Take Your Public Speaking to the Next Level with Recording and Podcasting
Verbal communication skills are valuable assets in every career field and job role. From leading a meeting, to teaching a workshop, there are plentiful opportunities to practice and put these skills to use. Some study the art of public speaking, learning how to grip the attention of a crowd of hundreds, or even thousands — even if actually drawing such a large audience is still a dream in the making. Few aspiring public speakers, however, are taking advantage of the immense value of audio recording in their training.
Audio recording is the perfect complement to your public speaking career. Success on stage can be amplified, quite literally, for the speaker who also learns to work the microphone. For the intermediate-level public speaker, not only does recording improve overall speech skills, but getting those recordings online — most commonly, in the form of a podcast — has the potential to broadcast your message to an audience far beyond a single conference room.
Use Recording as a Practice Tool
Though there are some important differences between live and recorded speech, if you have least two years of experience with live speaking, then you should well prepared to apply your skills to a new medium. Recording gives you many more hours of speaking practice per week, continuing your training even in the absence of a live audience. When you use a certain topic both in a live talk and a recording, you’re able to learn the content more thoroughly. When you listen to the playback of your recording in order to self-evaluate, you’ll know where you need to adjust your delivery or wording. By practicing poise and composure while sitting in your home or office recording studio, you’ll be better prepared to keep calm on stage when the audience is watching.
Many skills are shared between speaking on the microphone and speaking live. Both in the studio and on the stage, it’s important to pace yourself properly, minimize filler words, and stay on topic. It’s also crucial to use an appropriate and consistent tone of voice, and avoid habits like “uptalk” and “vocal fry.” Bad habits tend to become amplified and more distracting when done in recording, and only consistent practice can eliminate them. In addition, there’s a separate skillset unique to recorded speech known as “microphone technique,” or how you physically perform in order to get the best possible recording quality. Keeping your mouth at the correct distance from the microphone at all times ensures consistent volume levels throughout the audio file. Enunciating clearly and keeping your mouth open helps prevent bothersome clicking noises caused by saliva.
Use Podcasting as a Marketing Tool
A podcast is an ongoing series of short, episodic audio recordings published on a recurring schedule. Creating a podcast opens up a world of new possibilities for the intermediate public speaker looking to advance to the next level. Though you may be giving frequent talks within your company, city, or Toastmasters club, the number of people who can hear your message is limited to the size of the room you’re in. By contrast, audio recording gives you the ability to share your message online, reaching a worldwide audience. If your goal is to make a career in speaking, podcasting is the perfect way to boost your personal brand.
Most podcasts follow a weekly or bi-weekly release schedule; however, consistency is more important than frequency. Subscribers should know exactly when to anticipate new content from you, and that holds you accountable for sticking to your appointed schedule. When you’re just starting out, it’s best to be pessimistic about how much you can produce. Bi-weekly or even monthly releases are perfectly acceptable; it’s far easier to ramp up the frequency later on than to ramp it down.
When deciding on the content and format of your podcast, keep in mind that in this medium, two is better than one. Either find a reliable co-host who shares your vision for the show, or center your show around interviewing others. A common amateur mistake is to simply create recordings of the same talks you’ve given live. As an intermediate-level speaker, it’s unlikely that you have the level of vocal finesse and microphone technique needed to carry an entire show by yourself — the kind of professional voice talent used in audiobooks and narrations. Without the visual and physical components of your live performance, your speech recording will just sound like a long monologue, and will not engage a remote audience. The dynamic between two people in conversation, however, will be much more engaging to podcast listeners.
How to Get Started
When embarking on any new endeavor, the best preparation is to listen to those who have gone before. Once you choose your podcast’s main topics and themes, be sure to listen to as many other similar shows as you can find. There’s no need to listen to a show's entire back catalogue; for research purposes, simply compare the very first episode to the most recent episode. You’ll start to notice the ways the shows have changed and improved over time, which will give you an idea of the subtle qualities that separate successful podcasts from failed ones.
If you’re still committed to your podcast project after you’ve completed your research, it’s time to invest in equipment. For starters, I recommend spending around $100 on a used or refurbished microphone. Resist the temptation to spend more when you’re just getting started; advanced audio equipment should only be used once you have the skills to unleash its potential. On the other hand, using a low-quality microphone, such as headset or internal laptop mic, will produce a low-quality sound that distracts listeners from the content. Keeping your budget in the $100 ballpark should strike a good balance between quality and financial risk. Some microphones may also require a separate device called a preamplifier, so be sure to do your research before you purchase.
The three basic steps to producing a podcast are recording, editing, and publishing. First, record your episode audio digitally on to a personal computer; then, edit the files using audio software (sometimes called digital audio workstations, or DAWs); and finally, publish the episode when editing is complete. While you record, relax and take your time — you are free to pause, start over, or do multiple takes. You’ll be able to cut out any flubs or bad takes in the editing phase. Audacity is an open-source and relatively easy-to-use DAW, making it a popular choice for beginner podcasters.
Just as you would do in a live talk, structure your episode’s content into a logical introduction, body, and conclusion format. The intro should include the name of the show and its hosts (that’s you), what the show is about, and the topic of this specific episode. At the end, include your show’s Web site address and social media handles, how listeners can best contact you, and if you like, a teaser for the next episode. If you’re unsure how to structure your end matter, feel free to copy what other similar podcasts have done.
