Javno Govorenje

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word
Video Transcripts January 2015
Chapter 1 - Unit 1
MY EXPERIENCE
Hello everybody!
Welcome to this MOOC on Public Speaking!
You cant imagine how excited I am to undertake this trip, with
so many people putting their energies and hopes for months
My name is Alexandra Maratchi, and Im going to be your interlocutor for the next few weeks in which this MOOC will
run its course. Im from Barcelona, I studied in Paris and worked for several years at FCMG in Milano, and I came back
to my home sweet home about two years ago to co-found
HOMUORK with a friend of my childhood. Homuork is an
edtech start-up made to produce MOOCs for firms. But we
mainly make SPOCs through our LMS, and thats why we
decided to undertake this adventure along with Iversity! To
have the real experience of a MOOC! Thank you for joining
us, what an adventure!
Before anything, Id like to start with a confession: the first
presentation I ever did in my life was dreadful. I know it
sounds like a clich, but I swear its true. You can go and talk to
my friends or family or my bosses at the time, and all of them
can tell you all about that shameful scene in detail Because,
even though 5 years have gone by, they are not like to forget it.
Id like to start with

a confession: the
first presentation
I ever did in my life
was... dreadful.
It was not long ago after I finished university; I was an intern

in Milano for Marketing Garnier at LOral. All of the interns
had to do a presentation for our bosses to decide whether to
hire us after 6 months of internship.
After several weeks working and preparing the slides in parallel (renders, flow, messages, graphics) I faced 7 people in a
room, all of them my superiors since there is no lesser figure than an intern to present my strategic proposal for launching a new range of anti-aging products.
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Chapter 1 - Unit 1
It was an absolute disaster.

I was extremely nervous: on my third slide the marketing
director asked me how I had calculated the segments I was
presenting, and I got completely blocked. Blank. Standing
in front of 14 eyes staring at me intensely. Like in a movie. As
my silence went on, an immense black hole was growing and
swallowing my contract. After that the presentation got better, but I left the room knowing that the impression I had left
was very bad And I didnt get the job.
Nevertheless, it was a valuable lesson, and after some time, experience and the preparation of this course, I understood that
I had made the 4 capital mistakes in a presentation.
The first one was an excess of confidence: I didnt prepare the
intervention. I had actively participated in the design of the
strategy and the slides, but I didnt know what to say in every
moment and I hadnt thought of the answers to the possible
questions I would be asked. I trusted my knowledge on the
subject, and I misjudged it sufficient to expound it. ERROR.
The first condition for a public intervention is that it has to be
thoroughly prepared, never improvised. Like the adagio says:
the best improvisation is the one that has been prepared to
the millimeter.
My second mistake was not to adapt both form and content to
my audience. The people watching that disastrous presentation were my superiors, with a much larger experience than I,
very exigent on details and with a much deeper knowledge on
the subject I was expounding.
The first condition

for a public
intervention
is that it has to
be thoroughly
prepared, never
improvised.
In other words, they were way over my head. A good deal of

my mistake was lack of preparation, thinking that I could just
get by with a decent presentation. When in reality, my audience was made of experts who expected (and demanded)
greater depth. Another crucial mistake!
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Chapter 1 - Unit 1
The second condition to consolidate a public intervention is

to understand and adapt to your audience. For instance, is it
colleagues youre going to speak to, or is it just general public
to which transmit a few ideas? In the first case, youre going
to use a proper slang. In the second case, using technical term
might grant you a loss of attention from half of your listeners.
My third mistake was the lack of objective. What was it that
I wanted to sell with that presentation? I whish I had asked
myself that question at the time, but I didnt. The result was
a linear presentation of my strategy, without highlighting the
key messages, nor emphasizing on any objective beyond sharing information. Because if you actually think about it, they
already knew my strategy, so my objective should have been
to yield an excellent impression. By not knowing my objective, it revealed itself as unreachable.
So, the third condition in any public intervention: be conscious of your goals and objectives.
And, to be over with the scourge, let me tell you about my fourth crucial mistake: not analyzing who I was for my audience.
This is as obvious as fundamental. You must ask yourself who
you are for your audience in order to understand their expectations and prejudices. Are you someone important to your
audience? Or are you just a necessary nuisance? Is it a weekly
meeting? Or are you a world-renowned speaker coming to a
congress?
The third condition

in any public
intervention:
be conscious of
your goals and
objectives.
If they are dying to see you, if you are Steve Jobs in Stanford,
you wont need that many seduction or adhesion elements,
for your audience is already seduced beforehand.
Nevertheless, if you are an intern doing a presentation in front
of her bosses, interrupting their meetings and most pressing
tasks You might as well try to use the first minutes to generate adhesion, and try to convince them that in reality, they are
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Chapter 1 - Unit 1
no completely wasting their precious time! I didnt do it myself but I learned a lot!
And it made me want to understand how to perform winner presentations, and that is what we are going to achieve
throughout this course.
Welcome again, and see you in next video!
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Chapter 1 - Unit 2
COURSE STRUCTURE
& PROMISE
How did I go from wanting to know how to make winning
presentation to crafting a course about it for 50.000 people!?
For example, this MOOC? Like every good story, it starts (and
ends) with people. In my case, I met them.
Together we have struggled through hours of script writing,
insane recording schedules, intense role playing and some technical issues. We closely worked with UPF and Prof Canovas as well as other external experts you will meet during the
course, to maximize your experience and guarantee the validation of your certificates.
Now lets make a recap of what this course will look like:
- First chapter will be about you as a speaker, your communication style and how to seduce the audience you are
addressing to.
- Then, we will move into two very hands on chapters:
chapter 2 will teach you 3 techniques to structure your
content and chapter 3 will help you write well, using all
you got to convey your messages to your audience.
- Fourth chapter is the anti-chamber of fifth: so it is all
about the rehearsal before the big day: actual techniques
and exercises to improve your tone, diction and speed.
And we will conclude with a bonus track on elevator pitchs and this is particularly relevant to get to the Barcelonian contest we mentioned in the teaser and that I will
explain further in couple of minutes
- Finally, the fifth chapter is all about your big day: the
delivery! We will show several visual examples of good
body language, teach you about the use of space, how to
get dressed or how to manage your stress. For this chapter we worked closely with theatre teachers to enhance
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Chapter 1 - Unit 2
your engagement and help you make the most of your
presentation.
This class will have homework and assignments and if you
successfully complete this course, you will receive a certificate of accomplishment stating how well you did on our class
that you can put in your resume.
Because making the most of your time is important, we had a
thought.
FACT 1: engagement is one of the major challenges in
MOOCs, less than 10% of people signing up finish their
courses.
FACT 2: MOOCs business model stands on certification;
and thats why we offer you a 99 USD certificate
FACT 3: we stay motivated for different reasons, amongst
others, the promise of a reward.
So we took these three facts and brainstormed and brainstormed and brainstormed some more and we came up with the
First Homuork Elevator Pitch Contest that will take place in
Barcelona next spring. Now, who can participate? Every person who will complete and certificate this course will be invited to visit us in Barcelona o that we can all meet in an adapted
TEDx contest to check your public speaking habilities after
this course!
Having said this, it is super important for us to understand
if we are missing something, if we can adapt and respond to
specific questions, if you are looking for something that you
miss in the structure I just explained. So please, tell us what
are your expectations for this course? What would you like to
learn? What do you think would help you present better next
time? Speaking of time it is up: heres a timer and an invitation to post your comments on the forum!
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Chapter 1 - Unit 3.1
COMMUNICATIVE
STYLES OF YOUR
AUDIENCE
Today I want to talk to you about relational styles. What are
relational styles?
Relational style brings together a number of features that define how a person communicates with another. Each of us has
different communication needs. It seduces us for different
reasons.
Precisely for that reason, it is a key point in the communicative relationship: if we are able to adapt to the relational style of
our interlocutor, it will be much easier to convince them.
We believe that there are four major relational styles: the efficient, the detail-oriented, the visual and the trusting.
For this part we are using several different communicative
models as a basis and it allows us to establish these four profiles stemming from two axes which show whether we are more
active or reflective, communicators and whether we tend
towards being more rational or emotional.
If we are able
to adapt to the
relational style of
our interlocutor, it
will be much easier
to convince them.
As you can see on the screen, these two dimensions define the
four quadrants that result in the most common relational profiles.
Lets do it!
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PROFILES
Lets start with the efficient ones. Where would you place
them?
Thats right: in the upper right quadrant, the efficient are rational and action people.
They are very executive profiles, who need little information
to make decisions. The efficient person is brave, decisive,
competitive and direct and on their most negative side can
actually become aggressive and controlling, with a tendency to be brusque or even arrogant. Big company executives,
politicians and doctors tend to belong to the efficient profile
category, people who know how to take decisions quickly in
uncertain and changing environments.
However, how do we communicate with someone with an
efficient profile?
The efficient person does not want the details; they want the
key information in the shortest time possible. They will give
you five minutes to convince them. If you havent managed to
win them over in five minutes with the key data they want to
hear, youll lose them. To illustrate this in a very graphic way,
an efficient likes ideas to be presented using Power Point:
they want headings and the big numbers of the message. If
they get excited by the headings, they will give you more time
and will go on listening. If you dont win them over quickly,
youll lose them.
The efficient
person does not
want the details;
they want the key
information in
the shortest time
possible.
Now lets move on to the active / reflective axis to see the detail-oriented person. The detail-oriented profile is rational
and reflexive.
They want as many details as possible and require a lot of information to make decisions. A detail-oriented person is a
perfectionist, patient and prudent, something which on the
negative side makes them someone inflexible and indecisi-
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ve. In a professional setting, engineers and financiers usually
meet this profile.
How do we approach them?
If you have to present something to them, use Excel, and be careful with the smallest details, because they also want to know
them before being convinced. With the detail-oriented, you
need to respond to their objections and reservations.
Remember: this is someone rational and reflexive. Give them
time and information and they will be yours.
Lets now look at its antithesis: the visual. To do so, were
going to move about in the two axes. The visual is an active
and emotional profile.
What you need in your communication is emotion and seduction. They need to feel it to be convinced, the visual easily sees
what youre explaining and makes decisions based on projections. They are driven by images and ideas, so your best option to present anything to them will be by using Prezi.
And youll see that youve convinced them when their gaze
drifts off and they murmur I see, I see ...
Also, youll recognize them as outgoing, expressive, effusive
and communicative. On their negative side, they tend to be
somewhat exaggerated, hasty and even excitable. You will
find many profiles of this type among advertisers, designers
and architects.
They need to feel

it to be convinced,
the visual easily
sees what youre
explaining and
makes decisions
based on
projections.
Lets go on to our fourth profile: the trusting. The trusting

person is emotional and reflective. The person who meets
the trusting profile is persevering, loyal and conciliatory but
could, on their most negative side, go so far as to be someone
over-sensitive and indecisive.
With the trusting you need to earn their trust. They dont buy
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a product, they buy the person behind it, and so just by trusting you theyll be yours. So dont go using Power Points, they
are Word people who want to be seduced slowly and carefully. Just to give you a visual image of them, think of teachers or
social workers; they are often trusting profiles.
ILLUSTRATION OF PROFILES: PARTY EXAMPLE
I want to give you a very simple example: think of organising
a party. How do you think each of these profiles reacts to the
possibility of organizing a party?
With the trusting

you need to earn
their trust. They
dont buy a product,
they buy the person
behind it, and so
just by trusting you
theyll be yours.
Im choosing a specific non-professional example so that you

can see how relational styles affect each and every one of the
conversations that we may have. Lets take a look at it!
ALEXANDRA
Im thinking of organizing a party
EFFICIENT
Any idea when? For my part fantastic, count me in!
DETAIL-ORIENTED
A party? What a good idea? And who would come, just a select few or a big party? Have you thought about a theme? A
dinner party, or just drinks? Will you do it at home or do you
have an idea of the sort of venue youd like? And the music ...
DJ, or shall we bring iPods? Do we organise it through Facebook or email?
VISUAL
Good idea! What do you have in mind? Something similar to
the party we went to last year at Johns place in fancy dress?!
Do you remember them bringing out the ice cream at 3 o clock
in the morning? We should do something like that!
TRUSTING
Would you organise it? Count me in.
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REINFORCING ITS APPLICABILITY
In this example we have seen very marked and drastic profiles,
but it is important to understand that almost nobody has such
a marked profile. As children we all tend towards one style
over another, but it is not an absolute and constant behaviour
pattern.
The relevance of this exercise is to learn to identify which profile our interlocutor is closest to in order to be able to adapt to
their emotional and informational needs. For communicative
success, the key is not in knowing yourself and what you are
like, but in knowing what the other person is like in order to
choose the right focus depending on each interlocutor.
We have seen
very marked and
drastic profiles, but
it is important to
understand that
almost nobody
has such a marked
profile.
To recap, Ill finish off with the takeaways from this lesson:
- If you are dealing with an interlocutor who, for the most
part, is an efficient interlocutor, you will have to convince them using a guiding idea and the minimum relevant
information. With the example weve seen, its enough
for them to know that its a party. Uncertainty doesnt
bother them.
- On the other hand, well provide the detail-oriented
with all the details: whos coming, what time the party
is, where its being held, whos organising it, the music
theyre going to play. If you are patient, prepare them an
Excel to invite them to the party.
- The visual, as we have seen, needs to be seduced. Suggest
images to them and evoke emotions in them by reminding
them of previous parties. They will go about building up
an imaginary party in their mind and will decide based on
their own particular movie. They require lots of suggestion.
- And as for the trusting, carry them with you. If they
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trust you, theyll join the party, however, not because of
the party, but because of who invites them. They will get
involved if you are committed to winning their trust.
In short, communication is a matter of empathy; its a matter
of knowing how to read the other. If we learn to adapt the information, tone and language to our partner, we will be half
way there.
APPLICABILITY IN MULTIPLE AUDIENCES

But what happens when we have multiple audiences? Often
you will find yourself before a group with very different profiles. An efficient in the front row, a visual in the second, the
detail-oriented one at the back taking notes and the trusting
one in one corner of the stage.... What do we do in these cases?
Try to give each one what they need. You have to work at all
the styles to meet the needs of each.
Communication
is a matter of
empathy; its a
matter of knowing
how to read the
other.
Following on with the example of our party, you must give

each one what they need: a heading for the efficient one, an
evocation for the visual, a little treat from the pantry for the
detail-oriented and... a hug for the trusting one.
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PERSONAL
COMMUNICATIVE
AUDIT - EXERCICE
In the last video we saw the different relational styles that exist
and the communicative implications to take into account.
In this video Ill explain in detail how to analyse others to
maximize the chances of effective communication. But as
I said, in order to analyse others, the first requirement is to
analyse oneself and learn to recognize which communicative
style corresponds to us, so well start with ourselves.
INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION AUDIT
To start with, a very easy exercise: think about what people in
your personal or work environment convince or seduce you
most easily and how they do it. Who are they and how they
make you feel at ease. Also, think about who unnerves you.
In order to analyse
others, the first
requirement is to
analyse oneself
and learn to
recognize which
communicative
style corresponds
to us.
If you find it difficult to work with these guidelines, which are

quite general and vague, youre probably not inclined towards
an efficient or visual profile. Now here are some questions to
help you get the right answers.
- Are you convinced by the details and specificity of the
information?
- Are you convinced by evocative ideas?
- Are you convinced by the trust your interlocutor creates
in you?
Are you convinced by a powerful and seductive heading?
Thats an excellent starting point to understand what relational style you are closest to. But lets see in depth what you
should look into to complete a thorough personal communication audit.
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AREAS OF ANALYSIS
One should proceed in accordance with two areas: one which
is more technical and the other one, more interpersonal.

The first area, more technical, comprises 3 concepts:

The first is verbal ability, which refers to rhetoric, that is, to
what we say and how we say it.
The second one is vocal ability. This second area includes elements such as paralanguage, tone, pace, elocution, voice pitch
or speech speed.
And the third is non-verbal ability, which involves elements
such as gestures, expressiveness or items like clothing, accessories, and if youre a woman, also jewelry and makeup.
The second area of analysis for the communication audit has
to do with interpersonal issues. In my view, there are essentially seven characteristics that must be considered.
One: Listening ability.
Two: the level of assertiveness. This is an important concept
but little known. Someone is assertive when he or she acts and
speaks based on facts and goals. They allow their environment to grow and develop: they ask for what they need, say
what they think and express what they feel with respect.
Three: empathy. Empathy is the cognitive ability to perceive
what another individual may feel, an essential quality when it
comes to modulating our speech according to the reactions of
others.
Four: the ability to be self-critical.
Empathy, an
essential quality
when it comes to
modulating our
speech according
to the reactions of
others.
Five: emotional balance. Our communication will vary de-
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pending on our emotional state. In a period of high stress or
sadness, with regard to times of joy and optimism, we have a
very different expressivity that we should be able to identify
and modulate depending on the audience.
Six: the ability to manage conflict and disagreements. Analyze how you respond to a confrontation? Does it motivate you,
excite you and intimidate you?
Seven: aggressiveness when talking. This is determined by
factors like your need to control, your arrogance, your level
of self-confidence or your competitiveness. This parameter is
possibly the most difficult to do on your own, you can ask for
help from someone close to you or do it in a group by hanging
out with some of your colleagues, in order to audit each other
mutually.
In a period of high
stress or sadness,
with regard to
times of joy and
optimism, we have
a very different
expressivity that
we should be
able to identify
and modulate
depending on the
audience.
PRACTICAL EXERCISE
So much for the theory. Now I invite you to download the test
that we have prepared so that you do a personal communication audit on yourselves, in which you will have to evaluate the
different aspects that we have discussed here. With this test
you will have a rough idea of your relational style.
For it to work best and for you to see yourselves with distance and perspective, I recommend you record yourselves using
the camera from the computer explaining something that
is close to you to someone you spend a lot of time with. For
example, record yourself trying to explain to your father a
problem you have at work. Or take your partner and pretend
that youre trying to convince him / her to go on holiday to
Thailand next summer.
Once you have the recording, press play and try to analyze
your level of aggressiveness, your level of listening to their answers, your rhetorical ability, and the intensity of your movements and expressiveness of your paralanguage.
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Between what you see in the video and what you know intuitively from your levels of empathy, assertiveness, etc. ... youll
have enough information to complete the test and know a little more about how you communicate with others.
Have fun!
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Discover your
communicative
style test
efficient
detail-oriented
visual
trusting
discover your communicative style
test
1. Youre on a trip with your friends. You are being told how the day will proceed. When do
you stop listening?

a. As soon as I can picture more or less how the day will look like
b. As soon as I know if I will have to do something
c. Stop listening?! I dont, my friends are talking!
d. I stay focused, I dont want to miss anything.
2. At work, when you assign a task to someone in your team

a. You try to explain the context, the reason why this task is important and the objectives
related to it to be sure they will complete it (on time!)
b. You explain what type of output you expect, that should be enough
c. You are sure they will complete it, you are the boss after all
d. You briefly mention the context and who can assist them if needed
3. Its dinner time and you are thinking about cooking something

a. You pick a recipe by taking the time to read the ensemble of ingredients and tools you
will need as well as the steps required
b. You look online for bloggers you know and bingo!
c. You google what to eat tonight?, click on the first appealing link you see and start
cooking

f. You google food images, choose something appelaing and try to make something
similar with what you have in your fridge
4. When you plan for a big trip

a. You base your choices on peoples recommendations
b. You take the time to read webs, blogs and guides to fully grasp the country you are
about to visit before taking any decisions on the route you will do
test
c. You picked that destination because your close friend went there last year and
loved it
d. I dont plan for a trip, I buy a ticket and the rest will follow
5. You need a watch, how do you choose one?

a. You have been thinking about it for a long time and have a clear idea of what you
want it to look like
b. You more or less know what you want but trust the person at the store will help you
make the final decision
c. You go in the store and pick the one you saw the other day one someones
wrist and liked
d. You just need a watch any will do
6. You are preparing for an important presentation for work. Your slides are:

a. Big titles, few concepts. It is enough to support your speech
b. Detailed sentences and explanatory texts to help your allocution
c. Mostly images to guide your explanation
d. There is not a clear pattern, your boss likes to use different resources and
so do you
7. You want to tell your friends about an interesting article you read the other day

a. Before talking about the article, you tell them in which newspaper you found it and
mention other articles you found interesting in the past
b. You tell them you read this great article and what the main insight was
c. You brought the article with you and hand it to them as you speak
d. You ask them their opinion about the topic of the article
So, what profile do you match more? Check your answers in the following pages
solutions
1. Youre on a trip with your friends. You are being told how the day will proceed. When do
you stop listening?

a. As soon as I can picture more or less how the day will look like VISUAL
b. As soon as I know if I will have to do something EFFICIENT
c. Stop listening?! I dont, my friends are talking! TRUSTING
d. I stay focused, I dont want to miss anything. DETAIL
2. At work, when you assign a task to someone in your team

a. You try to explain the context, the reason why this task is important and the objectives
related to it to be sure they will complete it (on time!) DETAIL
b. You explain what type of output you expect, that should be enough VISUAL
c. You are sure they will complete it, you are the boss after all TRUSTING
d. You briefly mention the context and who can assist them if needed EFFICIENT
3. Its dinner time and you are thinking about cooking something

a. You pick a recipe by taking the time to read the ensemble of ingredients and tools you
will need as well as the steps required DETAIL
b. You look online for bloggers you know and bingo! TRUSTING
c. You google what to eat tonight?, click on the first appealing link you see and start
cooking EFFICIENT
f. You google food images, choose something appelaing and try to make something
similar with what you have in your fridge VISUAL
4. When you plan for a big trip

a. You base your choices on peoples recommendations VISUAL
b. You take the time to read webs, blogs and guides to fully grasp the country you are
about to visit before taking any decisions on the route you will do DETAIL
solutions
c. You picked that destination because your close friend went there last year and
loved it TRUSTING
d. I dont plan for a trip, I buy a ticket and the rest will follow EFFICIENT
5. You need a watch, how do you choose one?

a. You have been thinking about it for a long time and have a clear idea of what you
want it to look like DETAIL
b. You more or less know what you want but trust the person at the store will help you
make the final decision TRUSTING
c. You go in the store and pick the one you saw the other day one someones
wrist and liked VISUAL
d. You just need a watch any will do EFFICIENT
6. You are preparing for an important presentation for work. Your slides are:

a. Big titles, few concepts. It is enough to support your speech EFFICIENT
b. Detailed sentences and explanatory texts to help your allocution DETAIL
c. Mostly images to guide your explanation
d. There is not a clear pattern, your boss likes to use different resources and
so do you TRUSTING
7. You want to tell your friends about an interesting article you read the other day

a. Before talking about the article, you tell them in which newspaper you found it and
mention other articles you found interesting in the past DETAIL
b. You tell them you read this great article and what the main insight was EFFICIENT
c. You brought the article with you and hand it to them as you speak VISUAL
d. You ask them their opinion about the topic of the article TRUSTING
Chapter 2 - Unit 1
MEET YOUR AUDIENCE

Have you ever been in a presentation where you cannot understand what the speaker is talking about? Or elsewise, have
you stopped listening because they are taking too long explaining concepts that are basic to you? This usually happens
when the speaker hasnt taken the time to analyze his/her audience.
Before a presentation, you need to know a few features about
your audience:
- How much do they know? How much do they ignore
about the matter youre talking about?
- Do I need to brief them and contextualize the subject?
- What are they expecting from me?
- How do I adapt to them?
The answers to these questions shall determine the way you
are to approach the subject in front of your audience.
When the people you are to speak to know little about the subject - especially if it is a quite technical one you must simplify
your explanations in order to find a common denominator. In
these situations a useful tool consists in relating the topic to a
more general matter - sports, for instance for your audience
might find easier to grasp the meaning through the analogy.
On the contrary, you may find yourself in front of an audience
that knows better than you, in front of your bosses, for instance. What to do? You must use the most accurate language and
try to be as precise as you can.
When the people

you are to speak
to know little
about the subject
you must simplify
your explanations
in order to
find a common
denominator.
In case you do not know who is listening, you should adapt

your speech to a heterogeneous audience. There are 6 personality types that generally predominate in people:
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Chapter 2 - Unit 1
-Impulsiveness
- Patience
- Shyness
- Anxiety
- Optimism
- Pessimism
Taking this into account, one can include communicative elements throughout his or her speech in order to seduce or persuade each and every one of these personality types. We will
give each of them what they want. Lets see a practical example by using a unique resource: managing the Question time in
a public intervention. What are we to do?
- For instance, at the start of your speech, let the audience
know that you are open to their questions. Thus, you will
satisfy the impulsive type.
One can include

communicative
elements
throughout his
or her speech in
order to seduce or
persuade each and
every one of these
personality types.
- What about the anxious type? How do we calm him/

her? Bringing up an open question from the very beginning. This personality type needs to feel as an active part
of the situation. By asking the audience, the anxious type
is more like to feel integrated in the interaction, making
easier for you to persuade him.
- Lets talk about the shy ones. The strategy with them is
very similar to the one for the anxious type. He or she may
need you to generate questions for the whole audience to
answer. For instance, All of you who think the answer is
X or Y, please raise your hand. This way, you are helping
them to express their thoughts without fear, as well as, to
feel integrated.
- Lets go on with the optimist type: you have to convince him that the best is yet to come. For instance, by promising him that the ins and outs of the subject you are
presenting - there are always details to explain when you
are the expert will be answered and explained after the
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Chapter 2 - Unit 1
Question Time. This is a way to make him keep his expectations.
- What about the opposite? What to do with the pessimistic type? You got to bring on a negative contrapuntal
to your speech: like a rhetorical question that leads to a
pessimistic perspective on the subject you are presenting. This strategy should make them agree and enjoy the
confirmation of his pessimistic conception.
- Weve kept the patient type for last. You dont have to
worry too much about them. Give them time to write
down their questions in their notebooks, so when you
open the Question Time they can solve all their doubts.
This is only one example, and all about the same resource: the
use of questions. Obviously, there are many more techniques
at hand, but the main objective here is for you to take in account the different emotional types that you may encounter
in an audience, so you are able to fill their needs and be persuasive from the very beginning.
Its key to search for the audiences feedback during your
speech in order to make sure that you are achieving your goals.
You can either be explicit: Have you understood the concept
I just explained? Or implicit, by observing peoples reaction
to what we are saying.
The main objective

here is for you to
take in account the
different emotional
types that you may
encounter in an
audience.
We shouldnt be afraid of asking our audience whether they

understood what has been said. Its not a sign of insecurity,
but rather the opposite: your audience will perceive your concern for them, and yield a greater engagement.
Page 3/4
Chapter 2 - Unit 1
SEBASTIAN LORA:
When we look at our audience, we read fundamentally its
body language. And we want them to smile, to eye contact
with us, to take notes and if they nod their heads to what we
are saying then its just awesome. But of course, a lot of times
we archive just the opposite: they dont look at us, they get distracted, they dont smile, make funny faces, cross their arms
What can we do in this situation in order to recover our audience attention?
Look for conversation, because when we converse we dont
have that pace all the time. We loud out our voice and be speak
quietly, we speak fast and slowly, in conclusion: sound natural,
dynamic, and authentic and that hooks and grabs the audience attention. In second place, it also happens, mainly in work
presentations, that we only talk about theory. And as interesting as a subject could be, when we only talk about theory our
audience gets bored anyway.
What can we do in this case? To get our audience attention
back?
Modify the rhythm, and we modify the rhythm alternating
theory, personal stories, examples, practical cases, visual resources and interaction with the audience. When we see that
our audience is not paying attention. We can throw a question
to be answered at the moment, and immediately the energy is
regenerated and we grab their attention again.
When we see
that our audience
is not paying
attention. We can
throw a question
to be answered
at the moment,
and immediately
the energy is
regenerated and we
grab their attention
again.
Page 4/4
PREP TECHNIQUE 1
THE 6 WS
I would like to tell you about the preparation method of a
good presentation. Like Ive said before, the only improvisation that works is the one that has been prepared beforehand.
Never, never, never trust pure improvisation.
In the next three units (including this one), well go over three
different methods for content preparation. They are not exclusive so they can be used complementarily, especially because they have both different purposes and approaches.
Well start with the 6 Ws Method, that will help you answer
the 6 basic questions a journalist must answer when writing
news: the What, Who, Where, When, Why and How of your
presentation, in order to bear all the features of your intervention in mind.
The only
improvisation
that works is
the one that has
been prepared
beforehand.
You must answer the 6 Ws on a blank sheet:

What am I to expound in this public intervention?
How am I going to do it?
Whom am I presenting it to?
When do I have to do it?
Where is it going to take place?
Why am I intervening?
Knowing the conditions of your presentation will help you
prepare the receptor and also to modulate your expressiveness accordingly.
Lets see an example to understand the use of this method:
imagine that you are asked to give a conference about a subject of your expertise, before a devoted audience at a European congress about that precise matter in Budapest.
Page 1/3

Well, lets set out the 6 questions:
What am I to expound in this public intervention?
- My last paper on the subject there shouldnt be any problems with that.
How am I going to do it?
- Online. Their budget is not large enough to fund the trip so
the conference will be streamed on giant screens in the room
Ive never given an online conference, so Ill have to adapt
my speech, my body-language, the tone and the expression to
this new situation.
Whom am I presenting it to?

- To a devoted audience, since they are experts and they are interested in the subject, but How many interventions might
they have heard before mine? Ill have to take that into account.
When do I have to do it?
- At 2pm. Hum Thats right after lunchtime How to make
sure that my audience doesnt fall asleep? Moreover, not being
physically there makes it a bigger challenge!
Where is it going to take place?
- At my place? At my office? On the street? I could be anywhere with a wi-fi connected computer, right? Which scenario
should I choose? This an important matter to think about
when preparing the intervention.
Why am I intervening?
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- Because I wrote a paper and Im an expert it shouldnt be
a problem.
By answering these 6 questions, you have identified the sources of complexity youll be facing, and you have a clearer idea
of what you should be focusing on in order to ensure the success of your presentation. In other words, you know the problems that may arise during your intervention, and its easy
for you to anticipate their solutions.
Page 3/3
PREP TECHNIQUE 2.
VISUAL MAPPING
Lets see the second speech preparation method Id like to tell
you about. Unlike the 6 Ws method, this one focuses more on
the content of the speech than on the elements that surround
it.
Its a visual map. Its based on the visual structure of the contents that are to be presented. It consists in drawing the flow
of your intervention. This technique is especially useful for
people who have a very clear idea of what they want to say,
but find it hard to structure the speech and its arguments coherently.
A few months ago, a friend of mine asked me to help him prepare a presentation in a business school in front of a hundred
students, about his start-up company. He knows his company
by heart, so he sent me a speech, and I swear I didnt even
understand its corporate purpose! It was a Word document
with a thousand words and there was no way of understanding how his company made money And hes a brilliant guy
but he has obvious difficulties when it comes to structuring
a speech. So I used the mapping visual technique with him
And this was the result.
This technique is
especially useful
for people find it
hard to structure
the speech and
its arguments
coherently.
As you can see on the screen, in the case of Rafa, we started

with a diagram with the name of the company, here Rafaels
Company. From there, we went on with conceptual tags in order to weave the speech: the purpose of the company, its history, the promise, the team, and the business general outlines.
Once this first layer was drawn, we went deeper and tried to
define a second layer: how is the team structured? What are
the business outlines 1, 2, 3, etc.?
The final result is shown here on the screen: a visual map
Page 1/2

of how the presentation had to be structured. Writing the
speech from there was way easier.
Because once the concepts are clear to you, its easier to give
them textual content. Doing this also allows you to make sure
that youre not forgetting anything. Actually, it is proven that
using this method, speakers tend to use more the key concepts
than with other preparation methods. In a way, this has to do
with the design thinking, visual shape, and the tree-shaped
structures of the network architecture.
It is proven that
using this method,
speakers tend to
use more the key
concepts.
Its an organizational method; it doesnt have phases to go

through, so its just a starting point for the preparation of
your speech. Once you have the map, the rest is simple! The
hard part in this exercise (you should try it) is to categorize
the elements of your speech, in order to know which are the
most and the least important. I usually tick my map every time
I mention one of the concepts in my speech.
Thank you for your attention!!
Page 2/2
PREP TECHNIQUE 3.
THE COMMUNICATION
CIRCLE
Lastly, I want to present you a more structural method for ordering your content: the Communication Circle. Its purpose
is to help you organize the time of your intervention, based on
the four steps that form every speech: opening, positioning,
argumentation, and closure.
Thus, you can see on the screen how much time you should
dedicate to each of these steps in the case of a 30-minute intervention:
- 2 to 4 minutes for the opening phase
- 3 to 5 minutes for the positioning phase
- 18 to 22 minutes for to the argumentation
- 2 to 5 minutes for the closure
It is very recommendable to keep these proportions for any
given duration.
Lets start with the Opening. Like I said, it should take about
10% of the total duration of your presentation. This is the
phase you have to use to connect with the audience. To do so,
youll have to include 3 elements:
The
Communication
Circle purpose is to
help you organize
the time of your
intervention.
- One: a bait to get the publics attention and generate an

expectation on what you are going to say. Think of it as a
promise. For instance: in the next 30 minutes I am going
to tell you how to get rich. Now, be very careful with
what you promise them, because youll have to live up to
it! Another useful bait is to tell a story that illustrates that
promise: like explaining how bad a certain public presentation was, right before starting a course about effective
presentations I guess you understand my point Youd
Page 1/4

be implying that youre promising them to improve in
that field.
- Two: place the content; that is to say, explain to your audience the purpose of what youve come to say. Its like
the abstract of a scientific article, a summary in two sentences of what is to come.
- Three: an important element that has to be included in
the Opening is the presentation of the structure of your
intervention. So its not about the what here, but rather
the how in your presentation. This helps the audience
a lot: you have to explain the stages of your speech. For
instance, if you are to present a Decalogue, state it clearly
from the beginning because it helps the listener to reconnect if he gets lost, or to know how long it will last!
The opening is the most important part in our intervention because that is when the audience decides whether its
going to pay you attention or not. It is key to rehearse well
the openings, because a good start makes the success of your
presentation more probable, whereas recovering from a bad
beginning is extremely hard. Moreover, from a psychological
perspective, a good start might help us a lot in keeping our
self-confidence, and grow from solid grounds.
Here are some examples to illustrate it:
The opening
is the most
important part in
our intervention
because that is
when the audience
decides whether
its going to pay you
attention or not.
An emotional and strong beginning: We should all be feminists [LINK]

A reference to the importance of being funny we will see in
the next chapter. Best Graduation Speech Ever! [LINK]
Moving on to the second step: the positioning. Its also a brief
phase, and its used to set your position about the central topic of your exhibition.
Page 2/4

Its the right time to show your proposition about the matter:
it could be your marketing strategy for the product that you
are selling, or the need of action against climate change, the
importance of changing the offside rule in football, sex of
the angels. What I want you to understand is that the subject really doesnt matter! Any presentation needs a proposition, a thesis, and its convenient to state it on an early stage
because people mistrust those who hide their point, and such
mistrust would surely lead to their disengagement.
In formal terms, positioning should be quick, simple and
without detours, and it should have a certain amount of brilliance. From a language perspective you should follow the
advice of Pla, a Spanish writer who used to say: the door is
green is the most perfect sentence. This is how the positioning should be expressed. For instance:
The strategy needs investment through digital channels.
We want to reduce the CO2 emissions
To remove the offside rule would improve the show
Or Angels have all sexes
Be clear, concise and brave in your positioning. Its your point,
and you are going to have to prove it.
And youll have to defend it in the third step of your speech:
argumentation. This phase, that should take around 20 minutes in a 30-minute intervention, presents the messages
and arguments of your exhibition. Be organized, its key for
the audience to follow. If the messages are complex, end each
block with a short summary. You have to bear in mind that this
is the stage in which the audience listens the least. Therefore,
we need to articulate mechanisms to make people connect,
to make them pay attention to us. We will give you tricks to
achieve this in the unit about connectors and resources, in the
next chapter.
Be clear, concise
and brave in your
positioning. Its
your point, and you
are going to have to
prove it.
Lastly, the last phase of the speech: the closure. Again, this stage is a short one, and it shouldnt take longer than 5 minutes in
Page 3/4

our 30-minute example. It is strategically essential because it
includes a recapitulation, which is useful to reinforce the key
concepts on one side, and allows those who got lost in the way
to catch up with the master lines of your intervention.
Besides summarizing, this stage should also include some
time for thanking and wrapping up. Finishing is very important because you wont have a second chance of saying goodbye And the farewell is the last imprint in your audiences
memory. Hollywood knows this very well. The end has to be
somewhat solemn, so the words must be chosen carefully in
order to leave a good taste in the mouth of your crowd.
Finishing is very
important because
you wont have a
second chance of
saying goodbye.
Share your examples of awesome beginnings and closures in

the forum with us!
Like in the opening, the closure needs a lot of training. Both
are the moments in which people will be listening most thoroughly. Think of a movie: its in the beginning and in the ending that youll find more iconic hooks, thats why it is very,
very, very important to introduce emotional elements at both
the initial and the final stages of your intervention.
I hope its clear enough! Dont hesitate in bringing up your
questions in the forum; either our team or the other students
will gladly answer them with different interpretations and
perspectives, and thats what we like about MOOCs, right?
Page 4/4
Chapter 2 - Unit 3
REASON & ARGUE OR

HOW TO WIN YOUR
BATTLE
So far weve gone through how to prepare the ideas of our intervention: now its time to work on your line of argument, on
the concatenation of arguments you are to use in order to support and present your propositions.
Lets start with the fundamentals. What is an argument? It is
the reason given in proof of a proposition to convince someone of something.
However, how does one measure the value of an argument?
An argument is good inasmuch as it is irrefutable.
This is a crucial point in the preparation of the arguments of
our intervention: you must be as objective as possible in the
presentation of your arguments. Such objectivity has a lot
to do with the content of the arguments, but also with their
form. Ill give you an example: you want to convince your
friends to go to the beach. A recurrent argument for that is the
weather. Its a beautiful day is a weak argument because of
its subjectivity. However, if you say, the sun is shining and the
thermometer marks 25 C this is not debatable and it wont
be refutable in formal terms.
You must be
as objective as
possible in the
presentation of
your arguments.
Arguments mustnt be questionable so the audience doesnt

have the capacity to confront our idea. You might have heard
many times the sentence: this is a fact, not an opinion in political debates. The objective is precisely not to give room for
a reply.
The second aspect to take in account when generating the
line of argument is the category of the argumentation: our ar-
Page 1/4
Chapter 2 - Unit 3
guments can be affective or rational.
So, we may resort to facts or thoughts in order to expound our
line of argument. Resorting to facts implies using solid arguments, acceptable and based on true and logical premises. For
instance:
- First Fact: all planets revolve around the sun
- Second Fact: Mars is a planet
- Conclusion: Mars revolves around the sun
Its a logical and factual argumentation and therefore, irrefutable.
When reason is not enough though, we must resort to emotions using persuasive arguments. Heres a classic example:
George W. Bushs speech justifying the military intervention
in Irak in 2003. The arguments, far from being factual, allude to a powerful emotion: fear. The argument of the war was
exactly: to defend the world from grave danger.
This is a purely emotional argument.
When reason
is not enough
though, we must
resort to emotions
using persuasive
arguments.
Lets see in more detail the different types of arguments that

