jmd509

Excellent tips! Some observations as someone whose role entails lots of public speaking, and the driver of a presentation training initiative for technical professionals at my org:

It's strangely embedded deep into his notes and presentation, but preparation is crucial. Practice your talk in front of others, as the author says, or at least rehearse it out loud to yourself. A big mistake I've seen technical professionals make is over-focusing on the content, structure, and detail, and leaving too little time/energy to actually practice their talk. I guarantee you'll find something to fix / add / remove when you hear your presentation out loud. Bonus points if you actually record yourself practicing and review it afterward. This is THE single best bang-for-your-buck practice for improving your presentation skills.

He's right about evaluations. You almost always receive contradictory feedback. A few weeks back I read the evals after running a workshop. One person said (paraphrasing) it was "too long, maybe shorten from 2 hours to just 1." Another said "too short, this could easily have been 4-6 hours." Other examples abound. The reason one person enjoys your presentation might be the exact reason someone else hates it.

Sure, some presenters are too slow. But many - especially inexperienced or nervous presenters - rush through their talk at breakneck speed. Both are equally sinful. If you have a tendency to rush, practice pausing periodically and don't litter the empty space with filler words ("uh," "so," "y'know," etc.). Embrace the silence. Audiences interpret that comfort with silence as authoritative, not incompetent.

Plant a friend in the front row so you can look at them and see a friendly face? I can see people misinterpreting this advice to mean "just stare at your friendly-looking friend for your whole presentation." Maybe it'll help for your first few talks, but it could become a bit of a crutch. Scan the room and address individual attendees as if you're having a conversation with them directly. Watch for their reactions (or lack thereof). Expect people to look annoyed, bored, etc. If you expect it, it's less likely to throw you off. More often than not, that's just how their face looks.

He's right about "geeks" reacting adversely to suits. I wore a suit to run something for our technology group's leadership team, and within the first five minutes they were busting me about it. Know your audience. That includes knowing what manner of dress they expect, but also what they might know/don't know about your topic, why they might care, etc.

I have to admit, I agree. I have friends that plow through audiobooks, but I don't absorb them well either. I like them for fiction, which I personally read for pleasure and don't analyze as closely as nonfiction, and to act as a bridge between print reading sessions. I've also found listening to podcasts sort of 'trains' your mind to attend more closely to long-form audio.

Wholeheartedly agree. As you read, you'll notice yourself noticing - you're consciously processing the narrative but also semi-consciously reflecting on how the narrative is delivered. You wonder what made that line stick out, what made that dialogue feel authentic, what made that description compelling.

It's like a casual fan watching MMA vs someone who practices martial arts. You attend not only to WHAT is done but HOW it is done, and what it means to be able to do it. You move beyond merely witnessing and start analyzing, learning, and appreciating.

Here's something I've experimented with that I don't see recommended often - In similar circumstances, I'll leverage both the book and audiobook. This way when I'm on the move, I can pick up the audio version where I left off and keep the momentum going.

Downside is you invest a small amount of time syncing between the two sources, and there might be additional cost associated.

Upside is you gain more cumulative reading time, and it keeps things interesting by adding variability and a new dimension to the experience.

Thank you for pointing that out - have edited. Wrote a bit too hastily there!

My notes (tl;dr) from the article below.

For anyone even vaguely familiar with audio engineering and recording, these tactics are not profound. Not a bad thing because in the end, less is more.

Worth mentioning that a good mic is arguably the 20% input that contributes to 80%+ of the output/audio quality, as supported by the article.

#6 is really the only non-obvious point. Apparently this is a major subject of debate.

1.) If you can afford it, use the Neumann U87 mic (~$3.5k)

2.) High pass filter (~250hz) on the vocal chain

3.) To avoid plosives, don't speak head-on into the mic. Speak off the side, on a diagonal. Use a pop filter.

4.) Design your studio to minimize reverberation. Make sure the recording space is isolated and there "aren't a lot of solid walls." Absorb sound with baffles, sound panels, etc. Counterintuitively, a larger room with more diffusion is better than the opposite.

5.) Minimize ambient sound. Your mic will pick up everything from fans to CPUs to electronic interference off computer screens. This noise will muddy up the recording.

6.) Minimize processing or compression of the signal before streaming, or in the case of radio, sending to the satellite.

Edit: for clarity