Skip to playerSkip to main content
Gulf News
  • 11 months ago
How to be a smooth talker
Transcript
00:00Welcome, my name's Ian McKellar and I'm here to give you a bit of a breakdown on how to
00:11make a speech.
00:12This is what I do all the time, so I'm going to give you 6 pointers on how to look confident
00:19in front of an audience, say the right thing, not embarrass yourself, not lose your job
00:26and most importantly, how not to have a room full of people snoring away.
00:39First point, what's the first thing people see? It's how you look. If you have naturally
00:45appalling dress sense, get help.
00:48Best option on advice, single female acquaintance. Why? She'll probably have really good taste
00:55in clothes but you'll also get brownie points for being a sensitive male and the sort of
00:59guy who's pliable in a relationship.
01:02Of course, the most basic thing about how you look is making sure no remains from the
01:08last meal inside your teeth, ties straight, everything zipped up. Got the picture?
01:14Point two, preparation of your material. Obviously, you'll have some idea of the structure and
01:20what you want to say. Get it down to fine points. Unless you're a very accomplished
01:26professional speaker that does that speech time after time, you will need help.
01:31Cue cards, not too big, look cool, not small writing, one word or one sentence per cue
01:41card on the subject.
01:44Welcome. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this esteemed function. I'd like to welcome
01:48our VIPs, our very special guests and all the people who've travelled a very long way
01:53to be here.
01:55Don't read notes verbatim unless you really need to. Use your cue card system. I'm going
02:01to talk about that now. And if you've got highly technical information, refer to that
02:05from there. Ladies and gentlemen, I'll refer to the technical manual. Blah, blah, blah,
02:10blah, blah.
02:11If you forget, act like you haven't. Be calm, be confident. If you forget what you're saying,
02:19look at everybody.
02:24Now ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to come to a very important point. And you're home
02:30clear. Point four, particularly relevant if you're giving a best man's speech. Don't give
02:35away secrets of the couple, especially the bride. For example, you don't do this. Well
02:42ladies and gentlemen, isn't the bride looking lovely tonight? Wonderful dress, a lot different
02:47than how I saw her at the hen's party the other night. Well she was kind of squashed
02:51under the bouncer at the time. Because later on, at the reception, no one will be talking
02:59to you. You'll be standing by yourself going...
03:07Point number five, and this is very important. Used in conjunction with the notes, but it's
03:14very simple. Keep breathing. If you get nervous and you run out of oxygen, then your brain
03:22goes into overload and cannot concentrate on what you're saying. So you use the notes,
03:29take your time, and make sure of course that you don't speak too quickly. Because if you
03:32speak too quickly, then people don't really get to what you're saying. And it doesn't
03:36give you the points of reference that you want to impart to your audience.
03:44Staying calm, most important. In this game, attitude and calmness are what it's all about.
03:51Point six, the aftermath. This will tell you everything you need to know. Let's say you've
03:58done a successful speech. People will come up and say, hey man, you spoke really well.
04:05This is how you read it. If you're just an ordinary sort of a guy, you've done the right
04:10job. You should take that praise for saying, thanks very much, I really appreciate your
04:15feedback. If you're a high flyer, you're a CEO of a company, just ignore it. Somebody
04:21trying to suck up to you to get a pay rise. Well, hey, thanks for telling me that because
04:26I knew I'm pretty good because I've got my own jet. If everybody actually avoids eye
04:33contact, don't ever do it again. Feedback anyone?
04:40I'm over here. Now, if you're the first guy and you're kind of really good at it and got
04:49some natural flair, don't do it too often because what will happen is people will keep
04:54asking you to do speeches. It will seriously curtail your social life. You'll not get a
04:59chance with that chick that you asked about for the clothing advice in the first place.
05:03Most importantly, you'll give me competition in my professional services. Thank you, good
05:10luck. Remember, use some notes, stay calm, keep breathing, and go it with panache.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment