August 23rd, 2023 - Why YOU should get into public speaking
Why YOU should get into public speaking.
Hey, I think you should consider public speaking. I don’t necessarily mean on the Ted stage or at a professional conference, especially if you’ve never done it before….but … ESPECIALLY if you’ve never done it before - I think you should consider it! (I’ll get to why, but in case you need a tl;dr - public speaking is INCREDIBLY playful).
In the past six months, I’ve done quite a bit of public speaking. I love talking about play with different audiences, but the most interesting events so far have been DisruptHR and Ignite. These two events are volunteer-organized and led communities that function as chapters of the greater organization. The format for these speeches is the unique part.
five minutes
20 slides
15 per slide AUTO-ADVANCE
15 seconds is about enough time for two sentences. Imagine a very strict, time-monitored, short TedX talk. Each speaker is sharing an idea - for Ignite, it’s ANY idea or concept (not selling your services or book, but otherwise any idea - the Denver website suggest how q-tips are made, why pies are better than cake… just anything YOU care about for whatever reason). DisruptHR is also any idea - the speakers do not have to be in the field of HR, but their idea needs to “energize, inform and empower people in the HR field” and as the name implies, they are looking for Disruptive ideas (so maybe not an explanation of the fields on a paycheck).
It is a CHALLENGE. A very interesting challenge. When I started designing my first one, my shortest speaking gig at that time had been about 30 minutes. I have a lot to say about my respective topics. So whittling that content down to five minutes was not easy. But now that I’ve done it twice (and am actively working on a third, come see me September 12th in Denver!) I have some tips. Start with the end. Literally.
First, open up your slide making platform of choice (if it’s not canva, it should be), and click out 20 slides. Blanks.
Next, write the thought you want to leave hanging in their mind. At Ignite, mine was “and never feel like an imposter again”. At DisruptHR Colorado Springs, it was “playful work design is the future and curiosity will save our culture”.
Then work backwards and forwards and around in circles. It will take several hours over many days.
Finally, adds graphics to your slides (your local chapter will determine whether they can have animations or be moving gifs, but generally, they should be static images)
You don’t have to be funny. You don’t have to be perfect.
But you get to be you. And there’s so much value in that.
Ok, I promised I’d explain WHY I think you should do this…
Because it’s PLAYFUL! In the last email, we talked about the 10 characteristics of play (remember this graphic?)