derive from each of these two categories, which might help
you prepare the arguments of your presentation. We are
going to start with types of rational arguments:
1.) Reasoning through analogies: one establishes a similarity
between two concepts, beings or different things and then
deduces that what is true for one is true for the other. For instance The paintings found in Atapuerca are similar to the
ones found in Altamira. Therefore, they all belong to the same
culture.
2.) Reasoning through generalizations: starting from similar
facts, one generalizes a common proposition that is applied to
a new fact of the same type. Example: People who have night
jobs usually have a deficit of Vitamin D. Since Claudia works
Page 2/4
Chapter 2 - Unit 3
at night, she has to take a dietary supplement.
3.) Reasoning through signs: one uses signs or evidence to
establish the existence of an event. Example: this individual
shows malaise, feeling of cold, light fever, backache and muscular pain, pain in the throat and cough, and therefore has
acute bronchitis.
4.) Reasoning through causes: one establishes a causal relation between two facts that support the proposition. Example: James mother smoked during her pregnancy, this is why
he is so thin.
5.) Argument of Authority: one refers to an expert opinion on
a topic or to renowned characters to support the proposition.
Example: Like the European Central Bank explained, there
is going to be economic growth next year.
Now, lets go over the emotional arguments.
1.) Affective arguments: Like we said before, this kind of arguments is aimed at the audiences feelings, at their wishes, doubts, hopes and fears. Affective arguments wish to touch the
listener, or to provoke a sympathetic or a revulsive reaction
in him. Like we saw in the example of the war, the objective is
to achieve an emotional support. It is also widely used in fund
raising campaigns for diseases, referring to the fact that everyone is vulnerable to them. Lets see an example:
2.) Arguments through concreteness: for this type of arguments one uses examples with which the audience is familiar,
because they affect them directly. For instance: As parents,
we all know how tough it is to raise a child.
Affective
arguments wish to
touch the listener,
or to provoke a
sympathetic or a
revulsive reaction
in him or her.
3.) Arguments through trust: these arguments consist in supporting your cause with your past and your experience. For
example: if you are a union leader trying to convince your colleagues to support a strike, its convenient that you start off
Page 3/4
Chapter 2 - Unit 3
your intervention by highlighting your past experience as a
union member and your reputation. I, fellows, defend your
rights because
4.) Slogan Arguments: this type of argument is based on a saying or an adagio. One uses proverbs, clichs or sentences of
the popular culture in order to consolidate an argument. For
example, a classic: the end justifies the means.
5.) Mass Fetishism: its based on the idea that the majority is
right or just chooses whats correct. For example: Its an excellent movie, its the most watched of the year in USA.
6.) Use of prejudices: one argues for or against based on false stereotypes. It has been used to exhaustion in Politics. For
example: those who stood against womens or black peoples
right to vote used to argue that these people had a lesser intelligence.
I hope you find these tips useful to vertebrate your presentation and support your propositions.
Page 4/4
Chapter 3 - BONUS TRACK
ELEVATOR PITCH
Hello and welcome to this bonus track dedicated to the Elevator pitch!
We chose to add this unit in this rehearsal chapter for three
reasons:
a) It is a presentation in its shortest version, so you can
practice once and again
b) Everybody needs to sell a project from time to time,
and this is the first step
c) If done awesome, it has the potential to change your
lives!
Whats an elevator pitch and why is it important?
Elevator pitch is the term given to a 1 minute presentation,
which is the time it takes an elevator to go from the lobby to
the investors floor where the magic happens!
Let me get something clear: elevator pitchs are NOT a stand
alone act. What I mean by that is that you should not expect a
check when the elevator hits the top floor.
However, good elevator pitch has the potential of becoming
the prologue of a life changing conversation. Indeed, it is a seductive act: you want to get out of there letting your interlocutor with a flavor of your project and the interest of more.
A good elevator
pitch has the
potential of
becoming the
prologue of a
life changing
conversation.
For that, there are 5 steps you must follow :

1. Introduce yourself
Use one sentence to describe who you are: A quick greeting,

your name and role in the project you will present is often
enough.
Page 1/3

2. Explain what you do / how you do it
In 1-2 sentences, talk about what you do in your business. Be

super clear and concise using powerful words. You dont need
to give many examples, your explanation should be self-explanatory.
This is where you might want to introduce what your ultimate goal is or some market information to show the size of the
pie potential investors are facing.

3. Communicate your USP
Identify what makes you, your organization, or your idea, unique. Answer to the question what sets you apart from every
other business who do what you do? And dont be shy, starting
this part with what makes us unique is perfectly fine!

4. Call to action
You did this pitch for a reason right? No matter if you wanted
to snag an investment or gain a new client or employee, let
your goals be known. If you are raising money, communicate
how much you want and how much equity youre willing to
part with. If youre trying to win over an employee or a client,
let them know exactly what you want from them.

5. Practice
I know even I feel annoyed having told you this so many times but do it: with friends, in the shower, in your cars!
No matter if you
wanted to snag
an investment or
gain a new client or
employee, let your
goals be known.
Lets have a look at this elevator pitch and you tell me if you
think this guy hasnt practiced!
CrowdCases Offers a Socially Conscious Way to Protect
Your Smartphone
Page 2/3

So much said in so little, right? This pitch gave CrowdCases
the promise to complete their last USD 10k and strategic advice for product presentation!
If you guys are interested, record your 1min elevator pitch,
post it on youtube or your Twitter and share the link. Your
peers will give you feedback and you shall improve it. It is an
excellent exercise to improve your public presentation skills,
so go for it!
Page 3/3
fill the gap: connectors i
exercise
Complete these sentences with one of the following connectors: actually, although, but,
consequently, despite, in addition, namely, on the contrary, so, such as.
1. Aircraft engines are well maintained ............................ accidents are unavoidable.
2. ............................ the number of tourists visiting our country may fall next year, we expect
better spending rates.
3. There are plenty of inappropriate solutions to the current economic crisis, ............................
cutting down on public investments.
4. We have bought a new flat ............................ we cannot afford to go on holiday this summer.
5. They are very poor. ............................ , they dont have a cent in the bank.
6. The play was very boring ............................ we left after the first act.
7. He has to take photos of the places he visits. ............................ , hes keeping a diary of his
journey.
8. Not everybody thinks the building is ugly. ............................ , some people say it looks
marvellous.
9. Some companies, ............................ our own, think that employees well-being in the work
place is key to success.
10. ............................ being famous, she is not arrogant at all.
fill the gap: connectors ii
exercise
Complete these sentences with one of the following connectors: actually, although,
consequently, despite, in some respects, in the same way, instead, nonetheless, what is
more, yet.
Facebook has turned our personal and professional world upside-down.
............................ , we dont pick up the phone anymore but log onto our account and leave
messages on other peoples walls (who would have thought this would be socially accepted
one day!). ............................ , we dont talk our customers through the catalogue anymore;
............................ , we tell our friends and our friends friends about it on Facebook.
............................ , we have never been more connected than today, ............................ we dont
feel any closer to the hoards of friends we claim we have. ............................ befriending so
many, we continue seeing the same few. ............................ , we seem to have less time for
these because of the endless hours spent online, stalking on our virtual friends.
............................ many see in Facebook the end of face-to-face communication, ............................
we have never been more looked at than in the Facebook era. ............................ , the face we
look at is not the one we have but the one we like to show to the world. Keeping it straight is
not an easy task.
fill the gap: connectors i
solutions
Complete these sentences with one of the following connectors: actually, although, but,
consequently, despite, in addition, namely, on the contrary, so, such as.
1. Aircraft engines are well maintained but accidents are unavoidable.
2. Although the number of tourists visiting our country may fall next year, we expect better
spending rates.
3. There are plenty of inappropriate solutions to the current economic crisis, such as cutting
down on public investments.
4. We have bought a new flat. Consequently, we cannot afford to go on holiday this summer.
5. They are very poor. Actually, they dont have a cent in the bank.
6. The play was very boring so we left after the first act.
7. He has to take photos of the places he visits. In addition, hes keeping a diary of his journey.
8. Not everybody thinks the building is ugly. On the contrary, some people say it looks
marvellous.
9. Some companies, namely our own, think that employees well-being in the work place is
key to success.
10. Despite being famous, she is not arrogant at all.
fill the gap: connectors ii
solutions
Complete these sentences with one of the following connectors: actually, although,
consequently, despite, in some respects, in the same way, instead, nonetheless, what is
more, yet.
Facebook has turned our personal and professional world upside-down.
Consequently, we dont pick up the phone anymore but log onto our account and leave
messages on other peoples walls (who would have thought this would be socially accepted
one day!). In the same way, we dont talk our customers through the catalogue anymore;
instead, we tell our friends and our friends friends about it on Facebook.
In some respects, we have never been more connected than today, yet we dont feel any
closer to the hoards of friends we claim we have. Despite befriending so many, we continue
seeing the same few. What is more, we seem to have less time for these because of the
endless hours spent online, stalking on our virtual friends.
Although many see in Facebook the end of face-to-face communication, actually we have
never been more looked at than in the Facebook era. Nonetheless, the face we look at is
not the one we have but the one we like to show to the world. Keeping it straight is not an
easy task.
Chapter 3 - Unit 1
TELL A STORY,
THE PIXAR PITCH
For this video I have a special guest today. Lets hear to Jeremey Donovon, marketer and author of the book How to Deliver a TED Talk: Secrets of the Worlds Most Inspiring Presentations, stating the third condition of successful speakers.
JEREMEY:
The first thing I see, that makes a successful speech versus a
non-successful one, is a lot of the unsuccessful ones are very
left-brain. They throw a lot of facts and information at you,
but they dont have enough of a story component to them.
And I find that the most successful speeches, whether the
whole speech is a story, it doesnt have to be, or whether they
integrate some story content within the speech makes a huge
difference.
So, lets learn how to tell a story!

1. How to find your story?
What makes a
successful speech
versus a nonsuccessful one, is
that they throw
a lot of facts and
information at
you, but they dont
have enough of a
story component to
them.
The first thing you need is having clear whats the need message you want to transmit and from that point look into in your
past for a personal story that helps illustrate that message.
Finding a story is easier than we think, every interaction is
material for a story. Asking questions of yourself should help
you find a story:
- For instance, think of your greatest mentors, you might
have a story related to them that you can link with your
message
- Or what was your biggest success you ever had
- Or your biggest failure
- When were you the most embarrassed?
- Or the happiest?
Page 1/4
Chapter 1 - Unit 1
Every answer to those questions has a story in it that could
maybe match and illustrate your message. Your fundamental
epiphanies are the best material to find your story.

2. Now, second point : how to tell that story?
Ill give you a model that is called The Pixar pitch, like the movie studio. And it goes like a three act structure, like most stories, and each act has two pieces.
ACT 1
- The first Act goes on Once upon a time and everyday.
Thats the beginning of the story and in literature thats called
setting up the ordinary world, where you establish the rules,
the environment, who the protagonist is, its life, its flaws and
strengths
- Then this first part ends with the Until one day moment
which in literature we call the inciting incident, its something
that happens to the character, either inadvertedly or explicitly, something that he does
ACT 2
- Then act 2 picks up with the rising action which basically develops the action and goes in a dynamic of because of that, and
because of that, and because of that so whats happening in
the progression of act two is the reaction to what happened
at the end of act 1. Out of these action, it comes consequences
and in order to restore balance to their world, the protagonist
takes further action, often more and more dramatic.
- That progresses and goes on and on til we get to the until finally moment, which is the end of act 2, and its the dramatic
climax of the story.
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Chapter 1 - Unit 1
ACT 3
- Then you go into act 3 that begins with Since that day. Its a
point where they restore to theire original world and come in
a new state of staibility
- And then comes the end of the act 3, where you have the moral of the story.
So, let me recap the structure of your story.

