Free Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun Page A

paper. The anecdote is so charming that few
    consider the years he spent thinking about these complex issues, the
    lengthy debates he had with peers and rivals, and the stacks of speeches
    and letters he wrote on these subjects, all of which helped him refine his
    thoughts and clarify his points.
    If it matters any, the story of the envelope is probably a myth.
    Dale Carnegie, who spent many years studying Lincoln, has this to say
    about the making of theGettysburg Address: [ 26 ]
    He (Lincoln) was spending the later part of that evening
     giving his speech “another lick.” He even went to an adjoining house
     where Secretary Seward was staying and read the speech aloud to him for
     criticism. After breakfast the next morning he continued to give it
     “another lick,” working on it until a tap came at the door telling him
     to take his place in the procession .
    All good public speaking is based on good private thinking. JFK, for
    all his brilliance, had speechwriters, who likely penned his famous quote,
    “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your
    country.” [ 27 ] Same is true for Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, most CEOs, and
    many of the most famous public speakers throughout history. Much of what
    these speechwriters do is transform a rough set of ideas into clear
    points. This means the difference between you and JFK or Martin Luther
    King has less to do with your ability to speak—a skill all of us use
    hundreds of times every day—than it does the ability to think and refine
    rough ideas into clear ones. Making a point,teaching alesson, or conveying a feeling to others first requires
    thinking, lots and lots of thinking, before the speaking ever happens. But
    we don’t see the thinking; after all, it’s not very interesting to watch.
    We only see the speaking, which makes it seem as though the thinking
    magically happened all by itself.
    No matterwhat kind of speaking you are doing, there are only a few
    reasons people will be there. As you plan your talk, start with the goal
    of satisfying the things listed below. People come because they:
    Want to learn something
Wish to be inspired
Hope to be entertained
Have a need they hope you will satisfy
Desire to meet other people interested in the subject
Seek a positive experience they can share with others
Are forced to be there by their bosses, parents, professors, or
     spouses
Have been handcuffed to their chairs and haven’t left the room
     for days
    Only a fool can talk for an hour and completely miss them all. Many
    talks hit one or two of these at least by accident. However, a thoughtful
    speaker—a speaker without extraordinary eloquence or magic powers but who
    cares deeply about giving the audience something of use—can talk for 30
    minutes, nail most of the first six, and end early, setting everyone free
    and having satisfied all of those in attendance (including those in the
    room for reasons seven and eight).
    Many speakers at conferences provide bios explaining in detail how
    great they are at running companies, managing teams, getting degrees, or
    writing books, all evidence to support the claim that they are good at
    doing things for other people. If speakers are as smart and talented as
    their resumes claim, we should expect them to take seriously the reasons
    people are in the room listening to them. But since they’re presenting,
    and they have the microphone, they allow themselves to become the center
    of attention, forgetting where their priorities should be.
    Putanother way, when 100 people are listening to you for an
    hour, that’s 100 hours of people’s time devoted to what you have to say.
    If you can’t spend 5 or 10 hours preparing for them, thinking about them,
    and refining your points to best suit their needs, what does that say
    about your respect for youraudience’s time? It says that your 5 hours are more
    important than 100 of theirs, which requires an ego larger than the entire
    solar system.