9 Public Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Orators
Anyone who has seen Bill Gates’ 2009 TED Talk will never forget it! While on stage, Gates grabbed a glass jar, opened it up and said, “Malaria is, of course, transmitted by mosquitos. I brought some here, just so you could experience this. We’ll let those roam around the auditorium a little bit. There’s no reason only poor people should have the experience.” 1
Wait, what?
Before you think Gates had gone mad, he was actually being very strategic and was using one of the public speaking secrets that author Carmine Gallo suggests in his great book Talk Like TED: The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds.
After Watching and Analyzing Over 500 TED Talks…
…and speaking to many successful TED speakers, Gallo was able to pinpoint 9 common elements all of the best ones share. He also interviewed many of the world’s top neuroscientists, communications experts, and psychologists to figure out the science behind why these elements work.
9 Public Speaking Secrets
We will now review the 9 public speaking secrets that Gallo shares along with how to make them successful in your life.
(1) Unleash the Master Within
What’s true is that we won’t be able to inspire others if we aren’t inspired ourselves. The idea is to dig deep to figure out the connection we have to whatever it is we are presenting. Being passionate will give us the inner-fire to investigate the topic in enough detail that we achieve mastery of it. Passion is contagious and by being inspired ourselves it will give us a much better chance of inspiring and persuading the audience.
Make it Actionable:
Gallo’s advice here is to simply ask yourself, “What makes my heart sing?”.
As he says, “Your passion is not a passing interest or even a hobby. A passion is something that is intensely meaningful to your identity…Your true passion should be the subject of your communications and will serve to truly inspire your audience.” 1
(2) Master the Art of Storytelling
One of the best ways to make emotional appeals of an audience is to tell stories. Not only do people love stories, but stories help get people’s attention by breaking patterns.
Brain scans have shown that hearing stories stimulates and engages our brains. This makes it easier for the speaker to both connect with and gain agreement from the audience.
As we discussed in a previous post on the rhetorical triangle, Aristotle introduced 3 strategies of persuasion that should be used to make an argument. The 3 strategies being ethos (the credibility of the speaker/author), pathos (using emotional appeals to tug at the heartstrings of the audience), and logos (the logical part of the argument).
Storytelling is so important that when people are invited to give TED talks they receive a list of the 10 TED Commandments, one of which is “Thou Shalt Tell a Story.”
Make it Actionable:
A great way to see if you are using Aristotle’s 3 strategies of persuasion is to take a recent or upcoming presentation and split the content up into the 3 categories above. Then ask yourself, “Do I have enough pathos?” If the answer is no, then simply ask yourself, “What story can I include?”
(3) Have a Conversation
This is a relatively straightforward and common-sense secret and it basically states that to persuade an audience you first need to gain their trust. The best way to do this is to ensure that your voice, gestures, and body language sync up with your words.
Make it Actionable:
The advice Gallo gives here is simply to practice so much that you have internalized your content to the point that you can deliver it as comfortably as you would have a conversation with a good friend. The idea is to match the pace of your speaking with how you normally speak during a conversation.
(4) Teach Me Something New
As we have discussed in previous posts, there is a chemical in our brains called dopamine that needs to be present for us to retain what we learn.
When we learn something new and exciting, dopamine is released and helps us remember whatever it is we hear.
Make it Actionable:
In order to increase the dopamine levels in your audience, the suggestion is a simple one – figure out how to make your content new and exciting. You can do this by putting a new spin on an old problem, by packing it differently or by introducing totally new information.
(5) Deliver Jaw-Dropping Moments
Jaw-dropping moments occur when the presenter does something that complete wows the audience. It could be in the form of something shocking, surprising or impressive that is so moving and memorable to the audience that it both gets their attention and is something they remember once the presentation is over.
The reason it works is that it causes what is called an emotionally charged event which releases our friend dopamine into the system which greatly improves memory and the processing of information.
Make it Actionable:
Strategically add at least one emotionally charged event also known as a jaw-dropping moment to your presentation that your audience will be talking about long after the presentation is over.
(6) Lighten Up
Not only does the brain love stories it also loves humor. Adding humor to your presentation helps lower the defenses of your audience, makes you more likeable, and makes people more likely to welcome your message.
Make it Actionable:
There is no need to re-invent the wheel here. One of the suggestions that Gallo gives is to, “Think back to anecdotes, stories, observations, or insights that have made you or your colleagues smile in the past. If they worked there and are appropriate to your presentation, weave them into your narrative and practice telling it.” 1
Be authentic, be yourself, and make them smile!