1. Once upon a time and everyday
2. Until one day
3. Because of that
4. And because of that
5. Until finally
6. Since that day
And let me put you an ordinary example based on a TED talk
from Cynthia Koenig I saw recently and Im linking below in
case you want to see it.
1. Once upon a time and everyday. there was a water problem
in lots of third world communities, where girls were obliged
to spend their day walking 6 km in average with 20 liters on
their head to provide drinking water to their whole family.
This made girls unable to go to school, cause they didnt have
time, and caused severe health problems in their head, neck,
back and shoulders
2. Until one day a sustainable American company developed
a water wheel that resolved the problem and led these women
transport easily water
3. Because of that these women save 35 hours a week on
walks to get drinking water
4. And because of that men are taking responsibility on brin-
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Chapter 1 - Unit 1
ging water home cause using a tool is considered a man task,
and not a woman-only task anymore
5. Until finally little girls can go to school instead of going after water every morning.
6. Since that day drinking water is not a problem anymore in
some third world communities
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Chapter 3 - Unit 2
BE FUNNY
Theres many types of humor, the three most common that
exist in TED talks, that I think that are the three easiest to
use are the following: the most common that you find is selfdeprecating humor. And a good example of self-deprecating
humor is actually the Jill Bolte Taylor TED Talk. In that particular one, what she is doing is that, you know, she is making
fun of how much of a kind of super nerd she is.
In that moment my right arm went totally paralyzed by my
side, then I realized Oh my Gosh! Im having a stroke! Im having a stroke! Then the next thing my brain says to me is Wow
this is so cool! This is so cool. Ho many brain scientists have
the opportunity to study their own brain from the inside out?
And then it crosses my mind: but Im a very busy woman! I
dont have time for a stroke!
So theres a surprise element there is the laughing you would
expect someone to say while they are having a stroke but you
get this self-deprecated humor there because she is a neuroscientist.
This opportunity to study her stroke from the inside out is
actually this fascinating thing. And in what is an incredibly
tragic event thats happening in her life she finds the humor
and actually gets an uproarious laugh on the audience. The
one thing I want people about self deprecating humor is make
sure that the humor is not something that undermines the
authority on you on the subject in what you are speaking. So
her being a super nerd about being a neuroscientist is self-deprecating on one level but that is not undermine her authority
of being a neuroscientist talking about what its like to have a
stroke. So just be very very careful that your self-deprecated
humor does not undermine your authority on the subject.
Make sure that your

self-deprecated
humor does not
undermine your
authority on the
subject.
The second form of humor is to put an extraordinary person

in an ordinary situation or to put an ordinary person in an ex-
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Chapter 3 - Unit 2
traordinary situation. So by way of example there I think that
the most view TED Talk about time is Sercain Robinson and
Sir Ken does his speech. His speech is funny throughout but
he does his one particular vignette that I love which he takes
Shakespeare, he takes an extraordinary person and he puts
Shakespeare into ordinary situations.
You dont think of Shakespeare having a father, do you? Do
you? Because you dont think of Shakespeare being a child, do
you? Shakespeare being seven? I never thought of it. I mean,
he was seven at some point. He was in somebodys English
class, wasnt he? How annoying would that be? Must try harder. Being sent to bed by his dad, you know, to Shakespeare,
Go to bed, now,to William Shakespeare, and put the pencil
down. And stop speaking like that. Its confusing everybody.
So you know in that TED Talk youve got this extraordinary
character in an ordinary situation that comes off as extremely
funny.
The third form of humor that I find very very prevalent in
TED Talks is to some how undermine authority. Television
comedy does a lot of that sort of thing, especially television
talk shows or late night television. And there my favorite TED
for example is the TED speaker Hans Rosling. He is European
he does talk about his talk is fundamentally about global
health. And at one point he talks about the study he did.
The problem for me was not ignorance; it was preconceived
ideas.
I did also an unethical study of the professors of the Karolinska Institute -- that hands out the Nobel Prize in Medicine, and
they are on par with the chimpanzee there.
Youve got this

extraordinary
character in an
ordinary situation
that comes off as
extremely funny.
So there you are taking people in a position of great authority and making them look no better than chimpanzees. Which
again he gets a big laugh about it.
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Chapter 3 - Unit 2
So those are the three forms. I recommend the people do at
least, try to get at least if you go to a TED talk you have to get a
laugh in per minute. The highest TED Talks is tend to be two
laughs per minute. And you dont really see much beyond that
because stand-up comedy which is four or more per minute,
you loose narrative structure and you loose the ability to persuade people if you loose the narrative and becomes too funny.
A question I often get is that applicable into business situation, and the answer is: No of course not. If you were delivering a persuasive business presentation and got a laugh per
minute somebody would think that you werent serious. And
that wasnt right, so, that said if you are extremely confortable in a situation, if its a situation with executive leadership
to have a laugh here and there thrown down to light the situation if there is room for that. Then, if its tasteful then go for
it. Theres no reason to be all serious at work all the time. But
just make sure again that it doesnt undermine your authority.
So context, whit all these rules and suggestions that I have
context is incredibly important.
To get a laugh in per

minute. A question
I often get, is that
applicable into
business situation?
And the answer is:
No of course not.
It has to do with authenticity. I think thats a new, an important home mark, of successful speaking, and its the final home
mark that I really think is important to understand. Which is
I spent the first ten years, now nearly twenty-year journey
learning about public speaking. And in that first ten years I
was really learning the technique and I got so lost of the technique of what to do with your hands and how to move and
how to think about vocal variety and how to construct narrative and humor and all the rest. And I got really lost in the technical detail of it.
Then one day I realized that I had become a little overly mechanical about it. And all I washed away and started to think:
Okay, rather than calculating Im saying that, my face needs to
do that, I just said: Im just going to have an authentic conver-
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Chapter 3 - Unit 2
sation with the audience. And Im going to think of that audience as one person that I really really care about. And I want
to give them some information or an idea that will help affective life in a positive way. And I want to feel the emotions of
the stories that Im telling. And I want to feel passion for the
ideas that I have. And if I just feel that in a loud that to come
through then I can give, hopefully, a very successful speech in
a way that, again, success is not about me its not about being
respected as an authority, its not about what people think of
me, none of that matters.
What success is that you gave someone the idea you want to
give them or you persuaded them to make a decision that is for
the benefit of them and for the benefit of other people. And if
you merely allow yourself to be authentic, in that way, if you
merely allow yourself to feel the emotions positive and negative that you are feeling. What you do with your voice, and
your body, and your hands and the way you communicate will
be transformed. Think, ask yourself: how can I find that part
of me again. That is already inside of my and let that come out
in your speaking.
If you merely
allow yourself to
be authentic, to
feel the positive
and negative
emotions that you
are feeling, what
you do with your
voice, body, hands
and the way you
communicate will
be transformed.
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WRITE WELL
Lets make a checklist of what we have achieved at this stage
of the course:
- We know our communication style
- We know methods for structuring the ideas of our presentation
- We have arguments that support our propositions
- We have a story to weave our thesis through
Weve reached a stage dreaded my many: its time to write
your presentation. Many think its not necessary But they
are wrong. In fact, at the TED talks, youre not allowed to do
a presentation without a written speech. So the Public Speaking Mecca establishes writing as a condition. Lets follow
their example.
The first step will be to draw the argumentative lines of your
intervention, a road map. For this first phase of content structuring, the most useful technique you can use is the one based
on the visual sketches and the conceptual maps we went over
in the last chapter.
Take a piece of paper and a pen and start breaking down and
hierarchizing the ideas and the contents of your intervention.
So now we have both the ideas and the thematic thread. Time
to start writing sentence by sentence.
First rule about the sentence!
You must retain two crucial recommendations about the sentences you are to use in a public presentation:
For this first

phase of content
structuring,
the most useful
technique you
can use is the one
based on the visual
sketches and the
conceptual maps.
- A sentence must be short, no longer than 20-25 words

(this number may change for English speakers)
- One sentence must contain a single idea
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These two parameters are fundamental for the information
transfer to be effective.
Just a warning about the length of your sentences:
1. Dont be systematic. Its important to alternate short
sentences with longer ones in order to avoid sounding
monotonous to your audience.
For instance: I have a dream. The legendary
speech by Martin Luther King. He links a short
sentence, I have a dream with a long one explaining each idea. By the way, this resource of using
the same sentence several times is called anaphora, and its very useful to make the listener reconnect with our speech, since it announces the upcoming of a new idea.
Its important to
alternate short
sentences with
longer ones in order
to avoid sounding
monotonous to
your audience.
Beyond that, heres some piece of advice:

- Avoid subordinates
- Avoid passive sentences
- Respect the natural order of spoken language: Subject +
Verb + Predicate. The house is blue.
Once youve gathered all the sentences, youll have a paragraph, right? About paragraphs one fundamental idea: 1 paragraph should correspond to 1 thematic unit. So, to each paragraph corresponds an idea.
There are 3 types of paragraphs you might use depending on
the stage of the speech:
One! Introductory Paragraphs: Placed at the beginning
of the text, chapter, or thematic unit, their goal is to prepare the listener for a correct acknowledgement of what
we are going to communicate. They are usually very
short, especially in oral communication.
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Two! Explanatory Paragraphs: They compose the body
of the text and are meant to expound, explain and develop the ideas we want to transmit. They are placed at
the center of the text and, like I said before, each of them
must correspond to a single thematic unit.
Three! Conclusive Paragraphs: they summarize the
text and expound the final conclusions. They can also be
used to say your farewells or to propose new steps in
the communicative relation with the audience.
Good! We have the sentences and the paragraphs. Now lets

see how to put them together using connectors. Connectors
are fantastic tools to weave a coherent speech, as well as to
recapture the audiences attention between paragraphs and
ideas.
What is a connector? If I started a paragraph saying In conclusion , This is a connector introducing a conclusive paragraph. I manage to relate this paragraph and the one before
by concluding a concept, thus getting the attention of the audience by warning them about an upcoming summary of what
has been said previously.
Connectors are
fantastic tools to
weave a coherent
speech, as well
as to recapture
the audiences
attention between
paragraphs and
ideas.
There are 5 types of connectors:

- The initial ones: The point of this talk, The goal of
our intervention, the next presentation will allow us
We are happy to announce that These are a few examples of connectors that might help you with the take off.
- The progress connectors: are used in order to give continuity to the presentation, as they announce a new stage in your speech. For instance, an enumeration through
First Secondly, etc. or Now we are going to introduce etc.
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- The exemplifiers help us bringing up examples. The
most used are For instance or For example but there
are more subtle ways: To illustrate this theory or To
demonstrate this or now lets go over an example
- The Relators are used to link internal concepts of our
intervention, and help us reminding the audience of references introduced earlier in the speech. For example having said this or regarding that or We could add
- The conclusive connectors, like we just said, help the
audience by announcing a summing-up of the content of
our speech. In conclusion, To conclude, In closing,
therefore or As result of this presentation
There are infinite verbal forms that we call connectors, but
the important thing here is that you remember that using
them enriches the oral elocution, they complete our intervention and help the audience follow your speech.
To conclude, I encourage you to do the exercise for this unit.
It consists in a text in which we have erased the connectors so
you can complete the gaps applying what youve learned.
Using connectors
enriches the oral
elocution, they
complete our
intervention and
help the audience
follow your
speech.
We will give you the full text next week. Your success will
rather depend on identifying the spots in which a connector
is needed, and choosing the right type, than using the exact
same connector as in the original script.
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RHETORICAL
RESOURCES
Weve got sentences, paragraphs and connectors. Now Id like
to tell you about 5 rhetorical resources that will be very useful
in order to enrich your intervention.
ONE: QUOTES
As you know, I am co-founder of Homuork and Im often asked to give talks about entrepreneurship. I usually start with
the same quote by Picasso: Inspiration exists, but it must find
you whilst working. With this quote I have a double effect on
the audience: on one hand, Im suggesting that I have a certain
cultural background, and on the other hand Im legitimating a
key concept of my intervention through a third persons opinion.
Thanks to Google, quotes are a wonderful resource at hand
that allows us to reinforce our propositions through someone
elses words (usually someone more famous than ourselves).
From the relational perspective we approached in the first
chapter, its easy to see that quotes work especially well with
two profiles: the efficients and the visuals.
- The efficients buys ideas. If the celebrity who coined
the quote is someone he admires, he will connect with your
speech, and youll have drawn his attention.
Quotes work
especially well with
two profiles: the
efficients and the
visuals.
- Another profile that might like quotes is the visual one.

The visual type is moved by images, ideas, and memories. Since quotes refer to something that has effectively existed, he is
more likely to grasp the message we are trying to transmit.
I propose that you share with your colleagues 3 quotes by famous characters that you could use or have already used in
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your interventions. I have already written mine in the forum
so, start posting!!
TWO: RHETORICAL QUESTIONS
What are rhetorical questions?
What I just said was a rhetorical question: a question that the
speaker brings up just to answer it himself. You might have
noticed at this stage that I use them quite often myself, for it
helps me generate peaks of attention.
When formulating a question within the speech, there is a
change in the paralanguage that aims to draw the audiences
attention. It changes both the tone and rhythm because I
need to make a short pause this allows me to maintain or
even recover contact with you and, if Im lucky enough, I may
even increase your engagement.
Which profile is more likely to appreciate a rhetorical question? The detail-oriented one. This profile is constantly asking questions to himself, so a rhetorical question brought
up by the speaker might make him feel more integrated. Sometimes, such question will even anticipate the answers hes
searching.
When formulating
a question within
the speech, there
is a change in the
paralanguage
that aims to draw
the audiences
attention.
THREE: A VARIATION OF THE RETHORICAL QUESTION IS THE AUDIENCES FEEDBACK

It consists in bringing up a question and expecting the audience to answer it. It might often be a very simple question: Can
you hear me well at the back of the room? or just a poll on the
spot. For instance How many among you agree with thesis
A?
The complexity of the question determines the amount of
engagement of the audience, but also its duration. With the
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first question well manage to have almost 100% of the rooms
connection for a few seconds. With the second question well
probably manage to engage less listeners, but for a longer time.
We might use one type or the other depending on the stage
of our elocution, and our objectives. Doubtlessly, it is a good
resource to break the ice and integrate the audience.
FOUR: THE EXEMPLIFICATION
This is one of the most used resources in this particular course. For example, a moment ago I exemplified how to use quotes when starting a public intervention.
Exemplification helps the audience to illustrate the thesis of
what is being explained.
This resource generates an image in our brain, widening the
limits of the concept. If I talk to you about hunger in Somalia,
it might be a lot more effective to illustrate the problem with a
particular case than to use abstract concepts such as poverty
rates.
The example helps the audience to sympathize and also to remember, since it allows the listener to understand the concept
through an image. Like you might have supposed, the influent
type often likes the exemplification, since it allows them visualize what is being explained.
The example helps

the audience to
sympathize and also
to remember, since
it allows the listener
to understand the
concept through an
image.
FIVE: EMOTIONAL REFERENCES

At the very beginning of this course, I started off by telling you
how my first presentation had been. This was a clear emotional reference! My objective in that first unit was to make you
connect with me resorting to emotional states that link the
expounded content with a feeling: my spectacular failure during my first important public speech.
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An emotional reference allows us to be very efficient in the
connection, drawing the listeners attention and generating a
link with the audience through emotion, and also making the
memory last longer.
A very adequate and universal resource is talking about your
children. It may have happened to you to see a speaker start
his speech saying something like: sorry about my bad face,
my son didnt sleep much last night. This may be true or false,
but it might make all parents among the audience sympathize
with the speaker anyway, listen thoroughly and be more indulgent.
An emotional
reference allows us
to be very efficient
in the connection,
drawing the
listeners attention
and generating
a link with the
audience through
emotion.
Doubtlessly the profile that may appreciate this kind of resources will be the trusting type, because trust is based on emotion. When having an emotional connection, one feels trust,
and this results in a higher level of interest.
See you soon!!
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Chapter 3 - Unit 4
BE ELEGANT OR HOW
TO PREPARE YOUR
VISUALS
Every minute, around 21.000 people all over the world are
delivering a Power Point presentation. And you know what?
Most of them are awful! And if visuals are awful, the guy presenting wont make it trough his presentation.
Thats why Im taking over Alexandras spot today for a few
minutes, to help you build your visuals so that you dont end
up like Bill Gates trying to decode this weird hieroglyphic he
made some years ago
Lets start preventing. Here comes the most common mistakes when designing a presentation:
First mistake: your presentation is not an essay.
In a PPT, less is more, dont overload your presentation with
text, its useless and nobody can or want to read. Your audience wants the key messages in the screen so that you can develop the arguments from there.
Dont overload
your presentation
with text, its
useless and nobody
can or want to
read.
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Chapter 3 - Unit 4
Dont do that:
A good solution to avoid that is a simple rule:

- Every slide can only have one main idea
- Every slide can have maximum 12 to 15 words
- And every slide must take you only one minute to explain, as an average, so let me insist: dont overload your
slide with text!
This way, it prevents your audience from skipping ahead and
it helps you with timming.
In that sense, another mistake is to overload your presentation with numbers and data and graphs. Be careful, your audience wants the job done, so give them only the relevant data.
Second mistake: bad use of typography
Regarding typography you need to keep in mind some considerations:
- Text in capital letters is difficult to read on the screen
- Serif fonts too, theyre perfect for reading a book, but
terrible for big screens
- So better use Sanserif fonts like Helvetica, Roboto,
Open Sans, Museo Sans or Lato,
- Dont abuse from bold typos, use them carefully and just
Another mistake
is to overload
your presentation
with numbers and
data and graphs.
Be careful, your
audience wants
the job done, so
give them only the
relevant data.
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Chapter 3 - Unit 4
to headline important words
- Try to avoid italic letters, they are hardly readable and, if
you ask me, not very beautiful
- And avoid completely the underlined text, it will make
the audience think it is a link.
Beyond that, remind that youre designing for the guy sitting
in the last row, so dont make him read Arial 12 in capital letters. Size matters in presentations:
- For readability, dont go under 26 font size for the plain
text
- And be consequent with sizes: size means importance,
so use different sizes to hierarchize what is more and less
important with headlines and plain text.
Third mistake: lack of a color scheme
About color, a couple of advices: use white for your background. Mostly every color will difficult readability.
Besides that, stick to a clear color scheme of two or three colors, dont mix more than that. You maybe have a color scheme defined by your company, if not, you can use a great online
tool to find a color scheme:
Check this colourco.de, its amazing and you have infinite options! Ive lost hours here, but you can get a great scheme.
Stick to a clear
color scheme of
two or three colors,
dont mix more
than that.
One last tip in color: if you use colors in text, use that constrat
each other, clear over obscure and viceversa.
Fourth mistake: dramatic use of visuals
There are plenty of images out there, millions, literally, so
please dont go with Clip arts or the childish and poor quality
images. You can find thousands of images royalty free in istockphoto.com or similar services or even do them yourself.
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Chapter 3 - Unit 4
And please, please, dont use images just to fill the space. The
nicer and clearer slides have a white background with a short
text on it, well placed. Dont fear the white space, its clean and
beautiful enogh, so dont mess it with awful or super standard
pictures.
Besides that, another tip! The visuals you use must have graphic coherence, you cant mix for instance flat design with
realistic design, meaning this
The elements you chose or produce must be consistent between each other, as well as colors.
Oh, and last tip: try to use images without background, I mean,
like theyre floating on the page, its always more elegant and
easier to integrate in terms of composition.
Lets go with the fifth mistake: focal points
This is a hard battle because it has a lot to do with visual intuition, but lets try:
Every slide you design has, necessarily, a focal point that the
audience will remark, so make sure you focalize their attention on what you want. An example, back to the visuals subject: a picture always weights to the audience attention than
text, so if youre using images they must be critical to state
your point.
Every slide
you design has,
necessarily, a
focal point that
the audience will
remark, so make
sure you focalize
their attention on
what you want.
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Chapter 3 - Unit 4
In that sense, its not so much about graphism but about content: when you list anything, stick to the rule of three from
Steve Jobs. He used to say, and also use in his presentations,
that the number 3 is one of the most powerful numbers in
communications. A list of 3 things is more intriguing than 2
and far easier to remember than 22. It might sound stupid, but
it kind of worked for him.
When you list

anything, stick to
the rule of three
from Steve Jobs.
Conclusion:
Design, dont just throw something together. And if youre
not creative, just steal and copy! I mean, most of the designs
history is based on stealing others ideas. Start googling nice
powerpoint presentations and youll find hundreds of examples that, with some effort, will make your presentation something worth it and useful to back your intervention.
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Chapter 4 - Unit 1
PREP TECHNIQUE FOR

