(Cons of Complexity!)- in Public Speaking

For some reason, from ages immemorial , stage and everything associated with stage has been seen as ‘larger than life’ and there is this sub-conscious notion that if you are on stage you need a ‘larger-than-life-persona’ and one way to do that is to sound sophisticated!--- So what’s the solution - ?Mix a bit of Shashi Tharoor-Wren & Martin- Modern Day Corporate Jargon to make a cocktail that sounds “WOW, he/she said something so ‘out-of-the-world’”- essentially ?meaning “It went over my head!”

What many haven’t ever understood is the true essence of the proverb “ Simplicity is the greatest sophistication”

The most powerful speeches are the simplest speeches. If you don’t know to keep your speech simple, then you fail as a public speaker.

Public Speaking is an art form where the audience doesn’t have the liberty to revisit what has been once said by the speaker. If they miss out or fail to comprehend what is said, they are left in the lurch, trying to grapple with the meaning of the statement. In the meantime, the speaker has already moved forward. Essentially even a 10-15 second disconnect would mean that you are effectively losing out on the audience attention. This isn’t the case when it comes to say reading a book/article or watching a cinema. In a book/article you have the freedom to read a paragraph again and again to assimilate the content. On the other hand, cinema is a visual medium, where the characters and setting help the audience infer the scene, even if they fail to understand the dialogues, which is why we can appreciate movies made in foreign languages as well.

Public Speaking in many ways is the toughest art form, where the only tool you have to communicate and connect with your audience is ‘YOURSELF’- your thoughts, your words and your actions/body language. They all need to be in sync to create the right impact . The only way to do it is to keep it simple.

So where do many speakers go wrong?

The most common mistake committed by speakers is that they become self-indulgent and try to showcase their skills before an audience. ?Like I mentioned the need to ‘appear and sound suave( now suave can be a tricky word . It means smooth or polished. If I was speaking on stage, I would probably say “appear and sound polished” !) ’. This leads to using words which are less often used. You may have a great vocabulary, but that doesn’t mean that your audience would understand it. Its perfectly fine to use such words while writing an article ( like I just did!). The readers can pause, reach out for a dictionary or google the meaning of the word before proceeding. It helps improve their grammar as well. The same doesn’t apply while delivering a speech!

Let’s understand this further with another example:

“A dilatory worker was asked to leave “.

Here the word ‘dilatory’ isn’t a commonly used word. The moment someone hears it, the sub-conscious mind would begin wondering “What does dilatory mean?”. In the meantime, the speaker has already proceeded to the next statement. The word dilatory means ‘wasting time’ or ‘slow to act’.??The same statement could be as simple as “A worker who wasn’t productive and wasting time, was asked to leave”

The other area of concern is with respect to use of excessive body language and stage movement. We all have a natural body language- some are expressive, while others are reserved. It is important to stick to your style. However, I have noticed many speakers exaggerate their delivery to create an impact . This could mean moving around stage and varying their voice without purpose. It often appears theatrical and artificial. All of this is done to “WOW” the audience. In reality it creates a disconnect.

The fundamental principle of speech delivery is that your body language needs to appear natural and your movement on stage should be with purpose. ( will deal with them separately in another article)

In summary, in order to deliver a remarkable and effective speech you need to use simple words, keep your body language natural and stage movement purposeful!

Don’t try serving a cocktail, serve some fresh juice, which is natural, healthy and rejuvenating!