Imagine that you are listening to your favorite professor, or your favorite film actor, or even your favorite singer. What are they doing to keep you interested, and how can you achieve his or her level of persuasiveness in your own public performances — as a TF, at a conference, or in a conversation with your advisor?
Elise Morrison, the new Associate Director for Speaking Instruction at the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, is looking forward to helping GSAS students answer those questions. She knows that a core challenge they face is the feeling of being constantly under fire, having to explain complex ideas and answer difficult questions with authority and credibility, often in front of professors or peers. The best way to start improving as a presenter, she told her audience at a January@GSAS public-speaking workshop, is to understand how your anxieties are manifested.
Do you pace? Speak too quickly? Sweat noticeably? Once you become aware of your tics, it is easier to move past them or disguise them.
A few techniques to practice:
- Remember that public speaking is both verbal and non-verbal. Make eye contact, do not forget to smile, and use your hands.
- Making meaningful hand gestures in a way that emphasizes what you are saying can be very useful at times. But if you cannot trust yourself to not play with a pen, don’t pick one up!
- When you are talking, think about your pace and volume. Using pauses and vocal variety can be an effective means of punctuating an important point.
- Be aware of your vocal tics. Avoid “up speak” (ending a sentence as if it was a question) and using filler words like “um” and “like.” These verbal habits should be replaced by pauses or breathing, Morrison says.
When asked for a positive example of public performance, Morrison cites Jon Stewart, from The Daily Show. Take note of his pauses and facial gestures, she says; the way he juxtaposes commentary with his non-verbal performance is part of what makes him so sincere. She finds it impressive that he is able to walk the line between irony and serious political fire while retaining a sense of levity and enthusiasm.
Learning to become a more effective public speaker is a useful life skill, Morrison says. She routinely gets e-mails from former students who were once terrified to speak in public, now giving her workshops credit for enabling them to give a commencement speech or successfully navigate a job interview. Morrison says she’s looking forward to working with Harvard graduate students, one-on-one or in workshops, to bring about similar transformations. — Spencer McMinn