Is the speech boring? Bored talking? Seven principles teach you how to change

A survey shows that among the most terrifying things, more than half of people rank public speaking first. Many people even think that public speaking is scarier than death. While the findings deserve a critical look, speaking phobia does cause fear and avoidance for many people.

Many people feel scared when their heart beats fast, they are nervous and trembling, their brains go blank, and they don’t know what to say. Public speaking can make many people feel scared. Even if you have a sense of humor in life, public speaking can be stressful.

Is there a way to overcome such obstacles?

The answer is yes.

In the book "How to Become a Funny Speaking Person", David Nihil decomposes speech skills based on Pareto's Principle, and proposes seven principles for practicing a sense of humor. Keep practicing. With these rules, you can also become a humorous speaker.

The author of this book is David Nihil, who once thought that giving a speech was scarier than sharks, dentists, spiders and vicious stepmothers combined. But later he changed from an extremely fearful public speaker to a talk show star. He also summarized his years of study and self-examination into three conclusions: First, top business speakers all use humor. skills; second, they handle jokes in the same way as stand-up comedians; third, you don’t need a natural sense of humor to make people laugh.

In his book "How to Become an Interesting Speaker", he tells us that whether you are speaking in public on a daily basis, doing business speeches, hosting weddings, defending thesis, or trying to convince investors, you can use what this book teaches you. The humorous skills described above can break down barriers to speaking, allowing you to say goodbye to embarrassment and silence, and become the focus of the crowd as soon as you open your mouth.

Below I will share the contents of the book from four aspects: "constructing a story, adding humorous elements, writing humor, and building a memory palace".

Annette Simmons, a world-class story master, wrote in the book "Story Thinking": Telling a good story can give warmth to cold data and cruel facts, and can touch the most scheming people. The toughest, most hostile people have a soft spot deep inside.

In 2005, Jobs’s speech at Stanford University became a classic. In this speech, he had no heroic words or high aspirations, but just told three stories about himself. The first story is about connecting the dots in life; the second story is about love and loss. The third story is about death.

It is these three life stories that make his speech the most classic graduation speech in the world.

Many people have gone to listen to cross talk live and are often made laugh by the cross talk actors. However, if the cross talk actors use facts and truth to convey information, then no one will be willing to listen to it. . People are more willing to listen to someone who tells a story that is beautiful than a serious preaching.

A story has a beginning, a middle and an end. So, how to tell a story well?

Start powerfully.

As the saying goes, a good start is half the battle. The first 30 seconds of a speech actually determines the fate of the entire speech, so within the first 30 seconds, you must quickly grab the audience's attention.

First, get on stage quickly.

When the host has finished the introduction, you should immediately step onto the stage. Before your presentation starts and people in the audience below are still chatting or finding their seats, you need to make the noise stop. You can say something and ask the audience to applaud you if they can hear you. Once someone claps for you, ask them to keep clapping until the person chatting stops and joins in. Start speaking as the applause dies down.

Second, smile and maintain eye contact with the audience.

In the first 30 seconds, you should make eye contact with the audience in the front row as much as possible. From the beginning of the story, if you can quickly make the audience laugh, the opening laughter will release dopamine and make you laugh. and feel more comfortable with the audience.

Actor Zhang Weijian introduced himself in "I Am a Speaker Season 1" like this: I am the Tathagata Buddha, the Jade Emperor, the Great Sage Guanyin, the special envoy designated by Guanyin Bodhisattva to take the Western Sutra, the Monkey King Monkey King Qitian of the Water Curtain Cave in Huaguo Mountain Sun Wukong is so handsome. What’s wrong? Isn’t that bad? Why is there so little applause?

This kind of opening statement can arouse the audience's interest, and it is also more interesting in language.

Before the official start, you can also introduce yourself to the audience more. For example, you can tell the audience who you are, why they should listen to you, and try to make the audience like you. These can reduce the excitement of the stage. sense of boundaries.

The beginning of your speech is actually a canvassing session, so you have to win over the audience and make them laugh. If you feel necessary, imagine the people in the room are naked, or you can use self-deprecation as a way to relieve stress.

Performing on stage.

If you can attract the audience's attention in the first 30 seconds, then the next middle part will be much smoother, but there are also some details that need to be paid attention to during the speech.

First, your voice should be louder and remove the "ah, um, but".

Be sure to speak loud enough for everyone in the room to hear you clearly. If your voice is 20% louder than normal speech, the spoken words "ah, um, but" will also be lowered.

Second, don’t bring large paragraphs of manuscripts to the stage.

Many people are afraid of forgetting their lines. Even if they memorize the lines very well, they must have the script in their hands. But holding the script on stage will make the audience think that you are not ready, so the best way is to write it off. If you are afraid of being nervous, you must have something in your hand and don't let the audience see it. You can do it more secretly, such as writing it on the label of the water bottle, writing it on a tissue, etc.

Third, don’t forget to pause.

Timing, rhythm and pauses are very important. Acting is about how to tell a joke, timing is about when to say it, and the right pauses can arouse the audience's curiosity. When you get to the punchline or key point, you can step forward, raise your voice further, build tension, and then, boom! Shake out the baggage.

Fourth, don’t time out.