(7) Stick to the 18-Minute Rule
Listening and learning is not only hard work it is also mentally taxing. Which is why TED talks have an 18-minute time limit. According to Gallo, “Researchers have discovered that “cognitive backlog”, too much information, prevents the successful transmission of ideas.” 1
It has to do with glucose. Long presentations force our brains to work hard and use energy which quickly depletes our glucose levels which are the fuel our brains run on.
By keeping our presentations to 18-minutes or less, “It leaves your audience with some brainpower and glucose remaining to think about your presentation, share your ideas, and act on them.” 1
Make it Actionable:
By getting your presentations down to 18 minutes or less, it will force you to really think about what you want to say. Figuring out the key points you want to make will have a clarifying effect on you without overwhelming the audience. If you need to make it longer, add in stories, videos, demonstrations every 10 minutes to break it up.
(8) Paint a Mental Picture with Multisensory Experiences
Our brains don’t pay attention to boring stuff! The authors gave an interesting statistic which said that if we merely hear something, we are likely to remember about 10% of it 3 days later. Whereas if we add a picture our recall will jump to 65%! Remember the old adage: “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
This is due to what scientists call ‘multimodal learning’ or the fact that images are processed in multiple channels instead of one which helps the brain encode it better.
Make it Actionable:
When you design and then deliver your presentations try to incorporate components that will engage two or more of the senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell).
(9) Stay in Your Lane
People are very adept at spotting phonies which makes them lose trust. So, Gallo’s last secret is to simply be yourself and to be authentic, open and transparent.
Make it Actionable:
The goal is not to merely deliver a presentation but to instead, “inspire your audience, to move them, and to encourage them to dream bigger. You cannot move people if they don’t think you’re real. You’ll never convince your audience of anything if they don’t trust, admire, and genuinely like you.” 1
As I’m Sure You Have Figured Out…
…a few moments later, Gates let the audience know that the mosquitos he released were malaria free. What Gates did was to deliver a jaw-dropping moment which caused those in the audience to roar with laughter and applaud.
And even though the whole mosquito thing took less than 5% of his presentation, it was the part of the presentation that those who saw it remembered the most!
Until next time, keep creating jaw-dropping moments, use the public speaking secrets above and as always…PYMFP!
–Rick
P.S. Wanna know more? Check out the entire book.
Use it or Lose It – Public Speaking Secrets
The 9 public speaking secrets we shared above are as follows:
(1) Unleash the master within.
(2) Master the art of storytelling.
(3) Have a conversation.
(4) Teach me something new.
(5) Deliver jaw-dropping moments.
(6) Lighten up.
(7) Stick to the 18-minute rule.
(8) Paint a mental picture with multisensory experiences.
(9) Stay in your lane.
When to Use It
Use these public speaking secrets when doing public speaking or giving a presentation.
What Do You Think?
What do you think of these public speaking secrets? Do you have any other public speaking secrets that have worked for you? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
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References
1 Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds by Carmine Gallo
I do agree that using slides that are captivating is a plus during presentation or public speaking event. One time, President Obama gave a presentation about his moments in the White House with video slides. I still find them memorable. Moreover, Obama is a good narrator with good choice of words. Today, I feel encouraged that while speaking I be myself. I had imagined that a good orator must be fiery. But I noted that JF Kennedy is still counted a great speaker. JF Kennedy was more poetic and more scholarly. I feel that a combination of these, and good story telling could be great.
Hi Calvince, thanks for reading and commenting. Yes, painting that mental picture can really help make things more memorable. I agree with you that a combo plus storytelling could be great – it’s amazing how some people can combine all of them seamlessly. Thanks again and take care, Rick
Public speaking has always been easy for me. I am not afraid of crowds. Here’s what I have found that works best when speaking at seminars and symposiums.
Practice before each session to make sure I know what to say for each PP slide. I use the slides as visual clues regarding what to say; I don’t read them verbatim. A picture on a slide often does not require a detailed explanation.
Talk to the audience, not to the slides. Face the audience, move your head around and look directly at people. This keeps the audience engaged. Your job is to convince them that you are the expert on the subject. A little humor helps, but don’t overdo it.
I try and limit myself to a half an hour maximum. Any longer, people loose interest. Also plan for a short Q&A afterwards.
I have spoken to groups of 5 and 500. There’s really no deference in technique. The only difference becomes the number of zeros after the first digit. Way back when, Bri posted up her fears about speaking to a group as part of her job. My responses to her still remain valid. Incidentally, will she be returning to the chat board?
Hi Dave, Some more great tips, totally agree. There’s no doubt that less is more, like I said people lose focus after 18 minutes. Be good! Rick