparently, here is one reason why:

He has said...that he is self-conscious about the way he speaks. In his memoir, “My Grandfather’s Son,” he wrote that he had been teased about the dialect he grew up speaking in rural Georgia. He never asked questions in college or law school, he wrote, and he was intimidated by some fellow students.

Clearly, this is an insecurity that can and needs to be overcome.


From the Green Room: Don't let fear or insecurity get in the way of your being a better and more confident speaker. While the fears may be real, they can also be overcome. The payoff is immeasurable - even if you're not on the Supreme Court.

More Lessons from a Ukulele

Part of what makes Jake Shimabukuro's ukulele performance so remarkable is the element of surprise. We think of the ukulele as a simple, happy instrument - perfect for jamming a three- chord song on the beaches of Maui.

By choosing to play the multifaceted and complex Bohemian Rhapsody, we see this instrument in a new and unexpected light.

The same is true for your voice.

The human voice is an amazing instrument that has unlimited potential. The problem is that we tend to put our voices into a box. We speak with limited variation - in "three chords" - rather than push ourselves into new and unexpected vocal terrain.

I help my clients to exercise their voices in new ways so that they are capable of much more nuanced and complex ways of speaking.

A theater director once said to me, "Your voice is gift." How true. Challenge yourself to make the most of your voice, just as Jake Shimabukuro makes this most out of his ukulele.

Lessons from a Ukulele

According to musician Jake Shimabukuro from his bio on this week's Ted.com:

"...The ukulele means more (to Jake) than grass skirts and loud shirts. He's on a mission to revolutionize our perception of the four-string, two-octave instrument."

In what is a very obvious example of "show, don't tell," Jake expresses his love for the ukulele not by talking about it, but by playing a stirring rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody:"



From the Green Room: Most of us don't something as clear as a musical instrument to show, rather than describe a message.

But we all can learn from Jake's TED presentation.

If you're trying to tell a group of employees how much they matter to the company, focused eye contact says more than words.

If you're trying to sell a new product, a physical demonstration is so much more memorable than a description.

And if you're delivering bad news, the tone of your voice can soften the blow the way no words can.

In whatever way you can, show, don't tell.

Lesson from a Fifth Grader: Be Concrete

And now... the 2011 Winner of the Annual Gardere MLK Jr. Oratory Competition:
5th Grader Elijah English:



Each participant in the contest had to answer the following question: How will I carry forward the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr?

In addition to his remarkable speaking skills, I imagine that one of the reasons why Elijah's speech won first place was because he was able to give the audience a concrete answer to this abstract question about legacy.

Elijah's story of showing his report card to his dying grandfather painted a powerful picture of what it means to learn from those who came before us.

From the Green Room: Use concrete language to make your point. The audience always remembers concrete details over abstract messages.

Lesson from a Fifth Grader on MLK Day

Watch this CBS interview with the 2010 winners of the Gardere MLK Jr. Oratory Competition:



When the interviewer asks Tamia what the victory means to her. She responds:

"It means that I worked really hard, and that I can achieve my dreams as long as I work hard."

Rodriguez asks, "How hard did you work?"

"Every night, every day, 24 hours, just straight on the line."

What inspires a child to work this hard at something? If I had to guess, I would imagine that key to her determination is a powerful faith in herself.

What better lesson to learn on MLK Day?

From the Green Room: There is simply no substitute for practice and hard work. But as you practice, do not lose sight of what ultimately will be the key to your success: your belief in yourself.

Here is Tamia's winning speech:

Be Generous

This is a great time of year to talk about generosity - one of the most powerful qualities a speaker can possess.


How do you feel when someone tries to sell you something?

At best, you may feel compelled to buy it.
At worst, you may feel manipulated, annoyed, and even violated.
But you almost never feel a true sense of connection with the seller.

Now, how do you feel when someone gives you a gift?

At worst, you may feel disappointed not to have gotten something better.
At best, you feel terrific.
And almost always, you feel grateful.

From the Green Room: Speak with generosity. Remember you are giving the audience a gift - not making a sales pitch. This subtle change in attitude makes can make enormous difference in how you approach your audience - and in how you are received.

