TJ Walker breaks down public speaking into concrete moves: structure talks as 3-4 minute stories with action and dialogue, hit 3-5 main points backed by anecdotes, hold eye contact 5-8 seconds per person, ditch the script, and open with something that grabs attention like a scene. Minimal notes only.
Chapters
Recently I was at a family member's funeral, a sad occasion. The minister stood up and said, well, I never really knew the person who died, but I understand he had a dog. Which reminds me, I have a dog. Let me tell you about my dog. And he went on to talk about 10 minutes on his dog and then he went in another subject and that reminded him about his own life. The minister spent the whole 25 minutes of the eulogy talking about himself. When he did talk about the family member, it was something that was really a mishit, really awkward. People were grimacing. And what happened the second the speech was over, the eulogy was over. Well, another family member hopped up, shook the minister's hand and said, hey, that was the best darn eulogy I ever heard in my life. The point of the story is no matter how poorly you speak, no matter how much you bomb, somebody will come up to you afterwards and say, you did a great job. So you can't always go by the feedback you get. People want to be nice, they want to be sympathetic. So they're going to tell you you do well, don't listen to them. There are some things you do need to listen to. You want to give a good speech. What you have to do, for starters is not think of it as I have a 20 minute speech and I'm going to talk to people. Think of it in terms of a series of three to four minute stories. Something where there is some action, a dialogue, potentially a problem, and then a solution, a moral to the story. I don't care if you are the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. If you are running for local office, you've got to have a story that captivates people. What you don't want to do is say, well, you know, I've got my speech here. And in an ideal world, all executives would receive just as much formal blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The problem with reading from a script is it flattens your voice. Your eyes are now looking down. It tends to make the speed at which you speak consistent. That makes you boring, that makes you sound flat, uninteresting to listen to and what people do who are listening in the audience. So throw away the script. Don't walk into a speaking situation saying, gosh, I've got 152 different points that I have to communicate. No, go into a speech with three, four, maybe five points at the most that you want to convey, even if you have a half an hour to present and then flesh it out with stories, anecdotes, vignettes. When you're speaking, really look at the people in the audience. Don't pick out a point in the back of the room and look the whole time. No. Gaze into people's eyes and really hold the eye contact. 5, 8 seconds if you can. People will really feel like you're speaking to them. It'll be easier for you because now you're giving a speech, not to a large group of people. You're having a one on one conversation. Well, that's what you do all day long anyway. So it's going to relax you, it's going to make you more comfortable. So look around the room. Not constantly gazing, going back and forth, but look at someone over here. Look into their eyes for 5, 6, 7, 8 seconds. Then go over here. Have a conversation. Read your audience. Are they getting it? Ask them. Sometimes. No, not a bunch of phony rhetorical questions like how many of you would like to make a lot more money? None of that stuff. But make sure what you're saying is registering. So focus on your eye contact. Get rid of the text if you have to. Have some paper, a couple of stats that are really important. Have it on a three by five card in big bold print. Do that and you can go into any speaking situation with confidence. Now a word about how to start a good speech is like a good movie. You don't see Tom Cruise come out in the theater. Well, I'd like to thank the director. And I'd like to thank all of you for coming here today. No, the first scene is he's being chased. He's on a motorcycle. There's fire, there's some drama to it. A good speech. I don't care if you are giving a report at your board meeting, annual meeting for a public company, you need a little excitement. So simply start off and say something interesting. You can thank the people who introduced you later. So hop right into the meet. Look at people with confidence. Don't read the notes. Those are the basics. There are a million other ways of improving your speeches, but if you can master those basics, you'll give a pretty good speech. Good luck.
