How to give a talk

My learnings from Manifest, as a beginning speaker

Some talks are wayyy better than others.

At Manifest, I went to talks where the audience was deeply engaged with every word the speaker said.

Was the audience paying attention because they found the content interesting? Or maybe the speaker just had charisma — a special X-factor that most humans could never hope to attain? (I don’t think that’s it!)

No, I think giving a good talk can be learned simply. Here’s the formula that worked for me.

1. Delete your slides

This is the big one, and it’s counter intuitive. You will do infinitely better if you follow this one point.

Basically, slides are distracting. If people are trying to read your slide and listen, then they will stop listening. If they can read through the point you’re about to make, then they will do that, and then they will stop listening.

Just like good UX shows you one thing at a time, let your audience focus on what you are saying. Without a distraction, they will have no choice but to hang on every word.

In addition, no slides forces you to talk naturally to your audience. You’ll make eye contact like a normal human. You’ll see if people are following along or if they are confused. It’ll force you to prepare, too. Because you need to know what you’re going to say.

If you really need to show some visuals, then it’s OK to use slides, but don’t put words on them. If you’re introducing a complex diagram, put a slide with literally nothing on it first so you can introduce the idea and prime the audience.

2. Ham it up!

The more passion you inflect into your speech, the more engrossed the audience will be.

This is approximately a linear relationship. It can go from 0, if you are totally lifeless when speaking, to unbounded highs if you are really cranking it.

There’s no highest number, right? Likewise, there is no limit to the level of passion which will improve your talk!

This was the rule at the talks I attended at Manifest. Partly, passion is just correlated with speakers having something interesting to say.

However, you can ruin a talk by speaking with very little confidence or droning on in a monotone.

But when speakers get really into it, with hand gestures and emphasis, and the slow spell-ing-out-of-syll-a-bles… then, you can’t help but cheer along!

3. Practice each section

Split your talk into sections and practice them aloud, preferably with an audience of one or two for feedback¹.

My talk this year had 7 sections, approximately 5 minutes in length each. I practiced each at least twice.

Especially practice the transitions between sections! Then you’ll never get lost.

I feel like preparing a talk is much less intimidating when you break it down this way. It’s hard to keep a half-hour talk in memory. But, if it’s just one idea at a time, you’ll be fine.

4. Iterate on an outline

Creating anything is an iterative process. Nothing starts out good. Neither will the content of your talk.

But it’s a waste to write a whole essay — thousands of words — and then realize that the topic was slightly wrong, or the structure was off, and so you need to rewrite it.

Instead, use the natural abstraction for a piece of thought — a hierarchical outline! And iterate on it.

You should be able to whip up a 30-minute talk in record time by blasting out an outline, and then alternating between speaking a section out loud and refining that section in your outline based on what sounds good.

After a few iterations, you’ll also have your talk memorized enough to be ready for prime time.

Speaking of prime time…

5. Chug a Red Bull and do this vocal exercise

I’ve given two recorded talks in my life and I’m two-for-two on chugging Red Bulls right before. It works! I’m telling you!

Allow about 30 minutes for the caffeine to kick in.

Next, point your index fingers, and press them into the middle of your left and right cheeks. Then, bite down and blow air out of your lips — go “brrr” like you’re imitating a propeller plane.

Got it? Ok, now do this while singing up and down an octave-and-a-half scale. And repeat. Yes, just like that! (Or, review the video below for help, hahaha!)

By warming up your voice, you’ll sound clearer and more easily convey emotion. (Source: my Mom is an opera singer.)

Conclusion

Use these tips to go forth and give your own talk!

Have confidence in yourself. You are interesting. The world needs to know what you have to say!

1. Thank you, Quinn, for saving my talk by asking if I needed a buddy to listen and give feedback on it.