Lessons from The King's Speech

As a speech coach, I couldn't wait to see The King's Speech, particularly as I am interested in learning more about how to help people who stutter. What I found was a lesson for all of us:

The King's brilliant speech therapist made clear that there is no substitute for hard work, and he had the King practice countless speech exercises. And yet his ultimate "cure" came from one simple lesson each of us needs to hear:

Speak to your audience as though you were speaking to a close friend.

Not only does this enable the King to overcome his stage fright - and his stutter, but at a critical moment in history - it makes each person in his audience feel personally addressed.

From the Green Room: Remember, there is no such thing as "public speaking." Whether you are speaking to an audience of 1 or 1,000,000, speak as though you are having a conversation with a close friend. There is no better way to calm your nerves - and connect with your audience.

Move Purposefully

A professor friend of mine recently introduced me to the blog FemaleScienceProfessor, in which the blogger writes:

"From a teaching evaluation (not mine, but it could have been):

'The professor paced without purpose while teaching.'

I confess: I pace while teaching. To the extent that my pacing has a purpose, it is so I can be a physical presence in various parts of the room at different times during the class, make eye contact with more students, listen to their questions better, try to see what they are seeing when I project something/write something at the front of a large classroom, or just because I get kind of hyped up when I teach and I feel like moving. I don't know if those are good purposes or bad purposes, but I think they add up to purposes, even if students don't know what they are."


Movement in a presentation is very powerful. When you move purposefully, you drive home your content. When you move randomly, you likely lose your audience.

It seems the professor here does some of both.

There is a big difference between walking towards a student in order to listen to her question and pacing back and forth "because I get hyped up when I teach and feel like moving."

The former is purposeful - and helpful. The latter may be a way to get out energy - but is most likely distracting to the audience.


From the Green Room: A speaker can ramble in words and in movement - both are problematic. Just as you speak with intention, you should also move with intention.

Steve Martin and the Perils of Not Knowing Your Audience

What do you do when you've been invited to give a talk and realize that you've lost the audience?

To make it worse, the organizers of the event interrupt you midway through and tell you to change course.

No, this is not the tale of a novice presenter. This is exactly what just happened to Steve Martin.

Last week, the 92nd Street Y invited Martin to arts journalist Deborah Solomon to discuss Martin's new novel "An Object of Beauty," which centers around the New York art scene.

Midway through the talk, the event organizers sent someone on stage with a note directing Ms. Solomon to turn the discussion away from art and towards "Steve's career."

The incident resulted in a full refund to the attendees and an apology to Martin for the hasty interruption.

Martin describes his reaction to the interruption in an op-ed which in last Sundays NYT:

This was as jarring and disheartening as a cellphone jangle during an Act V soliloquy. I did not know who had sent this note nor that it was in response to those e-mails. Regardless, it was hard to get on track, any track, after the note’s arrival, and finally, when I answered submitted questions that had been selected by the people in charge, I knew I would have rather died onstage with art talk than with the predictable questions that had been chosen for me. Since that night, the Y has graciously apologized for its hastiness — and I am pleased to say that I look forward to returning there soon, especially to play basketball.

What is surprising about this story is not the inappropriateness of the note, but rather that it got Martin so flustered!

Just goes to show, even the best presenters can get caught off guard. What happened to Martin could happen to anyone. My advice is to treat this incident as a cautionary tale.

From the Green Room: When you are invited to speak, make sure to fully discuss with the organizers the expectations of the audience and how you plan to meet them. As long as the communication is open, clear, and thorough - no "interruption" should ever be necessary.

Timeless Before Timely

Who could help but love Gwyneth Paltrow's performance on Glee last week, especially the finale: a mash-up of 'Singin; in the Rain' and Rihanna's 'Umbrella':



While the number may have devoted more time to the Rhianna song, Singin' in the Rain was clearly the heart of the performance. Mr. Schuester said it himself when he asked Hollie Holiday (Gwyneth) to help him update the classic song.

From the Green Room: Let your core message be timeless. But make sure your presentation is timely.