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To thrive in the AI era, mastering public speaking is a must
Below, I’ll share my 5 Top Tips for engaging and captivating audiences, and purposefully landing key messages.
Before that, let’s reflect on the importance of this uniquely human skill in an AI-fuelled world.
In an era of AI-generated slop, nauseating deepfakes, and bland content, people are craving deeper human connection and authenticity. Being able to educate, entertain, and inspire audiences is a powerful way to fulfil this demand.
Whatever your goals, being an effective public speaker will help.
Here are my 5 Top Tips for impactful public speaking:
1️⃣ Set yourself up for success. Whatever the occasion, confidently introduce yourself. Explain why you are there, what your unique experience and perspective is, and what they can expect to learn from you. Don’t undersell yourself with a meek introduction. When you signal authority, you gain the audience’s respect; now you have to back it up!
2️⃣ Body language and tonality matter more than you think. Smile, express your excitement, and approach the talk enthusiastically and light-heartedly. Energise the audience by holding eye contact, varying the tonality of your voice, pausing with purpose, gesticulating with grace, and confidently utilising the physical space you occupy.
3️⃣ If you back up your smiling with jokes that land, you’re winning. Humour is your most powerful tool, so use it! While some might hesitate to do so in professional settings, it can be incredibly effective. However, be careful, apply sound judgment, and don’t offend. Self-deprecation and sarcasm are good ways to start (yes, I am British).
4️⃣ There is no such thing as too much audience interactivity. Not once have I ever left a talk or training, either as a speaker or an attendee, thinking “I wish that was less interactive”. Ask the audience thought-provoking questions, invite participants with expertise to intervene on specific topics, and connect attendees with each other. The possibilities are endless, yet too many speakers shy away from doing this.
5️⃣ However, when answering questions, don’t stray too far into topics on which you lack expertise. It is important to acknowledge the limits of your knowledge and understanding. I have delivered countless AI governance trainings, but I am not a data scientist or an AI engineer. Although I can handle some foundational technical concepts, I don’t attempt to address questions requiring deep technical expertise if I don’t know the answer. Humans are not AI models. If we don’t know the answer, we shouldn’t just make something up that sounds plausible!
𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐮𝐬: Never forget the shameless plug. Don’t pass up the opportunity to promote your business, newsletter, or internal project! This isn’t inappropriate. It’s a smart way to stay connected with those who want to.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘐𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵—𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 (see, an AI joke).