As you learn more about audio production and the use of your audio software, the quality of your episodes will improve — but so will the amount of time you spend editing. To maintain the workload at a manageable level, keep the length of a single episode between 30 and 60 minutes. Yet another reason to start out your show with a bi-weekly or monthly episode release schedule is to allow you plenty of time to finish the editing work. You’ll want listeners to be able to enjoy your back catalog long after each episode is released, so make sure that what you put out is of the highest possible archival quality.
In Conclusion
This introductory article only scratches the surface of the wide world of podcasting. Even after you've recorded your best performance on the mic with the best audio quality, there’s still much more that goes into making a show successful — distribution, marketing, monetization, partnerships, audience engagement, and more. However, if you’re eager to take on a new and exciting speaking challenge, I encourage you to take these first steps.
Even though creating an outstanding podcast takes time and dedication, once you get there, the experience is rewarding on many levels. Since I became a podcaster, I have learned much about audio production, improved my social media marketing savvy, been truly moved by positive listener reactions, and yes — become a much better public speaker. To skyrocket your career as a professional speaker, there’s no other method that’s quite so effective and so easily accessible to the average person. Give podcasting a try, and get started on the mic today!
Had I not been born a few decades ago, I probably would have been given one of those colorful acronyms like ADD or ADHD, branded and probably drugged for not being able to concentrate, right?
Every single thing wrong with prevailing attitudes towards attention disorders, in one sentence. From a TED Talk I won’t even dignify with a link.
Why Do We Value Technology More Than Creativity in Business?
How Do You Label Yourself?
I’ve noticed a tendency among my peers in the business world to assign themselves, and others, labels based on their chosen career path or natural talent affinity. Creatives, techies, financiers, and entrepreneurs are some of the more common labels, or “types". It naturally follows that there’s an inclination to self-identify with the “type” that affords the highest possible prestige in business culture.
I have worn, and shed, a number of labels in my career. At present, I've arrived at a place wherein most would label me a “creative type", with “entrepreneur” as a secondary "type". I embrace these labels, feeling that they are a reasonable fit for me, and that using them provides a useful shorthand for others to understand me at a glance. I don’t assign myself labels because I particularly want to; I choose labels that others will understand and respect.
Choosing labels for ourselves is not just about finding what fits us best — it’s about finding our place in the hierarchy of labels. In most corporate cultures, there’s a ranking system — certain types have higher perceived value than others. I’ve found this is especially the case, ironically, in the world that is so fond of lauding itself as an egalitarian meritocracy: startups. It’s not the founders, CEOs, or even the VCs that seem to command the highest prestige. Here, the one type that stands far and above all the others in esteem and respect is the “techie” type: developers, engineers, and other technologists.
As a creative/entrepreneurial type who might better be described as a daydreaming visionary, I’ve always had difficulty knowing where it is I really belong, both in job roles and in the hierarchy. I'm not truly a designer, or truly a developer, and certainly not a true business guru. This is complicated by the fact that I don’t subscribe to the belief that any type has an inherently higher value than any other. This means that, quite heretically, I believe that creatives are just as valuable to the business world as techies. In my search for identity, I place being true to myself over and above commanding prestige and respect. This becomes readily apparent when I reflect on the path my career has taken thus far.
A Journey Into Technology
Before I was full-time entrepreneur, I worked as what would be called today either "front-end Web developer” or “Web designer". Before that, I was what would be called today a “hybrid Web designer/developer”. When I started my career in the mid-2000s, almost all roles in this vein were simply called “Web designer". Before that, I earned my bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design from what I’m told is a fairly prestigious art school. Before even that, I was a teenager messing around with Notepad and Photoshop, utterly captivated by the fact that the simple fan-sites I created were being visited by like-minded people from all over the world.
Throughout my career, I’ve consistently been at a loss as to how to classify myself. I went to college at a time when “Web designer” wasn’t yet an established job title, much less an established career path. High school guidance counselors had no idea what to do with me. “Graphic designer” was an established job title, but it went down the path of visual arts, and I didn’t have much of an affinity for art. “Computer programmer” was also a well-worn career path, but that went down the path of mathematics — my worst academic subject by a large margin. So, art it was, and I threw together a messy portfolio of pencil drawings and Photoshop experiments that got me admitted to the School of Visual Arts.
In college, I had an identity as the most tech-savvy designer among my peers, and the only one who knew HTML and CSS while everyone else threw down all their chips for Flash. All through art school, I thought of myself as a terrible artist, since I lacked the years of experience in drawing and painting my classmates all had. Compared to them, it must have seemed like I really did belong over in the computer science world, though I still knew barely a shred of math (writing HTML and CSS isn’t really “programming” in the traditional sense, and doesn’t require any mathematical knowledge).
The thing that finally bolstered my self-esteem was how easy it was to get work as a Web designer, both during and after college, given my multi-faceted skill set. I had my first "real job” at age 17, and worked various Web design gigs throughout school — a big help, considering how expensive SVA’s tuition cost is. The hybrid designer-developer roles I held during and after school were a great fit for me, but those sorts of multi-disciplinary jobs faded away from the industry as roles became more and more specialized.
After the ’08-‘09 layoffs season, my job search only showed me roles that were of one type or the other — designer or developer. However, as we’ve established, tech types are more highly valued than creative types. Web developer jobs were not only far more plentiful, they commanded salaries far above what I was used to. So for the next five years, I changed paths, and changed labels: I was a developer, a tech type. During that time, I sincerely thought of myself as a technologist. I’d always been a misfit in art school, so why shouldn’t I end up here? As a tech type, I’d be on the forefront of progress, continuously innovating and learning, while watching my salary climb year after year into the stratosphere. I sincerely thought I loved to code.
