Public Speaking Series #11
To continue with my "non-negotiables" of public speaking, here are a few more related to content:
1. Hit the concrete. Use real-life, visible, specific examples and details.
2. Don’t use words you don’t know or can’t pronounce. I know this seems like a funny one to put here, but it has two applications. If you 1aren’t 100% sure about the pronunciation and meaning of a word or term you are using, don’t use it. If you don’t know it, the audience probably won’t either. And if the audience doesn’t know the word, they won’t be sitting there thinking, “Wow, this speaker is so smart! I wish I could be smart like him!” No, they will be saying, “Why can’t this jerk use words everybody knows?”
3. If it’s not funny to the audience, it’s not funny. (this one was alluded to in an earlier post but this is the complete thought on it.) Humor is a great tool, but humor is also very personal, volatile, unpredictable, and potentially offensive. When in doubt about a joke, ask people (not your friends, but others, especially more serious people) if it’s funny and also whether it targets a specific group of people. A joke can be funny told by one person and not by another, so make sure you tell the joke; never read one. Not only should the joke be funny and well told, but it should have a point and be relevant to the topic or purpose and tone (or overall emotion) of the speech. Don’t tell jokes just to be telling them; they should have a connection to the purpose of your speech.
I know what you might be thinking, “Some people are just too sensitive and should learn to laugh at things.” But I would venture every one has some subjects they don’t think are laughable. Lately there’s been a brouhaha about the word “retarded.” Because my own younger brother is what we used to call mentally retarded, we were taught never to say that word as an insult, yet it’s become all the rage in the movies. Let’s grow up. Developmental disabilities are not funny. What you might say as a joke with your family or close friends is one thing; what’s appropriate in a speech is something else.
1. Hit the concrete. Use real-life, visible, specific examples and details.
2. Don’t use words you don’t know or can’t pronounce. I know this seems like a funny one to put here, but it has two applications. If you 1aren’t 100% sure about the pronunciation and meaning of a word or term you are using, don’t use it. If you don’t know it, the audience probably won’t either. And if the audience doesn’t know the word, they won’t be sitting there thinking, “Wow, this speaker is so smart! I wish I could be smart like him!” No, they will be saying, “Why can’t this jerk use words everybody knows?”
3. If it’s not funny to the audience, it’s not funny. (this one was alluded to in an earlier post but this is the complete thought on it.) Humor is a great tool, but humor is also very personal, volatile, unpredictable, and potentially offensive. When in doubt about a joke, ask people (not your friends, but others, especially more serious people) if it’s funny and also whether it targets a specific group of people. A joke can be funny told by one person and not by another, so make sure you tell the joke; never read one. Not only should the joke be funny and well told, but it should have a point and be relevant to the topic or purpose and tone (or overall emotion) of the speech. Don’t tell jokes just to be telling them; they should have a connection to the purpose of your speech.
I know what you might be thinking, “Some people are just too sensitive and should learn to laugh at things.” But I would venture every one has some subjects they don’t think are laughable. Lately there’s been a brouhaha about the word “retarded.” Because my own younger brother is what we used to call mentally retarded, we were taught never to say that word as an insult, yet it’s become all the rage in the movies. Let’s grow up. Developmental disabilities are not funny. What you might say as a joke with your family or close friends is one thing; what’s appropriate in a speech is something else.
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