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ublic speaking is one of the most
common fears – and as business and
community leaders, Rotarians have
to confront it regularly. How do you
cultivate this important skill? We devote
this Global Outlook to all aspects of public
speaking. We’ve tapped Chris Anderson, the
man behind the internationally popular TED
Talks, for his advice on giving a standout
presentation. We also investigate the pitfalls
of presenting in a language that’s not your
own and explore new technologies that will
take your talk from static to stellar. Struggling
to get top-notch speakers to come to your
club? We have tips for that too. Read on.
P
ILLUSTRATIONSBYOTTOSTEININGER
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3. O
n a trip to Nairobi, Kenya, some colleagues and I met a
12-year-old Maasai boy named Richard Turere, who told
us a fascinating story. His family raises livestock on the
edge of a vast national park, and one of the biggest
challenges is protecting the animals from lions – especially at night.
Richard had noticed that placing lamps in a field didn’t deter lion
attacks, but when he walked the field with a torch, the lions stayed
away. From a young age, he’d been interested in electronics, teaching
himself by, for example, taking apart his parents’ radio. He used that
experience to devise a system of lights that would turn on and off in
sequence – using solar panels, a car battery, and a piece of motorcycle
equipment – and thereby create a sense of movement that he hoped
would scare off the lions. He installed the lights, and the lions
stopped attacking. Soon villages elsewhere in Kenya began installing
Richard’s “lion lights.”
The story was inspiring and worthy of the broader audience that
our TED Conference could offer, but on the surface, Richard seemed
an unlikely candidate to give a TED Talk. He was painfully shy. His
English was halting. When he tried to describe his invention, the
sentences tumbled out incoherently. And frankly, it was hard to
imagine a preteen standing on a stage in front of 1,400 people.
But Richard’s story was so compelling that we invited him to
speak. In the months before his talk, we worked with him to frame
his story – to find the right place to begin, and to develop a succinct
and logical arc of events. On the back of his invention, Richard had
won a scholarship to one of Kenya’s best schools, where he
had the chance to practice the talk several times in front of a live
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EXPERT ANALYSIS
HOWTOGIVE
AKILLER
PRESENTATIONby Chris Anderson
Chris Anderson is the curator of TED, a nonprofit dedicated
to spreading ideas, often through short, powerful talks.
audience. It was critical that he build his confidence to the point
where his personality could shine through. When he finally gave
his talk at the 2013 TED Conference in Long Beach, Calif., you
could tell he was nervous, but that only made him more engaging
– people were hanging on his every word. The confidence
was there, and every time Richard smiled, the audience melted.
When he finished, the response was instantaneous: a sustained
standing ovation.
Since the first TED Conference 30 years ago, speakers have
ranged from political figures, musicians, and TV personalities
who are completely at ease before a crowd, to lesser-known
academics, scientists, and writers, some of whom feel deeply
uncomfortable giving presentations. Over the years, we’ve sought
to develop a process for helping inexperienced presenters
frame, practice, and deliver talks that people enjoy watching.
On the basis of this experience, I’m convinced that giving a
good talk is highly coachable. In a matter of hours, a speaker’s
content and delivery can be transformed from muddled to
mesmerizing. And while my team has focused on TED’s
18-minutes-or-shorter format, the lessons we’ve learned are
surely useful to other presenters.
FRAME YOUR STORY
There’s no way you can give a good talk unless you have something
worth talking about. Conceptualizing and framing what you want
to say is the most vital part of preparation. When I think about
compelling presentations, I think about taking an audience on
a journey.
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If you frame the talk as a journey, the biggest decisions are
figuring out where to start and where to end. To find the right place
to start, consider what people in the audience already know about
your subject – and how much they care about it. If you assume
they have more knowledge or interest than they do, or if you start
using jargon or get too technical, you’ll lose them. The most
engaging speakers do a superb job of quickly introducing the topic,
explaining why they care so deeply about it, and convincing the
audience members that they should too.
The biggest problem I see in first drafts of presentations is that
they try to cover too much ground. Limit the scope of your talk to
what can be explained – and brought to life with examples – in the
available time. Go deeper and give more detail. Don’t tell us about
your entire field of study – tell us about your unique contribution.
PLAN YOUR DELIVERY
Once you’ve got the framing down, it’s time to focus on your
delivery. There are three main ways to deliver a talk: You can read
it directly off a script. You can develop a set of bullet points that
map out what you’re going to say in each section rather than
scripting the whole thing word for word. Or you
can memorize your talk, which entails
rehearsing it to the point where you internalize
every word – verbatim.
My advice: Don’t read it. As soon as people
sense that you’re reading, the way they receive
your talk will shift. Suddenly your intimate
connection will evaporate, and everything will
feel a lot more formal.
Many of our best and most popular TED
Talks have been memorized word for word.