A Journey Out Of Technology
Eventually, I hit a wall on the the technology path when the JavaScript revolution came to the Web. Unlike HTML and CSS, JavaScript is much more akin real programming — i.e., the math and computer science I’d been consistently avoiding. It’s not as though I was unable to write any JavaScript code, but I was doing so at the level expected of a Web designer, not a Web developer — simple functionality heavily bolstered by libraries. Due to the relatively backward industries I'd worked in (healthcare and pharma), I did not abandon Flash and ActionScript nearly soon enough, putting me even further behind. To continue to find success as a tech type, I’d have to master JavaScript, and that meant learning to be a real programmer.
By this time, I’d been coming up with my own new ideas, on everything from code standards to team dynamics, often enough that I’d decided I needed to grow my horizons. What I wanted now was to be a team lead, a manager, a position that would afford me the power to implement my strong vision for how Web sites should be built. I’d been actively working on my leadership and communication skills by joining Toastmasters. However, when I interviewed for lead developer positions, all they wanted to see was mastery of hard computer science skills, not worthless “soft skills." I went on these interviews while still working a developer job that I had slowly grown to hate. I knew I’d never be promoted at that company, yet it seemed unlikely I’d ever be hired into a lead role somewhere else.
When I tried to learn hard computer science skills — and boy, did I try — I hated every moment. I hated that it just never clicked for me. Even one-on-one lessons couldn’t make it sink in. I’ve always been godawful at math; I barely passed freshman algebra in high school, and after that, never took another math course for the rest of my life. Yet now, I was being asked to do something more akin to high-level calculus if I wanted to continue on as a developer. I became discouraged, and started to lose hope. The industry was changing, but I couldn’t seem to force myself to change with it. Besides, did I even really want my life’s work to deal with mathematics — the domain with which I had absolutely no talent or affinity?
It soon became clear that I not only lacked the ability, but also the desire, to become a real programmer. Maybe my mind simply wasn't wired to think that way, or perhaps it was my lack of genuine interest that prevented me from learning those complex concepts. It was then that I came to a surprising, stunning realization: I did not, in fact, love to code. Hell, I didn’t even like to code. I wouldn’t say that I hated it, but if I truly would never become a real programmer, and my career as a developer was truly over, I wouldn’t miss it. I was burnt out, tired of faking it, and at that point I really couldn’t have cared less if I never wrote another line of code in my entire life.
The Hierarchy of Labels
Feeling I had nowhere else to turn, I chose to pursue entrepreneurship — that way, I’d have the freedom to create my very own dream job. I put on a new label: "Entrepreneur-type." As a founder and CEO, I was now free to implement my long-stifled vision for how Web sites should be built. I made a conscious effort to avoid acting as either a designer or a developer going forward. I knew that the business would only grow beyond a tiny freelancing operation if I focused on leadership, management, and sales. Of course, I still put my old skills to use in small ways, since we had so few staff on hand. However, being now much further removed from those old habits, I was able to gain new perspectives on how I felt about being a developer, and being a designer.
I still didn’t miss code one bit, but I soon came to another surprising realization: I actually really, truly loved design. I realized that I had missed it dearly during my five-year techie period. I got back into being a creative with all enthusiasm, even when I acted as art director instead of designer. I realized my mind might not be wired to think mathematically, but it was wired to think creatively — freely, imaginatively, without hard and fast rules. I loved solving problems for which there wasn’t a single right answer, and for which there were multiple paths to a solution. I loved the infinite possibilities that this non-linear thinking opened up to me. I even liked to draw. So, I put on a second new label: Creative-type. “Creative entrepreneur” does have a nice ring to it.
Under these new labels, however, I soon began to feel the weight of others’ disappointment in me. As I continued my entrepreneurial journey, I was chastised by friends and colleagues for “letting my development skills rot away”. The assumption here was that other skills I’ve been gaining — marketing, sales, management — were of no worth compared to that of the Almighty Power of Code. I’d never again be able to command the unilateral and profuse praise that a developer commands. I’d managed to become the coolest possible thing to be, the highest echelon of status and respect — but according to the startup value system, I was now a failure. I couldn’t learn computer science, and thus, my value plummeted. I’d even decided to downgrade to the far inferior field of design. What a loser I was!
The startup world absolutely worships tech types, and puts very little value on creative types. Everything from company cultures to job boards to salary comparisons reflects this hierarchical value system. Even salespeople, financiers, and founders can’t measure up. I once watched an interview with a fashion startup founder with whom I’d become acquainted. She came to her venture with a business background, and had outsourced her initial app development. She stated in her interview, roughly, “If I could go back to school, I’d do computer science, because then I could do it all myself!”.
When it comes to a new business venture, no one person can "do it all” by themselves, regardless of their field of expertise. Yet in the interview, this founder completely discounted her business background as worthless compared to the Almighty Power of Code. However, chances are she went to business school in the first place because her true strengths and affinity lay in business, not in programming. If she’d become a developer instead, she’d have still needed someone with a business background to complement the venture. Even in the unlikely scenario that she possessed all the necessary sales, accounting, marketing, branding, design and technology skills necessary for the app startup to succeed, she’d have severely limited its growth by not sharing the workload with additional staff. The line of thinking that says “all you need is code” for a successful startup is misguided, naïve, and harmful.
