About this lesson
Become a better speaker by rehearsing your presentation on video.
- 00:04 So here's the part of the course where we separate the men from the boys,
- 00:09 the women from the girls.
- 00:12 In fact, those distinction aren't even what's relevant.
- 00:15 Here's where we separate good speakers from awful speaker and
- 00:18 here's the distinction and I know some of you aren't going to like this.
- 00:24 Most of you might not even do this, it's up to you.
- 00:28 I can't reach through the computer and force you to do it,
- 00:32 but here is what you need to do.
- 00:34 You need to now practice your presentation and record it on video.
- 00:41 Pull out a cell phone, a smart phone, an iPad, a webcam, it can be on a laptop.
- 00:48 I don't care, it doesn't matter the lighting quality,
- 00:52 the production values, it doesn't matter what camera you use.
- 00:56 All that matters is that you give a presentation and
- 01:01 you record it on video and I'm gonna tell you right now that this
- 01:06 isn't gonna make me popular, but you can watch all my videos a thousand times.
- 01:11 Read my books forward and backward ten times,
- 01:13 you're not gonna be a better speaker.
- 01:18 It just isn't going to help you.
- 01:21 The only thing that will help you is if you can reflect on those principles
- 01:26 in the videos and in the books and then practice it on video and watch it.
- 01:32 That's the only thing that's going to help you be a better speaker.
- 01:36 At some level,
- 01:37 becoming a much better speaker is like learning how to ride a bicycle.
- 01:41 You can watch videos on how to ride a bike, you can listen to lectures on how to
- 01:45 ride a bike, you can read books about how to ride a bike.
- 01:49 But at some point, you gotta get on that bike when you're four or
- 01:52 five years old, wobble, fall down, get on again.
- 01:55 Wobble some more, maybe stay on a little bit longer, fall over, get on again.
- 02:01 And after a while, you're riding the bike.
- 02:05 Public speaking is more like that than it is learning
- 02:10 complexities of physics or chemistry.
- 02:14 It is not a purely intellectual abstract thought process,
- 02:19 because it involves your body, your voice, your emotions,
- 02:24 your hands, it involves all of those things.
- 02:28 So I'm not going to ask you, I'm actually going to beg you, I beg you.
- 02:35 Take the outline that you created, look at those message points,
- 02:40 look at your examples and I want you to just give your presentation and
- 02:45 record it and then I need you to watch it and
- 02:49 I need you to figure out what is it you like, write them down.
- 02:54 What is it you don't like?
- 02:56 I also need you to share this video with colleagues,
- 03:01 people you work with, people you respect.
- 03:04 If it's a family member you really trust to be able to give you objective
- 03:07 advice, do that.
- 03:08 Otherwise, I'd stay away from family members.
- 03:10 They're too often likely to say, oh, what did you wear that tie for?
- 03:14 I told you to throw that away last year, but
- 03:18 find people whose judgment you trust, give them the video and
- 03:23 ask them what messages do they remember and what do they like?
- 03:29 That's going to be extraordinarily useful advice.
- 03:31 Please don't go to the next lesson until you've done this.
- 03:35 Don't fast forward, record yourself now.
- 03:39 Watch it, critique it and have others do the same.
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