Obviously, not every presentation is worth that
kind of investment of time. But if you do decide to memorize your
talk, be aware that there’s a predictable arc to the learning curve.
Most people go through what I call the “valley of awkwardness,”
where they haven’t quite memorized everything. If they give the
talk while stuck in that valley, the audience will sense it. Their
words will sound recited, or there will be painful moments when
they stare into the middle distance, or cast their eyes upward, as
they struggle to remember their lines.
Getting past this point is simple, fortunately. It’s just a matter
of rehearsing enough times that the flow of words becomes second
nature. Then you can focus on delivering the talk with meaning
and authenticity.
But if you don’t have time to learn a speech thoroughly and
get past that awkward valley, don’t try. Go with bullet points on
notecards. As long as you know what you want to say for each one,
you’ll be fine. Focus on remembering the transitions from one bullet
point to the next.
DEVELOP STAGE PRESENCE
When it comes to stage presence, a little coaching can go a long
way. The most common mistake we see in early rehearsals is that
people move their bodies too much. They sway from side to side,
or shift their weight from one leg to the other. Simply getting a
person to keep his or her lower body motionless can dramatically
improve stage presence. Some people can walk around a stage
during a presentation, and that’s fine if it comes naturally. But the
vast majority are better off standing still and relying on hand
gestures for emphasis.
Perhaps the most important physical act onstage is making eye
contact. Find five or six friendly looking people in different parts
of the audience and look them in the eye as you speak. Think of
them as friends you haven’t seen in a year whom you’re bringing
up to date on your work. That eye contact is incredibly powerful,
and it will do more than anything else to help your talk land.
In general, people worry too much about nervousness. Nerves are
not a disaster. The audience expects you to be nervous. It’s a natural
body response that can actually improve your performance: It gives
you energy to perform and keeps your mind
sharp. Just keep breathing, and you’ll be fine.
PLAN THE MULTIMEDIA
With so much technology at our disposal, it
may feel almost mandatory to use, at a
minimum, presentation slides. By now most
people have heard the advice about
PowerPoint: Keep it simple; don’t use a slide
deck as a substitute for notes (by, say, listing
the bullet points you’ll discuss – those are best
put on notecards); and don’t repeat out loud
words that are on the slides. That advice may
seem universal by now, but go into any company and you’ll see
presenters violating it every day.
Many of the best TED speakers don’t use slides at all, and many
talks don’t require them. If you have photographs, illustrations,
or video that make the topic come alive, then yes, show them. If
not, consider doing without, at least for some parts of the
presentation. And if you’re going to use slides, it’s worth exploring
alternatives to PowerPoint.
PUTTING IT TOGETHER
Ultimately, presentations rise or fall on the quality of the idea, the
narrative, and the passion of the speaker. It’s about substance, not
speaking style or multimedia pyrotechnics. It’s fairly easy to “coach
out” the problems in a talk, but there’s no way to “coach in” the
basic story – the presenter has to have the raw material. If you have
something to say, you can build a great talk.
An extended version of this story appeared in the June 2013 Harvard Business Review.
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5. N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4 | T H E R O T A R I A N 6 1
Sell your club. Emphasize to prospective
speakers that it’s a big deal to present at
your club and that they’ll get something
out of it. “If you can’t promise them a big
crowd, promise them that 20 of the top leaders in town
will be there,” Caruso says. Consider changing your vo-
cabulary: Rather than asking someone to be the
“program” at your “club meeting,” see if they’ll be the
“keynote speaker” at your “lunch.” Take your speakers
seriously, and they will take your club seriously.
Create buzz on social media before, dur-
ing, and after the meeting. Ask your
speakers for a headshot and short video,
and post them on social media to generate
interest in your event. Ask their permission to tweet and
photograph during the meeting – social media revolves
around what’s happening right now. “A speaker would
never say no to that,” Caruso says. If you took video of
the presentation, post it afterward.
Invite speakers who appeal to the
members you have and the members you
want. If you bring in presenters who are
popular in the city, chances are they will
have friends, associates, and customers of their own who
could come for the presentation. Welcome your speakers
to bring their own audience to your club meeting, and
you may find prospective new members. Also invite
people you know who might be interested in your speaker.
Start small, but think big. Finding and
promoting 52 big-name speakers may
sound daunting, but what about 12?
Designate the first meeting of each month
as the “speaker showcase,” and aim to double your
attendance at that meeting based on the draw of a star
speaker, Caruso suggests. Having a larger crowd increases
the chances that you’ll get media coverage and that other
notable speakers will come to your club as well. Don’t
forget to collect business cards from visitors so you can
let them know about upcoming programs and club events.