The Danger of Homogeny
Yet, it’s not surprising that this founder thinks this way. We are constantly hearing that, in this technology-driven world, literally everyone, from designers to janitors, has to learn to code to make it. This line of thinking seems to forget that “learn to code” is not something trivial to accomplish. It takes years of study and experience, on top of a natural inclination and talent for the mathematical, to even become a valuable member of a development team. Even fewer are those that possess the brilliance and talent to serve as an entire full-stack development team unto themselves. Great software is not something a single person can build, alone, after taking one Coursera class.
Not everyone in this industry can become, or will become, a world-class developer and technologist. Not all our brains are wired that way — mine certainly isn’t. And quite heretically, I think that’s okay. Yes, it’s developers who create the software around which virtually all startups base their products. But it’s creatives who turn that software into something customers can actually use by giving it the right UI and UX. It’s creatives who craft the company brand and message that makes customers actually want to use the software, thus driving sales and growth. Ours are the sort of minds that come up with entirely new features, new marketing strategies, even whole new products with our knack for imaginative, non-linear thinking. Every business, especially a startup, needs creatives on the team in order to get off the ground, consistently satisfy customers, and stay innovative over the long term.
In addition to techies and creatives, there are dozens of other disciplines and “types” necessary for a successful startup team. Good salespeople come to mind first; these tend to be extroverts, whereas the other two types attract mostly introverts. Homogeny can come about not only when one career type, but one personality type, is encouraged and rewarded to the exclusion of all others. I recall many a group meeting where the more dominant — i.e., loud, and usually male — personalities took over the conversation, thus rendering it more of a monologue than a dialogue. Only the loudest voices were allowed to be heard, and those with quieter or shyer temperaments were assumed to have nothing to say if they were unable to shout just as loudly. It is thus not surprising that rewards in the form of leadership positions are given to people with dominant, loud, and masculine personalities — and that subsequently, entire companies, even entire industries, are run entirely by people who think the exact same way. When they are the only ones whose voices are valued, it gives the false impression that only dominant, loud and masculine people have any value to the business.
This is not an environment where new ideas will be born, grow, and thrive. Homogeny of thought is a deadly poison for a business. Companies shouldn’t be run entirely by dominant people any more than they should be run entirely by tech people. A group in which everyone has the same work experience, the same education, and the same personality traits will most likely all come up with the same ideas. A homogenous team will never be able to create a product that serves the needs of customers that aren’t just like them. Innovation will grind to a halt, revenue will suffer, and no one on the team will have any clue as to why — because all the ideas made perfect sense to them.
Staying True To Your Own Self
I have now wholeheartedly discredited and abandoned the hierarchy of labels. Instead, I encourage others, as I’ve done for myself, to seek out their own true callings, rather than pushing themselves unquestioningly into technology against their predispositions. I am the proof that this not only makes us happier people, but encourages and preserves diversity of thought in our businesses. As a creative type, I believe that we are the least likely of all to thrive when forced into a role where we don’t belong. It’s imperative and necessary for us to be true to ourselves. We need to be solving problems for which there isn’t one single correct answer. We tend to think better of the big picture than the small details. We need a certain measure of freedom in our work. We’d most often like to be our own boss, but if we have to have one, they must be able to listen to our ideas and take them seriously. Being creative starts to feel like a curse if we don’t have the freedom to turn our ideas into reality.
However, none of us need lock ourselves into just one type, even if it’s a dominant trait of our personality. Even if you understand that code isn’t everything, and that you yourself are unlikely to become a world-class developer, it doesn’t mean that code shouldn’t interest you at all. If you feel like it, take that one Coursera class and learn some basics. Surely, the knowledge will help you in business pursuits in some way. Just make sure you put it in perspective with everything else you know and love, rather than automatically valuing knowledge of technology above all other knowledge.
Those of us not inclined towards tech-centric career paths will continue to face challenges, rejection, and feelings of inferiority for as long as the value hierarchy of labels persists. However, all of us have a personal imperative to be ourselves in order to attain true success and happiness. My belief is that all the types are equally entrepreneurial — there is no separate entrepreneurial-type that blocks out all others. Creative, business, financial, marketing, sales, and tech people can all become successful founders. Because of this, I encourage entrepreneurs of all stripes to launch your ventures while staying true to yourself and your strengths, and not getting sucked into the Cult of Code against your will. A company needs the skills of a wide variety of people, temperaments, and types. To me, the best companies are built on great leadership first, good timing second, product-market fit third, great branding fourth, and great software fifth.
To all the non-techies out there that think you have to learn to code to make it in startups — you don’t. Emphasize and hone the skills with which you are already excellent, and bring on additional staff who are masters of the other skills. Especially to my fellow creatives, I say: Stop doubting yourself, and stop thinking you have to be something you’re not. Be yourself, and be proud of your creativity. Create so much, and so well, that the techies will be jealous of you.
Public Speaking While Introverted: Seven Actionable Tips for Beginners
The business world is first and foremost built on relationships, and the greatest rewards are thus granted to the socially outgoing. From networking to sales, the highest prestige tends to go the gregarious souls who are happiest working a room full of people, and tirelessly keep in touch with dozens of contacts. Meanwhile, people who identify as introverts — those with a lower than average tolerance for social interaction — may feel at an inherent disadvantage, forever left out of the upper echelons of success.