REHEARSAL
At this point we have a structure, a speech and a presentation.
Now its time to rehearse the elocution of our intervention.
The elocution is the correct way of expressing what we are
aiming to transmit. A correct elocution basically depends on
three elements: phonic correctness, clarity of ideas and the
choice of rhetorical resources.
How do we master these three elements?
Rehearsing! Again and again... Nobody, regardless of talent,
can do a better presentation through improvisation than
through thorough preparation. And we shall prepare it in
three phases:
- First, the comprehension phase: absolute understanding of
what you are going to transmit. It may sound obvious, but
you must master your subject from A to Z. To test it, you can
try and explain the content of your presentation to a friend
and see how much he retains: his gaps will be your gaps.
- Second, the reading phase: you must read your speech,
plainly at first, and syllabically after.
Nobody, regardless
of talent, can do a
better presentation
through
improvisation than
through thorough
preparation.
The plain reading should be done out loud omitting the

punctuation. This exercise will help you become familiar
with the technical difficulties of the text, as well as to detect
hard pronunciations, complex words, etc. Here comes an
example of plain reading:
In a sense we have come to our nations capital to cash a
check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which
every American was to fall heir.
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The objective of this plain reading is to reach a brilliant pronunciation, leaving the meaning aside. The plain reading trains our brain in pronouncing each of the syllables correctly
during the elocution.
This first reading will also help you identify the syllabic challenges, with which youll have to deal secondly. Heres an
example of syllabic reading:
I-am-ha-ppy-to-join-you-to-day-in-what-will-go-down-inhis-to-ry-as-the-great-est-de-mons-tra-tion-for-free-dom-inthe-his-to-ry-of-our-na-tion.
Through this syllabic reading our brain shall memorize the
way we say each of these syllables. We are getting our brain
ready for difficulty. It remembers how it did it last time, and
this is why its important to train it in recognizing one sound
after the other. Thus, you will be able to verbalize effortlessly
all the words and concepts of your elocution.
- The third and last is the sense & direction phase, in which we
direct the text through punctuation, intonation, volume and
speed. Its a training process to help us define the direction in
which we want to conduct the text, and basically consists in
practicing it the exact same way you want to present it. Pure
repetition.
In the next video - that Id recommend you to watch straight
away - Ill be giving you some techniques and resources to improve your diction and articulation.
Through the
syllabic reading
we are getting
our brain ready
for difficulty. It
remembers how
it did it last time.
Thus, you will be
able to verbalize
effortlessly.
Stay tuned!!
Page 2/2
Chapter 4 - Unit 2
TRAIN YOUR DICTION

What you just heard was an example of hesitation in the voice. This is another usual diction problem: introducing syncopated pauses that tire our audience.
We all make diction mistakes and Id like to show you three techniques to train it, among which you should pick the one that
you find most useful.
The first technique is the syllabic articulation.
Lets start with the syllabic articulation that we saw before: it
consists in pronouncing each syllable of a word in an exaggerated way. For instance, to say sesquipedality, we are going
to pronounce it as Ses-qui-pe-dal-i-ty that, for those who
are curious, refers to the practice of using long words.
By doing this exercise, well manage to isolate the problems of
each of the syllables. Once we have located the syllable that is
hard to pronounce, we shall repeat it until we get rid of its diction problem. After this is done, we shall add the syllable to its
word and we shall repeat it until our brain retains it.
The second technique is the use of limiting
objects.
It consists in putting an object in the mouth, like a pen or a cucumber in order to limit the movement of our tongues.
With the syllabic

articulation well
manage to isolate
the problems
of each of the
syllables.
By doing this exercise, we force ourselves to be especially

clear in our diction. The objective is to consciously search for
the right sound!
For instance, using the same sentence as before:
Sesquipedality is the practice of using long words
Page 1/2
Chapter 1 - Unit 1
When we take out the pen from the mouth, the feeling is similar to when we drop a heavy sack after long hours walking
with it on our backs. After getting rid of the pen, it feels easier
to speak, and our diction is just better.
Lets see the third technique: music articulation
This technique is very adequate to correct lingual vices, especially those related to our rhythm of speech and the singsongs we use. It consists in speaking whilst listening to music
through your headphones. Music will mark your speaking
rhythm in the most natural way.
For instance, those who tend to speak too fast would easily solve their problem by practicing with reggae music. When reciting over music, the melody determines the natural rhythm of
speech, so you can modulate your voice for your own convenience and thus improve your diction. In case you have to give
a speech in-group, this technique offers a very good resource
to help you create cohesion.
Page 2/2
SET THE TONE & SPEED

What are we talking about today? About the voice. The voice
has great strength in paralanguage and communication, and is
a particularly critical element when it comes to giving credibility to, or taking away importance from our speech.
In this video, we will analyse the four basic characteristics of
paralanguage:
- Inflection
- Tone
- Pace
- And speed.
Some believe, especially poor public speakers that the voice
modulates itself depending on the emotions we have. They
are partly right. A footballer who has just won the World
Cup will most likely speak loudly, quickly, in a high pitch and
vibrantly. Another example: at a funeral, by default, people
speak slowly, in a low-pitched voice, almost whispering.
So yes, emotions automatically modulate our voice ... except
in public appearances. Often, public interventions involve
nerves and tension, emotions which obviously modulate the
voice too. Consequently, its necessary to rehearse the emotion we want to convey so that our voice does not transmit
what we are really feeling: that is to say, nerves, tension, etc. ...
So, rehearse, and rehearse considering the four basic issues
weve mentioned: inflection, tone, pace and speed.
Its necessary
to rehearse the
emotion we want
to convey so that
our voice does not
transmit what we
are really feeling.
For example, lets say your presentation has the goal asking
for payment for an NGO for refugee children in Syria. Sadness must predominate the speech, so your voice must sound
soft, the inflection must be falling, your tone deep, your pace
uneven and your speed soft.
Page 1/3

Now, what if your speech takes place in a salesman convention
and your aim is to cheer up the moral: what combination do
you think you need? To transmit joy, your volume will be loud,
your inflection rising, your tone high-pitched and your speed
fast and energetic.
Anyway, this is quite an intuitive art, but you need to work on
it. To do so, I want to dig specially into the speed matter: in
verbal communication and in Western languages, about 140
words per minute is regarded as a suitable speed. This data is
very important when preparing your speech: if the intervention has to be extended by 10 minutes, reckon on between
1300 and 1500 words.
It is not an absolute rule, there are some exceptions where to
accelerate or slow down. For example, when we make a list, in
which the most important is at the beginning, and the rest are
only at the tail end ... well adjust the pace, picking up speed as
we speak because what we say at the end is not as relevant. As
in a sports narrative, the commentators accelerate the pace to
get the attention of the listener. The same applies to any public presentation. Similarly, a change of pace to slow down the
speech also helps to regain the audiences attention. By insisting on pauses and speaking more slowly, the listener sees an
anomaly and pays attention again.
However, beware of going too far with these changes of pace.
If you move too far away from these parameters, your speech
will be dysfunctional. When you get close to 200 words per
minute you will be described as a cluttered speaker and no one
will be able to understand you.
Nor is it advisable to accelerate the pace because youre running out of time. It happens in lots of presentations in which,
due to a lack of foresight, the speaker comes to the last few minutes of their intervention with too much speech for the time
remaining. Many choose to accelerate. Big mistake! It throws
off the audience and you lose the thread. What you need to do
Beware of going
too far with these
changes of pace. If
you move too far
away from these
parameters, your
speech will be
dysfunctional.
Page 2/3

is choose what is critical to your speech and say it at the pace
you have been doing throughout the presentation.
The other extreme is also not recommended. Speaking very
slowly, below 100 words per minute, turns you an exhausting
speaker for the audience.
So much for the theory. In the next video, its time for practice. We will see how to analyse the pace of your speech. Prepare the camera!
Page 3/3
SET THE TONE & SPEED

EXERCICE
Welcome to practice time!
Heres the deal: I want you to record yourselves talking for a
minute as if you were explaining to a friend what you did last
weekend. Be specific and detailed, as you need to fill one minute. Once you have the video, count the number of words you
have used in that minute and check if youre in the good parameters when talking freely.
Ill do it first, without text or script, just improvising, by explaining my weekend to my partner here who will time me.
In my case, as you can see, I talk faster than recommended if I
dont concentrate on using an appropriate pace.
Now its your turn, Im giving you one minute!
So, how many words did you use in one minute? If you under
130 or above 150 words per minute, heres a second exercise to
modulate the pace. On screen, you have a text, which is an excerpt from I have a dream, by Martin Luther King, which you
must read aloud using the stopwatch. It has 143 words and you
have a minute.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One
hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled
by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. And so weve come here today to dramatize a shameful
condition.
In a sense weve come to our nations capital to cash a check.
When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent
Page 1/2

words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes,
black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable Rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
There are only three possible scenarios: If you have come to
the end having read all the text, everythings fine, your rate of
speech is appropriate. If you had a long time left over or you
were more than 10 seconds short of reaching the end, you are
out of the range and will need to introduce more or less speed
depending on how it worked for you. So rewind and keep
trying till you find the good rhythm!
In this respect, heres a little trick used by many radio speakers
to get their rhythm before starting the programme: if you are
nervy people, rehearse with a reggae song in the background
and talk over the melody. If your problem is that you speak too
slowly, use a fast electro song.
Page 2/2

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Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

Id like to start with

It was not long ago after I finished university; I was an intern

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

It was an absolute disaster.

The first condition

In other words, they were way over my head. A good deal of

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

The second condition to consolidate a public intervention is

The third condition

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

Chapter 1 - Unit 3.1

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

Chapter 1 - Unit 3.1

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

Chapter 1 - Unit 3.1

They need to feel

Lets go on to our fourth profile: the trusting. The trusting

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

Chapter 1 - Unit 3.1

With the trusting

Im choosing a specific non-professional example so that you

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

Chapter 1 - Unit 3.1

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

Chapter 1 - Unit 3.1

APPLICABILITY IN MULTIPLE AUDIENCES

Following on with the example of our party, you must give

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

Chapter 1 - Unit 3.2

If you find it difficult to work with these guidelines, which are

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

Chapter 1 - Unit 3.2

Five: emotional balance. Our communication will vary de-

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

Chapter 1 - Unit 3.2

Public Speaking - Join the Talk & Spread the Word

Video Transcripts January 2015

Chapter 1 - Unit 3.2

discover your communicative style

b. As soon as I know if I will have to do something

c. Stop listening?! I dont, my friends are talking!

d. I stay focused, I dont want to miss anything.

2. At work, when you assign a task to someone in your team

related to it to be sure they will complete it (on time!)