Imagine you’re thinking of joining Rotary. You attend a club meeting, and the speaker that day
is uninspiring and boring. Do you still join? “Speakers hold more real estate than anyone in the Rotary
meeting – including the club presidents,” says Michael Angelo Caruso, public image chair and governor-
nominee of District 6380 (parts of Ontario and Michigan), who teaches presentation skills to leaders and
salespeople as a communications consultant. We caught up with Caruso, who has spoken to more than
400 Rotary clubs and districts around the world, at the RI Convention in Sydney, Australia, to get his take
on how to make the most of your weekly speaker and land that big name.
HOWTOLAND
ANOTABLE
SPEAKER
FORYOURNEXT
CLUBMEETING
(INFOUREASYSTEPS)
1
2
3
4
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6. BREAKINGTHE
LANGUAGEBARRIER
Public speaking is hard enough without the added difficulty of delivering
in a foreign language. But with the right approach, anyone can learn to give
an effective speech in another language. We turned to some multilingual
Rotary leaders for tips on getting your message across.
DON’T OVERTHINK IT. “Just speak,” says 2005-06 RI President Carl-
Wilhelm Stenhammar, whose first language is Swedish. “Even if
the grammar is wrong, just go ahead.” According to Rotary
International speechwriter Abby Breitstein, it helps to remember
that audiences are there to hear what you have to say, not to find
out how well you speak their language.
FIND YOUR COMFORT ZONE. If you’re presenting in a second language,
learn what suits your proficiency level. Less-proficient speakers may
need to write out the entire speech, while others will feel comfortable
with an outline. Bhichai Rattakul, 2002-03 RI president, adapts
to the occasion. A native Thai speaker who also speaks English and
Chinese, he uses scripted speeches for formal events but works
from notes in more casual settings.
PRACTICE UNTIL PERFECT. “Even if you have a written speech, prepare
it so much that you almost know it by heart,” Stenhammar says.
Breitstein suggests rehearsing into a voice recorder to hear how you
sound, especially if you’re trying to fine-tune foreign pronunciations.
HOLD THE JOKES. Humor doesn’t always translate, so use it sparingly
– or not at all. “Some people love jokes, but I am quite serious
when I speak,” says Rattakul, who prefers using memorable
anecdotes to connect with listeners. “Especially in Rotary, I find a
good story that would touch the hearts of the audience,” he says.
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CANADA
DON’T forget it’s good practice to pro-
vide English and French translations of
documents when working in Quebec.
ARGENTINA
DO be aware that as business
friendships develop in Argentina,
kissing, hugging, and back patting
often follow handshakes. Follow the
lead of your Argentine counterparts.
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INDONESIA
DO carefully look at people’s business
cards when they give them to you.
Immediately putting them in a pocket
is considered disrespectful.
INDIA
DON’T point your foot at another
person in India. Apologize if your
shoes or feet touch someone else.
GERMANY
DO treat business meetings
as serious occasions. Save humor
for social settings.
KENYA
DON’T jump straight into business
matters. Small talk is expected.
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8. READY TO BUILD YOUR NEXT PRESENTATION?
We tested three up-and-coming platforms that are available anywhere in the world.
PREZI WWW.PREZI.COM
This “virtual whiteboard” allows you to work from a single
screen that outlines the entire presentation, telling the story
by zooming in and out to cover specific topics. Its cloud-
based platform allows multiple users to work on a presenta-
tion simultaneously. Available in English, French, German,
Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish
HAIKU DECK WWW.HAIKUDECK.COM
Haiku Deck appeals to
users with its emphasis
on visuals. You can choose
background images from
nonprofit digital licens-
ing group Creative Com-
mons, import your own
photos, or pay a small fee
to use Getty Images. Its
streamlined design op-
tions and integrated formatting make it almost impos-
sible to create an unattractive presentation. Haiku Deck
is offered in iOS and Web-based versions. Available in
English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese,
Spanish, and simplified Chinese
FLOWBOARD WWW.FLOWBOARD.COM
This iPad and Mac app allows you to create presentations
by embedding photo galleries, videos, and links. Each pre-
sentation gets a unique Flowboard URL, making your work
easy to access online and share via social media. Flowboard
allows you to import content from just about anywhere,
including Dropbox, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese,
Portuguese, Spanish, and simplified Chinese
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HOW TO PRESENT AN AWARD
• Tell a story about the significance of the award.
• Pronounce the recipient’s name correctly.
• Provide background information on the recipient.
• Hold the award respectfully, and hand it to the recipient
as if it were a treasure.
• Stand so the audience can clearly see you, the recipient,
and the award.
HOW TO ACCEPT AN AWARD
• Begin by addressing the audience to buy some time
and calm your nerves.
• Control filler words (ums and ahs).
• Say thank you, keep names to a minimum, and
pronounce them correctly.
• Remember that the audience is rooting for you.
TAKING OFFICE?
District governors-elect have the
opportunity to attend a session on
public speaking at the International
Assembly. Club presidents-elect
receive training on speaking at their
district assembly.
Learn more in the District Assembly
Leaders’ Guide at www.rotary.org.
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