However, there’s one realm I believe is truly open for all to conquer: public speaking. As an introverted entrepreneur, I’ve found that speaking and presenting comes much easier to me than one-on-one interaction. Competent speakers are seen as thought leaders, with their names and companies blazoned across the signage of conferences and webinars. If you’re an introverted businessperson, but have never spoken in front of an audience, now’s the time to give it a try. Like any other skill set, public speaking skills take time and practice to develop, on top of the time and practice it may take for you to overcome any fears and nervousness. Even if the idea of you as a speaker seems unthinkable at first, I believe it is possible for anyone. Here are some beginner-friendly tips especially crafted for introverts like us.
Get Training
There are no natural born public speakers. Though the ease with which skilled speakers perform is deceiving, they had to practice to get to such a level. That’s good news for you: it means that you, too, can get there with the right training. There is an art and a science to good public speaking: timing, vocal delivery, physical movement, and use of props are just a few of the aspects we study. By reading and taking courses, you can prepare for your big presentation before ever taking the stage.
Though there are a number of available options for public speaking education, I will wholeheartedly endorse Toastmasters clubs as the most beginner-friendly, supportive, and economical choice. You’ll not only learn to speak, but to evaluate the speaking of others, to be conscious of your timing and grammar, and other valuable skills to make your training more well-rounded. There is no cost to attend meetings as a guest before signing up for the full program, which though paid in six to twelve month installments, is very affordable and an unbeatable value.
Craft the Content
Any great speech starts with thorough preparation. You don’t have to fight the whole battle on the stage. Chances are the writing, editing and designing of the presentation are tasks with which you’ll be a lot more comfortable. If you take care in the content creation step, you’ll feel a lot better when the time comes to step on stage.
Too many newbies go about their first speech by reading off a long-winded essay from a static spot on the podium, reciting word-for-word from the paper, constantly darting their eyes up and down. Contrast this with professional speakers, who never go on stage with notes or flashcards, and instead maintain eye contact with the audience. You may wonder how they remember what to say, teleprompters aside. Rather than attempt to memorize an entire speech word for word, these pros likely create their talk as an outline, and memorize only a handful of bullet points. The supporting details are performed partially from memory, but mostly improptu. The speakers know the material and subject matter so well that speaking off the cuff comes naturally.
Performing even just partially from memory is challenging, but is far from impossible, and greatly improves the professionalism and confidence of your speech. Regardless of whether slides will be shown to the audience, I advise beginner speakers to write and organize their talk in a slide deck format, rather than in an essay format. This encourages thinking and writing in bullet points, rather than in long paragraphs. Your outline will become your speech notes, and for each bullet point, you will rehearse a few more sentences’ worth of detailed supporting information. Keep the talking points concise and on-topic, making sure everything is directly relevant to the core purpose of the presentation.
Use Notes Properly
Practice your bullet-point, slide-format notes until you have down the gist of the points you want to make, and do not have to refer to the notes to remember what to say. Though ideally you’ll take the stage with nothing to read from, if the thought of going up blind terrifies you, bring up a small index card with your outline. If you find yourself stalled, glance at this quickly to jog your memory, then return to looking up at the audience.
If you will be using a full slide deck, you’ll have the advantage of having your notes on hand seamlessly. However, this doesn’t mean you should depend on the slides, simply reading off the bullet points word for word. Not only does this make for a dull performance, but it’ll make it impossible for you to maintain eye contact with the audience. Your listeners can read off the slides themselves, but what will truly engage them is hearing you speak.
The majority of information in the presentation should be spoken off the top of your head, drawing from your rehearsed notes and your own subject matter expertise. This will make you sound far more natural than if you were reading off something memorized. Glance at the slides only to jog your memory and to ensure you’ve covered all the talking points. For each general point you want to make in the talk, use a single slide with no more than four bullet points, each point no longer than a single sentence. Though you may be speaking off the cuff, be sure not to ramble for too long if you find yourself on an irrelevant tangent.
Practice and Get Feedback
As we’ve mentioned, even just remembering what to say during your presentation takes serious practice. However, in addition to saying the right words, you’ll also want to practice saying them the right way, moving about the stage dynamically, using hand gestures to make the right emphasis, and maintaining eye contact evenly throughout the audience — in other words, the physical aspects of speaking. Once the content is done, it’s time to practice it in front of everyone who will listen. You should get a good idea on how you’re improving based on how you feel. However, practice is most effective when you have accurate feedback.
The members of your new Toastmasters club will be glad to give you all the feedback and mentorship you require. If you’ve decided not to join, you’ll have to recruit your friends and family into listening. Ask for feedback both on the content and on the performance. This is especially important if your presentation contains a very technical or esoteric subject matter, and you're speaking to an audience who has less expertise than yourself. You may need to simplify certain terms and concepts so that the audience can understand. Use the maxim “explain it like I’m five.”.
Record Yourself
When there’s no one else around, you can be sure that your microphone will always listen to you. Most people feel strange the first time they hear a recording their own voice played back to them. Though the recorded medium is in many ways different than live speech, recording is an invaluable practice tool for beginning and experienced speakers alike. If you can't keep your poise and composure while sitting in a room by yourself, how will you have it on stage with people watching?
Recording will teach you many skills that you can apply in your live talk. It’ll get you used to physically speaking the words out loud, and hearing the sound of your own voice. When you listen to the playback, you’ll know where you need to adjust your delivery or the wording. The act of speaking out loud, rather than in your head, will likely jog your memory for new things to say. Most importantly, it’ll help you commit the content to memory.
