As 2022 ramps up into what I expect will be a crazy year for organizing, I wanted to share some of what I know about public speaking with those of you with little to no experience who may find it helpful. I’m going to list out some basic points that will help make your first public speech go better.
- Anyone can learn to become a proficient speaker — Certainly some people find public speaking comes naturally. But many folks shy away from it or have doubts about how good they will be. Don’t think about being good. Think about learning basic skills and most importantly how to get your main point across. It doesn’t matter if you bore people to tears, if you communicate your main point you have succeeded. The ability to convey one point is achievable by everyone.
- Detach from results — If you are truly committed to a cause, your own personal feelings of embarrassment should be secondary. We do not need everyone to become MLK Jr. We need everyone to become their own full selves (I’m paraphrasing from Howard Thurman, and Buddhism here). You have an important message to convey, it’s okay if you are imperfect in delivering it. We all are. Seriously, watch the “I have a Dream” speech and you will see Dr. King make all sorts of little speaking errors. But what might shake one of us, he corrects himself and/or just roles on by.
- Have A point — And what I really mean is have ONE point. More points will squirm their way in and don’t sweat that. But make sure you are clear with yourself what the one main point is which you want everyone to walk away with. You are not writing a thesis or a manifesto. You are not writing an article for DailyKos. You are speaking to a crowd and people are not going to remember the full text (outside of a few prodigies). You want them paying attention enough to walk away with your main point resonating in their head.
- Tell them what you’re going to say. Say it. Tell them what you said — We’re talking about a public speech format where you are trying to convey one point. Repeating that point helps people reinforce their memory of it. Repetition that can seem awkward in writing can (used properly) be very effect in public speech.
- Use a short catchy phrase — This is not always required, but can be very effective done well. “I have a dream”. “Si se puede”. “Lock her up”. People will start saying it with you. But be careful, if you commit, commit. But don’t do it 2 times one way, then change it slightly, and then change it again. People will try to repeat with you and get confused. If you want them to chant with you, keep it the same. A short phrase repetition is not required, but sometimes that simple phrase IS your point and the rest of your speech is just embellishment.
- Know the difference between good repetition and bad repetition — Repeating the key idea is good and helps people stick with the topic. Bad repetition is explaining that main point in barely different ways again and again. Repeat the main point, but make sure your development of that main point is covering new ground.
- Know your implicit goal — A speech intending to inspire is different from one intending to console or educate. The difference is beyond the scope of this article, but know there are differences and know in this article I’m speaking mostly about inspirational speeches as part of a rally. Use good judgement.
- Establish a connection — In writing your speech and attempting to convey your point to others, think about why that point is important to you. Then think about how that point might be important to others. Help people connect your point to a feeling inside of themselves.
- Provide onramps — When discussing your point, you will probably be giving examples. Be sure to include a variety of examples that cover a diverse background. If all your examples are about white guys, well, you get the idea. Examples help people make that emotional connection. Also think about different senses when making onramps. Different descriptions of sight, taste, hearing, touch and smells will help people connect and bring different people aboard as we tend to focus on different experiences.
- Don’t get bogged down in details — You’re speaking to a crowd for just a few minutes, not submitting your doctoral thesis. Even if your point is complex, look for cultural reference points which allow you to convey complex meaning using a single word. If I say Kardashian, many of you will connect with all the pop culture references connected to that name. And then I might not need to go into detail on how that relates to my point. I let the audience make the connection. Republicans use this with words like socialism, communist, and liberal. A great example from MLK Jr. is in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” where King references the Apostle Paul, Jesus, St. Thomas Aquinas, Martin Buber, Supreme Court decisions, Nebuchadnezzar, Elijah Muhammad and more. Each time he does not belabor the point to every last detail. If you want to know more about the connection go study whoever or whatever he just referenced. The point of the reference is to inject a large body of knowledge into your argument without have to recreate it in your speech.
- Be careful with cultural reference points — After saying what a great tool references are, be VERY CAREFUL in your usage of them. Different people have different backgrounds and different reference points. If I say Bill Buckner, Red Sox fans of a certain age will get a shudder down their spine while everyone else will be wondering who the hell that is. One way racism works is when all your references are of a group white people will know, and everyone else is EXPECTED to know. Instead, use a variety of reference points from different cultural groups. You don’t have to do it with every single reference, but perhaps make this reference a christian one and the next a Wiccan one etc…. It’s okay if everyone doesn’t get every reference, but do make a good faith effort to confront racism, sexism, and other oppressions by using a diverse set of examples.
- Historical references don’t always age well — I was teaching a class once for mostly freshman and used Northern Ireland as a quick example of how to deescalate a conflict. I had a roomful of blank looks as most of them were 2 when the “Good Friday Agreement” was reached. That’s okay, but I hadn’t planned on spending 5 minutes explaining the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
- Build energy — If you start out intense, you can’t get more intense. Be aware of your intended energy for the crowd. You may start out enthusiastic, but then perhaps go briefly low energy. Then building until then end leaves everyone in a place where they are ready to GO! If you go high energy throughout you can tire your audience out and have the reverse effect than what you intended. I’ve certainly sat through rallies where I felt yelled at the whole time.
- Prepare Early — Experienced speakers will know their own patterns. If its your first time you want to be writing NOW if you are speaking at Earth Day. Particularly if you have other duties at the rally, waiting until the night before makes the challenge much bigger (but not impossible).
- Memorize your speech — You want to be able to look up while speaking and particularly outdoors without a stand reading it will be very challenging. I like to put descriptive section titles on one 3x5 card in a font readable enough that you glance down to it at waist level. If you get off track, glance down and pick it up from the appropriate section.
- Speak naturally — If you’re reading off a script, remember to slow down and pause at times. Look up at your audience at least a few times every minute.
- Don’t try to speak off the cuff — Some people are great at speaking off the cuff, and others crash and burn. If you don’t have public speaking experience your first speech is probably not the time to find out which one you are. Reading off a script is better than losing the thread and freezing up or running from the stage in terror.
- Have proper amplification — NO BULLHORNS!!!! I have understood about 5% of the words said over a bull horn. Proper amplification is a simple PA system at minimum. Portable batteries have gotten much better so you don’t need a venue with a power outlet. Granted those batteries are expensive ($1000) so do what you can on your budget. Proper amplification means you can be a quiet talker and still be heard.
- Practice with your amplification equipment — When you start speaking is not the time to start fiddling with levels. Ideally, days before (morning of at latest), have access to the equipment and get practice with it. Microphones come in Omni (all) directional and Uni (one) directional. Know which one you are using. Both have positives and negatives and the negatives are made much worse when used improperly. A Uni-directional wants you to speak into it like you’re a rock star (which you are). It needs to be horizontal to the ground pointing DIRECTLY at your mouth. It should not be held at your chest pointing up your nose like a talk show host. That’s how an omni directional works. A properly used Uni-directional is better in a loud environment as it cuts down on amplifying unwanted noise. An omni picks up everything (and is responsible for all those hot mic moments).
- Work on projection — No not psychological project, voice projection. A good voice or music instructor can help you develop projection. Even if you don’t have access or funds for a professional, talk to a friend who sings in a choir or similar. Proper voice projection helps with both electric amplification and when that equipment fails. Projecting your voice is handy in many rally and protest situations so its a good skill to work on even if you’re not the speaker.
Thank you for reading all the way through. I’ll continue to edit (as I’m always short on time with 2 young kids) so apologies for any mistakes. Please add your own suggestions. Hopefully these basic points will make your first public speech a little easier and perhaps even encourage some folks to make their first speech.