An Evening With Spike Lee

I spent some time over at Wake Forest University this evening listening to Spike Lee deliver the keynote address for the Reynolda Film Festival here in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

His comments were passionate and targeted at encouraging young adults to find and pursue the thing(s) that make them happy and about which they are passionate. One poignant statement was when he was discussing how often the dreams and passions of young people don't fit with the expectations of their parents. Mr. Lee said, "Parents destroy more dreams than anyone else." Powerful words of warning and awareness.

I know my parents/grandparents did their best and I also know - in hind sight - that they did not encourage the best of my gifts. I am by talent and nature an entertainer. I love to act, write, and speak publicly. They just didn't have the vision to see how pursuing these arts would be helpful to me.

So, I'm wondering... did you have to swim upstream against the expectations of your parents in order to pursue a dream? did they destroy yours?


Note: Image courtesy of Free Digital Images

3 Wise Public Speaking Tips

After one of my earliest public presentations had ended many people filed by and spoke words of appreciation and encouragement to me. After almost everyone else had left an elderly lady walked over to me and gave me some words of advice I have never forgotten.

“Young man,” she said, “You need a good job for a beginner. I have some advice for you, if you want it.”

I felt a little slighted, but told her I would welcome her feedback.

“Well,” she continued,” Remember three these three things: 1. Stand up so they can see you. 2. Speak up so they can hear you, and 3. Once you have said what you came to say, Shut Up. You did ok on the first two, but you kept talking too long tonight. Leave us a little room for thinking.”

Then she hugged me and shuffled off.

I eventually got over the injury she inflicted on my pride, but I have never gotten over her words. Time and again I have returned to those words.

1. Stand Up – there are numerous skills that the public speaker needs to master in order for our appearance to assist in our communication. We need to be seen as a part of the message we are communicating.

2. Speak Up – clearly spoken, well chosen words projected to the back of the room will always command attention.

3. Shut Up – Every day presentation should have a beginning, a middle and an end. The end should be as precise as the beginning and must always leave room for people to draw their own conclusions and do their own thinking.

Good advice for all of us who speak in public.

5 Public Speaking Boosts - #5 Work

Doing what we like doesn’t mean it isn’t work.

I enjoy public speaking tremendously. Master presenters have fun, laugh and enjoy what they do. It is important to remember that we aren’t doing this just for our enjoyment, but rather as a means of work, meaningful work in order to share valuable ideas, concepts and experiences with others.

Public speaking is work and we do well to work hard. What are the aspects of your public speaking career that require work? Is it generating ideas, reviewing video for ways to improve, booking speaking engagements, website maintenance, or updating successful presentations? The elements of our activity that feel like work are usually the very aspect that needs out attention.

We must work at what we do if we are to become better at what we offer.

5 Public Speaking Boosts - #4 Imperfection

Excellence isn’t about being perfect.

The single most effective approach to engaging a group is to allow them to glimpse your flaws – with humor. An introduction that pokes fun at your accomplishments, some self disclosure about mistakes, a touch of self effacing humor or an acknowledged misspoken word will often put our audience at ease.

Professional speakers can seem larger than life and letting people see a glimpse of our humanity helps make our message more believable.

A word of caution: This is not the time to air your dirty laundry or introduce controversial topics or intimate self disclosure. If you we need our neuroses affirmed – let’s take those to a therapist and not inflict them on our audience.

5 Public Speaking Boosts - #3 Think

Thinking isn’t just for off platform.

While it is true we never want to ‘wing it’ in place of solid preparation, it is also true that we often need to allow ourselves to think and adapt. People like to see us think, so don’t be afraid to respond to a good question with a pause, some solid thought and then a casual answer.

As advanced speakers we are able to think ‘on the fly’ and offer interactive presentations rather than canned speeches.

5 Public Speaking Boosts - #2 Posture

Posture isn’t just standing up straight.

By the time we get a few public presentations under our belt, we know a few things about appearance. We know to stand tall, command the platform and to eliminate unnecessary or awkward movements. Yet, the master speaker wisely incorporates new mannerisms and gestures into the presentation to help deliver impact.

We need to develop a skill set of hand movements, postures, arm movements and facial expressions that will allow us to offer a variety of visual cues. One word of caution: I’m not suggesting we provide the antics of Jim Carrey, but rather that we be able to increase our visual offering when it is helpful.

5 Public Speaking Boosts - #1 Preparation

Preparation isn’t 3 points and a poem.

The running joke in seminary was that every good sermon is made up of 3 points and poem. The truth is it’s not a bad guideline for structuring a 15-20 devotional presentation. However, the problem for some of us is that when we get the outline done – we are done.

For presenters who have a natural ability to speak, the danger is that we might step onto the platform with little more preparation than an outline. I have heard many times, “I have a plan for what I want to say, but I’ll just ‘wing it’ on the details.”

No matter how good our speaking skills may be, there is no talent substitute for solid preparation: research, plan, practice and repeat.