Your recording doesn’t have to be of professional sound quality — any laptop with a built-in microphone will do the trick, and you can almost certainly use your smartphone to record your voice. Use the simplest, easiest-to-use recording app you can find to avoid any time lost to confusing software. You can record as many takes as you like, but resist the temptation to stop mid-recording and start over if you get flustered. This won’t be an option for you on stage, so use this practice time to deal with the nerves and find the strength to continue on after a mistake or hiccup.
Turn It Into a Conversation
Good presentations are not a one-way street. Great speakers can make each audience member feel like they are talking only to them, individually. You’ll feel more relaxed, and better engage your audience, if you think of the audience as people, and not just a monolithic crowd. Your first few presentations aren't going to be in front of a crowd of hundreds, so the room should be small enough for some interpersonal interaction.
Throughout the talk, make eye contact with as many audience members as possible, without staring at any one person for too long. In an average-sized office conference room, you should be able to look individually at each attendee more than once. If the space allows, you may even let them do some of the talking. Call on a few audience members to ask them about themselves, what brought them here today, and what they hope to get out of the talk. During the talk, ask them yes or no questions where they can respond by raising their hands, such as “Who here has done…”. Ask rhetorical questions to make them think. Allow time for Q&A when you are finished.
Rest Before and After
No matter how prepared — or excited — you are for your first presentation, if you’re an introvert, it's going to drain you. Think about your speech as an athlete would think of a big race. It’s going to be the hardest thing you’ll have to do all day, so it’s okay to tailor the rest of your day to accommodate. Don’t schedule any meetings or stressful activities before and after the presentation. Plan ahead so that your other tasks for the day will be minimal. If you’re especially nervous, you may even want to take the rest of the day off. Taking time to charge up your batteries doesn't mean you should worry and obsess all day — just take care to conserve your energy by enjoying relaxing activities.
When your talk is said and done, there is sure to be plenty of smalltalk and hand-shaking in the conference room afterward. Meanwhile, you’ll probably feel ready to collapse, so don’t force yourself to keep socializing beyond your limits. Shake as many hands and thank as many people as you need to as to not seem rude, then head straight home. Eat a hot takeout meal, curl up in some blankets, and grab a book or laptop — you’ve more than earned your introvert time. Take care of important errands and chores the day before — you don’t want to come home after your big performance just to find a sink full of dirty dishes and no food in the fridge.
In Conclusion
I rather surprised myself when I found out that I had a love of public speaking. I am proof that the business world is open to introverts — whether it’s giving a sales presentation, an educational seminar, or a motivational talk. I’m very thankful I took the risk to discover something new and wonderful within myself. I’m a firm believer that being an introvert is not only something to embrace in ourselves, but something that should never hold us back from our goals.
Like most ways of being, introversion or extroversion (properly, extraversion) is not absolute. Yet people tend to form an identity around this label, ostracizing the other for being too outgoing in the case of extroverts, or too quiet in the case of introverts.
Some surprising (though not surprising to me) benefits of being an introvert.
I have serious problems with the “crush it” mentality that seems so prevalent nowadays in self-help and business dialogue, and here’s why.
It puts extreme pressure on someone by telling them that anything less than changing the world, exceeding expectations a hundred fold, and blowing all your competition out of the water isn’t good enough. That just doing alright, and trying the best you can every day, and making slow and steady progress, isn’t good enough.
That if your performance is anything less than absolutely brilliantly magnificent every single day (compared to your peers, of course, not your own personal standards) — then you’re a total failure, and it’s your own fault. That everyone else is better than you, more worthy of success than you, because they make it look so easy while you struggle at it.
I can’t help but feel like shit when, in the spirit of encouragement, an article/Tweet/training program encourages me to go out and “crush it” in whatever I’m trying to accomplish. The intention is good, but it has the opposite effect on someone who’s struggling. It just makes me feel terrible when I'm not even anywhere close to “crushing it.” It makes me feel like everyone else is “crushing it” while it is crushing me. That everyone else has the ability to crush it, but not me.
“Triple your sales funnel with this method!” I’m happy to have any sales funnel at all.
“Multiply your revenues by doing this every day!” What if I'm not even breaking even?
“Dramatically increase your productivity!” I can’t even sit down and focus for more than 10 minutes, maybe I ought to work on that first?
If your problems can be solved simply by adopting a “crush it” mentality — if the biggest barrier in your life is ennui, and all you really need to succeed is to be more optimistic and try harder — then you don’t have any serious problems. You are very lucky, and probably very privileged.
This line of thinking completely refuses to acknowledge the very serious barriers that hinder some of us from reaching everyone else’s sky-high standards of “crushing it.” It’s so much worse for people with serious life issues that can’t be magicked away by reading an insightful article — physical health, mental health, family problems, legal troubles. It also refuses to acknowledge how remarkable the achievements they do manage to reach are — because in comparison to more privileged people, they only seem “average” or “alright.“
I once watched a video about a 26-year-old woman who started a small baked goods business, and secured distribution of her cookies in a local gourmet shop. Seems pretty “average,” right? She’s clearly not crushing it. Anybody can do that! She needs to try harder! It’s meaningless until she’s got the cookies in supermarkets around the country! She’s nothing special!
But, oh wait — she started the business after she was rejected from every single job she applied for due to her Downs Syndrome. She has the wherewithal and tenacity to be an entrepreneur even in the face of the disability. The picture changes when you see the barriers she is up against. Most bakery owners have it easy compared to her, and still, she managed to make it this far.
