Public Speaking Series, #9: KISS
This of course means Keep It Simple (Student, not Stupid). It has two applications.
(1) Focus on one purpose. I will repeatedly say in this class: “Listening is not reading.” Everything must be simpler, more elegant, and direct in public speaking, since the audience’s listening skills determine the communication results. When it comes to your purpose statement, for example, it is best that it not have an “and” in it—that you have one purpose.
(2) The best visual aid is a simple visual aid. We will go into more detail on PowerPoint later, but this subrule is mostly related to that technology, since it (or other open-source presentation software) is the most logical way to go for visual aids other than the actual objects or just writing on a board (which is harder than it looks). PowerPoint allows you to do just about anything you want, but remember: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Too many bells and whistles will not help your presentation. Visual aid means visual help, not the main attraction. To maintain the simplicity, slides should have One idea, statistical comparison, or image per visual. Furthermore, you want to obey the 7 X 7 rule, which means that you have no more than seven lines of text on the slide (including heading) and the longest line has seven words. Do not translate this as 49 words per slide maximum. You should have far fewer words than 49 on a slide. Limited colors and fonts. Different sources will suggest variations on this—only two fonts per slide, only three colors per slide. Of course, if your subject is lighthearted and fun, the rules about fonts and colors will be different, but simplicity is the rule.
(1) Focus on one purpose. I will repeatedly say in this class: “Listening is not reading.” Everything must be simpler, more elegant, and direct in public speaking, since the audience’s listening skills determine the communication results. When it comes to your purpose statement, for example, it is best that it not have an “and” in it—that you have one purpose.
(2) The best visual aid is a simple visual aid. We will go into more detail on PowerPoint later, but this subrule is mostly related to that technology, since it (or other open-source presentation software) is the most logical way to go for visual aids other than the actual objects or just writing on a board (which is harder than it looks). PowerPoint allows you to do just about anything you want, but remember: Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Too many bells and whistles will not help your presentation. Visual aid means visual help, not the main attraction. To maintain the simplicity, slides should have One idea, statistical comparison, or image per visual. Furthermore, you want to obey the 7 X 7 rule, which means that you have no more than seven lines of text on the slide (including heading) and the longest line has seven words. Do not translate this as 49 words per slide maximum. You should have far fewer words than 49 on a slide. Limited colors and fonts. Different sources will suggest variations on this—only two fonts per slide, only three colors per slide. Of course, if your subject is lighthearted and fun, the rules about fonts and colors will be different, but simplicity is the rule.
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