An experiment to start off the New Year from the secret Ready2Speak laboratory. But first a fun story.
A small lifetime ago I was stage coordinator at a big-time industry conference here in Atlanta. We had 1500 practitioners from all over the world come in for three days of meetings and exhibits. It was as big a deal conference as this particular industry would see in those days.
I was in charge of what went on at the front of the room – basically the stage. Speakers, lighting, sound, fixing this and that, making sure it all worked right. It was a great education.
It was where I got a real taste of how a well-organized, confident presenter could captivate his or her audience. And how a disorganized speaker was a snooze-fest.
We would close the conference every year with the same presenter. A well-known spiritual leader who had a unique technique for – – – – – – – – pausing.
He would insert very long pauses – – – – – – in all – – – – – – the places you wouldn’t – – – – – – – expect.
To me it became this hysterical, crazy habit that I couldn’t unhear. Maybe the audience didn’t notice, but for – – – – – – me, who had heard him now for 10 years, it was a – – – – – – major – – – – – – distraction.
I had often thought that he had gotten weird advice from some “How-be-a-better-speaker” book that he should pause more. And this was the result.
Two quick points here.
One. The most innocent behavior, if done too much or too unusually, can become a distraction.
Two. Not all wisdom is wise.
We all have these slightly out-of-bounds habits that we might want to keep under a little control.
The cure? My favorite practice tool of course: Video.
Besides making us squirm at the reality of our looks and voice, video will show us, in glorious color, all our nasty habits. Like that thing you do with your glasses.
As uncomfortable as it may be, watch yourself anyway. It is a feedback loop of unrivaled value.
Now the experiment.
Take a small portion of a presentation that you know cold. Maybe an opening example or story. Just a few minutes long.
- Imagine you have all the time in the world.
- Turn on the video camera.
- Recite your piece with a very open (slow) cadence.
- Now make it slower.
- Even slower (to the point of excess).
- Add pauses where you think they belong.
- Now double or triple the length of those pauses.
- Put pauses in places where you don’t necessarily expect them.
- Watch the video and see what works and what doesn’t.
My bet is that when you speak slower than you think you should and use longer pauses than you think you should, you will sound so much better. And smarter.
Almost like you are an expert.
The above is the kind of practical voodoo I offer inside my upcoming 6 week course.
Registration will be available from dawn on January 6 to midnight on January 10.
I will be telling you a bunch more over the next few days.
And it will be lightyears ahead of that crazy advice my preacher friend heard about – – – – – – – – – – pausing. This will be the – – – – – – – – stuff that – – – – – works.
Take a gander here at https://ready2speak.com/course
Tom
p.s. Did I mention I have a course opening soon? Yeah, I guess I – – – – – – – – did. And that registrations will be 2 for 1 all next week? That’s worth pausing to think about.