I think she is crushing it, though not by the conventional definition. Why? Because she’s doing alright, when she started out doing terribly — coming from a place where she was deemed unemployable by those who discriminated against her. That’s the thing many don’t realize — when you start out in an awful place, getting from “awful” to “alright" is an absolutely remarkable accomplishment. It just doesn’t seem that way compared to others that started out at “alright" in the first place. To those privileged people, it seems like being at “alright” means you’re not putting any effort at all, when really, the effort was, and continues to be, enormous.
Do you have a chronic pain condition? Were you able to commute to your job, work all day, then commute back, despite the amount of standing and moving it required? Let me tell you — you are crushing it. Despite the fact that compared to others for whom moving around is physically easy, you ended up at the same place, you put far more effort into it. You deserve to be proud of this accomplishment which others will ignore or trivialize.
Do you suffer from clinical depression? Did you get out of bed this morning at a reasonable hour, put on some clothes, brush your teeth, eat some food, do something productive, then go back to bed at a reasonable hour? That’s awesome! Those who’ve never experienced the condition have no idea how difficult that is, how much effort it takes, and how much willpower is needed not to collapse or go numb or break out into tears at every moment of the day. Any moment you didn’t give in to the depression is a small victory.
Do you have ADHD? You’re telling me you spent an entire hour focused exclusively on the highest priority work you had to do? Whoa, that’s amazing!
Did you come from a low-income family? And you graduated from high school and college? I’m really proud of you!
Are you a working professional who’s also transgender? Do you have a good job that pays you a good salary, where people respect and value your work? I’m super happy for you. You probably had to put in ten times the effort into your job search, and still have to put in twenty times the effort on the job, to be seen as half as good as your cisgender peers.
The list could go on and on of the kinds of people that have to overcome enormous barriers to arrive at “alright” in life and in work. Despite this, mainstream self-help dialogue will still define “crushing it” as a fundamentally competitive sport, and ignore the fact that not everyone even begins the race at the same starting line.
Serious problems — the ones that hold people back from accomplishing their goals, even when they put in maximum effort — can’t be solved by trying harder, working faster, or simply looking on the bright side. It requires that those people get the extra specialized help they need — proper medical care, mental health treatment, scholarships, or peer support networks. It also requires us as a society to provide that help to those who need it, and change our existing institutions to fully accommodate those needs. We must also work to remove barriers of discrimination that make things even more difficult — racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, transphobia, xenophobia, and other such abhorrent belief systems. Only then can we even begin to talk about “crushing it.“
Yes, people who feel they’re doing “alright” or “average” should try to keep pushing themselves to do “awesome” and “above average.” But understand this: the rest of us are struggling just to get to “alright.” Where’s the encouragement for us? Where are the articles that help those doing badly? I have a feeling they outnumber the rest by orders of magnitude.
And hey, by our own relative standards, maybe we are actually doing awesome. Did you get out of bed on time today, stay awake all day, remember to take your medications, eat healthy, and make sure to go outside for a little walk and sunshine? It sounds like you "crushed it" today! Made progress on something while still enjoying the work? Fabulous! Didn’t cry, or self-harm, or sit in a fetal position in the corner of your bedroom? Sweet! Learned something new? Did better today than yesterday? Amazing!
Personally, I don’t give a single fuck about “crushing it.” I’d be happy just to put a dent in “it", or make a crack on its surface. I just want to survive through another day, so I that can get up and do it again the next day. I don’t care about coming in first; I just want to not be disqualified. I just want to not give up. That is hard enough in itself. That is an accomplishment enough in itself.
I have made a conscious decision to speak the opposite of the conventional “crush it” doctrine. I will write from the honest perspective of someone who struggles every single day, and still has yet to arrive at “alright.” I won’t be embarrassed of sharing such struggles — because I want readers to be able to relate, where they have felt alienated in the past by other authors preaching the “crush it” gospel. At the same time, I will acknowledge the struggles of others, and commend them when they reach achievements.
My advice to all the strugglers out there: don’t listen to the “crush it” crowd. Just do your best every day, work towards happiness, and believe in yourself. If you, dear reader, resonate with this, I invite you to follow me on the journey to get to “alright.”
Stop asking personal questions to strangers when networking
We’ve all heard the maxim that people love to talk about themselves. However, far from being universal, this rule was almost certainly written by extroverts, for extroverts. As an introvert, I’m a much better listener, and am happy to let others talk about themselves while I learn about them. On the other hand, I'm usually not very comfortable talking about myself, especially with someone I’ve never met.
A more accurate maxim is that meeting new people and building relationships is key to business success. Introverted entrepreneurs can’t simply avoid networking, and I’ve previously discussed tips for making the experience easier. However, we can use our gift for listening to our advantage by making our conversation partner feel heard if they are an extrovert, or comfortable if they are a fellow introvert. The potential for trouble arises when an extrovert — who is more likely to be in a sales role — tries to break the ice with an introvert, and uses the wrong approach.
I implore those of you on the extroverted side of the spectrum: though it feels natural to you, it is a bad idea to ask personal questions to people at networking events that you’ve never met. If you do this to an introvert, they will immediately feel uncomfortable, and your efforts to build rapport will backfire.
Of course, there will still be plenty that you’ll be able to learn about the other person; when I say “personal questions” I’m referring to a select few loaded and touchy subjects. You already know to avoid politics, race, religion, and sex, so do us a favor and add these to your “off-limits topics” list.