If you want to capture your audience’s attention, don’t time out. If your speech is 10 minutes long, you have an unwritten agreement with your audience. In the eyes of the audience, you have to speak for 10 minutes. Then, you can arrange other things outside of the 10 minutes. You can check your email or have some lunch. If you exceed the allotted time, it will be difficult to control everyone's attention.

The ending should be impactful.

Write the last sentence first, and then think about the triggering events and the beginning. In the 1998 Seinfeld episode "Burn," Jerry said to George: "There's a craft to the show, George. When you've said the funniest part, say goodbye and leave." At the end of his speech , make sure you get all the applause and wait until the applause subsides before you speak, or you don’t have to speak at all.

Storytelling means telling jokes. What the audience wants to hear is light-hearted stories, and the most popular stories must contain personal experiences. Those cleverly crafted punchlines often come from life. You have to do The best thing is to record them and tell them to others.

Mark Twain said: "Humans have a truly powerful weapon, and that is laughter." People naturally like interesting stories, and loving laughter can release dopamine in your brain, making you feel happy. Pleasure. So, how do you make your presentation more interesting? That's adding humor to the story. Generally speaking, talk comedians and TED speakers will follow three steps: the first is to set the stage, the second is to shake off the baggage, and the third is to continuously laugh.

1. Foreshadowing.

Foreshadowing is to lay the foundation for the joke and provide the audience with necessary background information. Starting from the foreshadowing, we must distinguish which details are necessary to retain. If they cannot serve as foreshadowing, we must delete them mercilessly. The language must be as concise as possible.

2. Shaking the baggage

Shaking the baggage is essentially to throw out the funny points and bring surprises to the audience. It's like a train that suddenly derails. Although you know where the train is coming from and you think you know where it is going, it actually derails. If you have any baggage, you must get rid of it as soon as possible.

3. Continuous laughter.

The continuous laughter is the baggage after the initial baggage is shaken off. Sometimes it's a further development of the original joke, sometimes it's a big twist and goes in a surprising new direction.

Speeches, like jokes, are crafted with a pen or keyboard. No matter how little talent you have, honing your writing skills can help improve your public speaking abilities. So, how do you write with humor?

1. Inject perspective.

You can use words like "weird, amazing, scary, difficult, stupid, shocking" and you can put these words in the beginning or in the statement. If you want your audience to be enthusiastic about the topic, be sure to show your enthusiasm first.

2. The selling point is clear.

When writing a story or paragraph, we all want to leave a deep impression on the audience, and the same goes for giving a speech. When you see "1,000 songs in your pocket", you will immediately think of Steve Jobs' Ipod launch conference. The 1,000 songs in your pocket are the selling point. And there’s Martin Luther King, who kept repeating “I have a dream,” which became the key phrase of his speech and became a clear selling point through repeated emphasis.

3. Use funny pictures and videos.

If your goal is to make your audience laugh, use funny pictures and videos to achieve that effect. You can go to Google and search for funny content, and then search for content related to the topic. You can also use this structure with pictures and videos to write. If you are worried about your writing level or expression level, using videos and pictures can effectively relieve stress. , while not reducing the level of humor. As long as these humor techniques are applied to speeches, good results will be produced.

What is your biggest fear of speaking? Just forgetting the words. To prevent this from happening, we need to create a “memory palace.” What is a "memory palace"? The so-called "memory palace" essentially improves memory ability by organizing and recalling information in a visual way. To put it simply, it means to open up some space in your brain and store the information that needs to be remembered.

So, how to build a memory palace?

1. Determine the palace blueprint.

A memory palace can be an imaginary space or a familiar building. For example, the house where you live or your office.

2. Define the route in the palace.

Follow a specific route or sequence through the palace so that they can be talked about one by one in the order of the scenes. For example, in your office, you will first pass by the front desk, then pass through the public area, and finally come to the office area.

3. Determine the storage location in the palace along the route.

You can store information in specific areas. For example, your memory palace is your current office. After you enter through the door and pass by the front desk (start your speech), you can place your key topics in other areas, some in the public area and some in the administrative area.

4. Remember the Memory Palace.

The best way is to draw it on paper and then create it in your head.

5. Place the content that needs to be memorized in the palace.

The more detailed the memory, the better. If you want to talk about someone in your speech, you can first imagine the characteristics of that person. The funnier and more peculiar his image is, the stronger your memory will be.

6. Check every item put in the palace.

After you have placed all the key points, check the scene you imagined. When you forget the words, think about where they are in the memory palace.

Martin said: "Persistence is the best substitute for talent." So after building the memory palace, you must rehearse repeatedly until you are familiar with the material and have full preparation and confidence. , no matter what happens on stage, you can handle it with ease.

This is true for even the best and most experienced stand-up comedians.

The book mentions the example of Jerry Seinfeld, who once told the New York Times:

An excellent speaker like Jerry Seinfeld will also Take every opportunity to exercise and maintain your nerves by practicing your speech, and you should do the same.

A sense of humor is not only an attitude towards life and work, it is also a skill that can be learned. As long as we master the correct method, each of us can learn it. "How to Become an Funny Talker" is not a magic book. After reading the principles introduced above, you will not immediately become more humorous and attractive, but as long as you continue to practice, you will eventually become more attractive.