Thread by @EmoryChanNano

Practicing a conference talk, defense, or job talk?
As the saying goes, "Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect."
Here are 10 #ProTips for practicing talks: 🧵

The short version:

1.Don't practice talks straight through. Target small chunks.
2.Incorporate feedback. Practice until you get it right
3.Make practice harder than the real thing
4.Practice transitions between slides/ideas

6.Practice relaxing!
7.Practice timing!
8.Simulate the practice environment
9.Finalize slide edits 24 h before your talk
10.Practice questions!

Bonus: Experiment with your style!

Preface: Most of these tips will be familiar to people who participated in sports & performing arts, b/c giving a talk is a performance! Your performance can vary over a given range on any given day. For important talks, you want to be at the top of your performance range…

… but nerves can make you be at the lowest. The right practice techniques will help you raise your overall performance range, narrow the variance, and make sure you are at the top of your range when it counts.

1. Don't just practice talks straight through. Sure, run through your talk once for timing and to ID difficult parts. Then practice small chunks, focusing on improving specific places where you're stumbling. Repeat those tiny chunks until you get it right!

2. Incorporate feedback from your colleagues or your own observations/recordings. If people say, "you do weird things w/ your hands" or "you talk too fast," practice small bits specifically focused on improving *those specific* issues.

3. Make practice harder than the real thing! During your real talk, you’ll be nervous and distracted. Maybe someone will interrupt you for a question, you'll have trouble with your video connection, or your pants are too small. Don't let these bumps throw off your game.

☝️Here are some ways I use to make my practice hard:

⏪ Say your slides in reverse order
😎 Deliver your talk without looking at the slides
📺Turn the TV/radio on in the background
🇬🇧Talk really slow, in a super high/low pitch, with a funny accent, or while walking around

4. Focus your practice on transitions between slides/ideas. Not only are these the most critical parts of your talk, but if you get thrown off your flow, having well-practiced transitions will give you frequent lifelines for you to regain your footing.

☝️Combining #Protips 3 & 4: When you practice your slides in reverse order, start with the transition from the previous slide -- that will help you nail those transitions.

5.Script slides that give you trouble, like slides with complicated mechanisms & equations that can bog you down. I like to script the first 1-2 slides of my talks to build up my confidence. I visualize giving those slides during my pre-talk routine.

6. Relax! Hitting the top of your performance range is all about being relaxed yet focused. Easier said than done, right? That's why you have to practice relaxing!

You make practice hard and simulate your talk environment so that you can perfect your relaxation techniques, whether they are taking deep breaths, thinking of people in their underwear, doing a pre-game routine like visualization/meditation.

See this 🧵 for some tips for how to relax during talks:

https://twitter.com/iamscicomm/status/1557752218786332673

7. Practice your timing, especially for short talks! Ever wonder why some people can effortlessly teach you a ton amazing info in a 12 minute talk? Because they practiced! When practicing individual slides, time them and edit & practice to get down to your target time.

8. When practicing complete talks, try to simulate the real environment. Speak out loud, in front of colleagues, in the actual room, at the podium, w/ actual projector. Do your pre-talk routine, have someone introduce you, etc. Your real talk should be “been there, done that.”

9. Place a moratorium on slide edits >24 hours before your talk. It’s pretty hard to get a talk right if it’s always changing!

10. Don't forget to practice answering questions! (another reason for the 24h moratorium) Those post-talk questions can be the hardest & most important part! Compile a list of likely questions and practice your responses!

Bonus tip: While you are giving your talk in funny voices, experiment with your style! You never know what style you might actually like! Ever wish you could be super casual speaker, or a fire-breathing pound-the-table type? Try those personas out! They may just be you!

🎓In my high school public speaking class, our teacher had us swap speeches w/ a partner, and we had to coach them how to give our speech in the style of the original writer. It made us learn how to mimic styles, and in the process steal the parts we liked.

🎥That teacher was also the drama teacher, and from him I realized that giving talks is an act. You can play any role you want. Are you underconfident? Doesn't matter: play the role of your confident alter ego, owning the room.

Don't worry if it doesn't feel natural -- if you practice enough, one day it could be the real you 😉