Don’t ask about their family.
There are few issues more personal, and more likely to be fraught with complication, than one’s family. You may think you'll hit the jackpot if you get a parent who loves talking about their children. However, even though this question might work fine if their family life is going great, it’s not worth the risk if their family life happens to be unhappy. If they are dealing with sick parents, a divorce or breakup, fertility issues, or even discrimination due to their sexual orientation or childfree status, you’re opening up a painful can of worms.
Questions about children, parents, partners or spouses should all be prohibited. You can make an exception, however, if they other person brings these subjects up first, letting you know that they are in fact comfortable discussing them with you. Even then, continue to exercise caution and discretion in your follow up questions.
Don’t ask about their childhood.
There is arguably no subject matter more sensitive and less appropriate for a professional networking event than asking an adult about their childhood. You might be expecting to hear happy tales of schoolyard memories, birthday parties, and sports teams.
However, for many people, childhood was the most painful period of their entire life. You do not want to ask this to the person whose childhood involved abuse and neglect, broken homes, or bullying. Some of us spend years in therapy trying to make peace with these memories; the last person we want to discuss them with is a total stranger.
If you want to talk about their history, stick to their adult and professional life; college, university, internships, and past jobs or business ventures. These are the parts of their past that are more relevant and appropriate to a business setting.
Don’t ask about their name.
If your conversation partner introduces themselves with a name you haven’t heard of before — like Leisl — your first instinct may be to note how “lovely” or “unique” it is. However, drawing attention to ways in which they are different from everyone else won’t always feel like a compliment. We are more often mocked for our differences than complimented on them. I may no longer experience bullying and teasing from classmates because of my name (see why you shouldn’t ask about childhood?), but to this day it remains a sensitive subject, in no small part because new people still mispronounce it 95% of the time. For those that have immigrated to the US and bring their name from another culture, your emphasis on how they are different probably feels more like shaming than a compliment.
If the person you’ve just met has an uncommon name, stick to asking about the proper pronunciation, on which we will gladly instruct you. We do sympathize that it’s not an easy name to say, and will greatly appreciate the effort you put into getting it right. Do not, unless instructed to do so, assign the person a short name or a nickname. Use the name they give, as they give it, or they will feel that you’re trying to change who they are to fit your own convenience.
In addition, be aware of the way that you may be gendering your compliments. For women, hearing that anything about them is “lovely” in a business setting is deeply patronizing. Notice that men hardly ever hear compliments like this — they are complimented for their skills and accomplishments, not their appearance or inborn traits. This should be the norm for people of all genders. I’d rather be commended on something I earned by my own merits, rather than something I was assigned at birth and had no say in choosing.
Don’t ask about their nationality.
Having both a "unique” name and a racially ambiguous appearance, I am frequently asked where my name comes from, or where I was born. However, not everyone with a name that’s not popular in the US is foreign-born. I find it deeply unsettling that in such a diverse nation, it is so easy to be labelled as an outsider. Ethnicity and nationality aren’t the same thing; having a heritage other than white European doesn’t make me any less American. The same goes for naturalized immigrants, who may struggle all their lives to be fully accepted by American society, no matter how long they’ve lived here.
Posing this question in a business setting is at best inappropriate, and at worst, racist. National and ethnic labels have no place when evaluating someone’s professional acumen. If you feel uncomfortable not being able to pin a label on them, consider whether you are actually attempting to make a racial or ethnic stereotype. Resist the temptation to prejudice, and stick to the subjects that are actually related to their line of work.
Don’t push the subject.
Above all, if you happen to broach a subject that unintentionally makes your conversation partner uncomfortable, deal with it gracefully. Simply apologize, drop it, and move on. You may be able to visibly observe their discomfort in their body language. They may make attempts to avoid the subject and shift to something else. They may also tell you outright that they aren’t comfortable discussing the matter. Take no for an answer — don’t attempt to convince them to talk about it. Don’t get defensive, or accuse them of rudeness. You may have made a mistake, but don’t exacerbate the mistake just because you’re embarrassed.
As in any situation, an accidental faux pas is best handled with poise and humility. A quick “Sorry I asked” will do for an apology, followed by a quick change of subject that allows them to regain their composure. If the incident causes them to close up, the awkwardness lingers, or the flow of conversation can’t be restored, it’s alright to politely end the chat and let them know it was nice to meet. Not every conversation at a networking event needs to lead to an ongoing relationship. If your personalities clash, your time is better spent meeting folks with whom you are more compatible.
In Conclusion
If you have asked these sorts of personal questions in the past, you may feel as though you may have flubbed up many a conversation. That’s alright — you simply were not aware of how problematic they could be. We tend to treat people in the way we would want to be treated — according to the Golden Rule — and extroverts may naturally assume everyone else shares their temperament and communication style.
However, the world needs all kinds — listeners as well as talkers. If you use networking as part of your sales strategy, mastering different conversation styles is essential — introverts’ money is just as good as extroverts’ money. Introverts do warm up to people they feel that they can trust, but that trust isn’t given out freely.
Building relationships and maximizing success means learning to establish rapport with all types of people, and treating them all as individuals by tailoring your approach to their specific needs. Above even the Golden Rule is the Platinum Rule: Treat others the not the way you wish to be treated, but the way they wish to be treated.
Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Albert Einstein, Michael Jordan, Ghandi, Abraham Lincoln, Warren Buffett, Larry Page, and me. What do we all have in common? We’re introverts. We typically attribute ex…
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