I started reading this book by Scott Berkun titled “Confessions of a public speaker”. After the first couple of chapters I felt I wasn’t alone… What I am talking about? Stage Fright / Fear of Public Speaking. Let me start with a quote first…
Mark Twain, who made most of his income from speaking, not writing, said, “There are two types of speakers: those that are nervous and those that are liars.”
For those considering speaking at a VMUG but are terrified, I hope you find comfort in knowing that the majority of people you see presenting at these events have (or had) similar feelings. I don’t know anyone who is not nervous when he goes up on stage. Those who say they are not probably indeed lie about it, yes there are some exceptions to the rule of course as always, but I can tell you that I am not one of those. I used to be terrified, stage fright is the right word.
Just to speak from my own experience, a lot of people seem to think that presenting is part of my role and is something I enjoy doing. I do enjoy it when the session is over, but the journey there I don’t enjoy. I am still nervous when I go up on stage, and depending on the size that is either nervous/excited or nervous/scared. Yes, like many of you reading this, the first couple of times presenting I wondered WHY am I doing this? It was painful being up on stage, it was painful doing dry-runs, and it even felt crap afterwards. WHY am I doing this?
Personally I believe I need to place myself in an uncomfortable situation to grow / learn. This applies to learning new skills, like public speaking, but also broadening the horizon from a job/career perspective. You can be a “virtualization admin” for the rest of your life and do it with your eyes closed… You can also take on a completely new set of responsibilities, yes you will feel uncomfortable for a couple of weeks or even months, but guess what after a while it all feels like you have been doing it for years… Same applies to public speaking, only way to get comfortable with that fear or nervous feeling is by doing it!
So what are some of the mistakes I made, and probably still make every once in a while, and what should you be doing or not doing?
- Don’t over do it! Practicing will help your delivery, overdoing it will probably hurt it! I did this for a long time, and I noticed I get nervous about forgetting things, and guess what… You will forget things, but don’t worry about that because the audience typically doesn’t know what you are going to tell them anyway!
- When practicing focus on your opinion, your story, your considerations. Don’t practice it “word by word”, think big and feel comfortable with the content.
- Don’t cram your slide-deck! Less = more. Especially true in the case of a slide-deck, understand the deck is there to support your presentation. But still keep in mind that many people use the slide-deck afterwards as study notes, so keep it balanced. Typically when you have 60 minutes, aim for 50 minutes talking and 10 minutes QA. Believe me when I say that 30/40 slides is MORE than enough. 30 would probably be better, and if you can do with less you’ve mastered it!
Practice while you build your deck… I do this regularly to test the flow and see if the points / diagram / screenshot works in the presentation, and I will tweak the deck while doing a dry-run when something doesn’t work.
And it’s often the case that the things speakers obsess about are the opposite of what the audience cares about. They want to be entertained. They want to learn. And most of all, they want you to do well.
That is key to remember, they want you to do well! Now, please take the time in the upcoming days to think about what you would like to talk about at a local VMUG. Everyone has something interesting to tell, it doesn’t need to be a deepdive on Storage, not everyone is Cormac Hogan right… No, a presentation on your migration between storage systems or datacenters could be just as interesting! A presentation on the introduction of a Disaster Recovery tool and how it changed your life would be a good way to help people making the right decision. Many many things one can talk about without the need to go extremely deep.
Once again, think about what you would like to talk about, create a slidedeck, practice and more importantly go have fun and support your local VMUG!!
Duncan, I think that I have even more respect for you after this post. A substantial portion of what I do for a living involves public speaking, so I definitely support each point that you make on this subject. While it is true that the ‘journey’ as you call it can be nerve wracking, it is also true that you grow better and stronger the more that you do it. And when done well, you also achieve an unparalleled degree of interaction and rapport with the audience. Well done, Mr. Epping. :0) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!
Thanks, much appreciated. I agree you do grow stronger and learn more and new things every single time.
Nice post Duncan.
Thank you Duncan for this post – every world is Gold.
One of the things I learned along the way – which has helped me immensely – is that you should cater to your audience.
The first and most important thing you should ask yourself is – what do my audience want to hear. That should be the focus – NOT what I want them to hear. Ever to often I see a presentation where people drone on about this – or that – and that is not what what I am interested in.
That is what I would add as one of my important things to prepare for your presentation.
And less is definitely better than more!! 🙂
That is easier said than done, focusing on what you think they want to hear… especially the first couple of times you present you typically end up presenting something you know inside out. it is a matter of figuring out what will interest them the most out of that topic. sometimes twitter helps me with that,
Great post Duncan. Really appreciate the effort you put in to encourage users to participate in VMUG’s.
Incredibly well said :)}.
Great post, you could have literally read my mind for a lot of it. I’ve done 2 vmug presentations to date so I’m a long way behind in terms of experience but it’s great to hear that I’m not the only one! I’ve been in sessions you’ve done and (trying not to be a kiss ass here) you set a great standard to aspire to – thanks for your honesty!
Very much appreciated… I think those who have an extreme fear of public speaking will always feel they have done a terrible job the first 5 times you present. A two second pause feels like a minute when you are that nervous. Key is to keep going,
To put it as a teacher of me once told:
– Presentations are fun but don’t overdue the 7 words/line and 4 lines/slide rule
I still think it’s valid for 90% out there
Well said! Avoid creating victims via “death of a thousand slides”. Short and sweet to the point. I recall practicing with the slide projectors until I could point to each location on the slide with my eyes closed. As the speaker you are the SME, (not counting hecklers) but you control content and delivery. Staying connected with your audience is so important… Sometimes they just need more time with a specific slide/idea. Great points! Thank you.
Nice reminders, thanks Duncan! I have not (yet) presented at a VMUG, but I do have a fair amount of speaking experience. The one piece that I always look for (echoing some other comments) is for the presenter to “connect” with the audience. It amazes me how often bad speakers will launch into their presentation without engaging or knowing their audience. Are they speaking to sales or technical folks, do they have experience with this topic, etc. If you don’t know your audience, you’re almost doomed to fail even before you start.
I’m definitely looking forward to some new presentations and presenters next year. Keep up the great work!
Well said Duncan. I do enjoy the speaking, the telling of stories to the audience but just like you said – there is always the “fear” right before going on stage. And I feel that is a good thing. That same “fear” keeps me sharp and modest.
The most important part is knowing your story and be able to tell it even without slides. That, for me, equals mastering the content.
Thanks Duncan. A really good Post 😉
🙂 awesome post. I spoke once or twice (or as I think of it, a couple of more times) at public events, and “ik schijt nog steeds 7 kleuren bagger”. LB, we are all humans. Whilst I enjoy listening to an experienced speaker, I enjoy a good technical deepdive by an inexperienced speaker even better. After a while you’ll become more comfortable, and even can enjoy the presenting before it is over… I would love to see more ‘users’ presenting during VMUGs, instead of sponsors who are presenting corporate slides they didn’t create their own… My 2 cents.