Earlier today, @SirAyobami asked me for some tips on public speaking. You are unlikely to find what I say in any textbook on public speaking. I’m just going to tell you what works for me. I used to by quite shy and the bigger the audience, the worse I felt. Not anymore. Thread.
When I was in Law School many many years ago, there was a guy doing his Youth Service there. His name is Fidelis Odita. Fidelis made a First Class at UNILAG and a First Class in Law School. He is now both a SAN in Nigeria and a Queens Counsel (SAN equivalent) in the UK.
Fidelis has a photographic memory. He could cite 100 cases off-head, with the names of the parties, the year of the judgment, the law report where it was reported and even the page number...apart from the arguments in the case and the decision of the court!
He is also annoyingly bright. When he was made a QC in the UK, the Master of Rolls (President of the Court of Appeal) said “Whatever Odita doesn’t know is not worth knowing. At Law School, we used to gather to watch this phenomenon at work even when we were not in his class.
Odita obviously had a gift but I suspect he had also trained his memory for years. He was my motivation to start training mine. I started late though. I started learning mnemonics - how to associate things with each other so that I could remember them more easily.
First step is to write down what you want to say. Then read it over and try and remember as much of it as you can. The parts you forget, try and associate it with something you remember, e.g., a family member that does things like that. Then go to a mirror and deliver it.
Keep going back and forth between the mirror and the text until you get most of it. Then find a colleague or family member and deliver it to them. You will still make some mistakes but after a while, it will be imprinted in your memory. Once it is, your confidence will grow.
When you then enter a room fool of people, you may forget EVERYTHING! Remember the colleague you delivered it to and your practices before the mirror. You may not remember everything, but don’t worry, you’ll remember the gist of it. You may also have heard something you may add.
Gauge the mood in the room. Some jokes that worked in private may not work in public. Scan the room for any familiar or friendly face. When it’s your turn to speak, look for that face in the audience and focus first on them when you start speaking. You’ll be less nervous.
Start with something that you easily remember. Start anywhere. You can always come back and say “As I said at the beginning...” Don’t forget that the water doesn’t start flowing until you turn on the tap. But have the structure of what you want to say in your head. Use a mnemonic
So if I want to talk about Politics, Literature, Art and some data (Numbers), my mnemonic is PLAN. There’s no way I’ll forget that and it will help with how I sequence my speech. Once I start talking, I get less nervous. Spice it up with jokes and personal experiences.
The joke must be appropriate for the occasion. Tell short appreciate stories...like the one I just told you about Fidelis Odita. People like phenomena and like it when you say what you are not perfect at. It helps the audience to connect with you as a human being like them.
What do you do with your hands when you are speaking? Good question, right? Some people gesticulate vigorously. If you are given to vigorous gesticulation, I’ll say do it when you want to make an important point. You’ll be boring if you don’t gesticulate at all.
For most people, keeping one hand in your pocket (if you have one) can help you relax. If you don’t have one, rest one elbow on the lectern if there is one. The important thing is to do something that helps you relax. Don’t be scared of the audience. They are there to hear you.
Try and finish on a high. An appropriate quote will get people nodding and is likely to earn you applause at the end. Like with most things, the more you do it, the better you get at doing it. Some people have a gift of oratory which they hone with practice. Preparation is key.
”Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure” - Confucius. Thanks for your kind attention and Good Luck. End. [Did you notice I finished with a quote?] 😂 ✌🏽
