The Art of Winging It - Public Speaking in College
I do not like public speaking. It is a weird inconsistency in my character. I am fairly extroverted, able to engage with others easily, and pretty upbeat. I think that the organized nature of public speaking is what makes it unappealing to me. I like to ramble, and I'm a pretty casual sort of guy. Public speaking assignments don't really cater to my style. They make me very nervous.
Today, I had an interesting experience. I was tasked in my business communications class to create a pitch speech about my key attributes. It was worth a hefty 100 points, but I put off preparing for it until 30-45 minutes before I presented. It is the worst example of procrastinating I have had in a hot minute. Yet, I got 100%. The professor wasn't strict, but I also barely even tried. Here's my takeaway on how I managed to wing public speaking and succeed this time. These are the factors:
Have a Chill Professor
If you're winging it, you're going in unprepared. Ultra-strict professors will sense signs of weakness and pounce on the opportunity to steal your precious points away. I got lucky here.
Deep Breaths
Here's my first useful point. Deep breathing makes all the difference. It calms you down and makes you less tense. I recommend doing it right before you wing it.
Eye Contact
You know what's more scary than looking at your peers or colleagues? Getting a bad grade or reprimanded. Prioritize the long-run results over fleeting feelings of anxiety to the best of your ability.
PowerPoint: Less is More
It's kind of crazy that I need to say this, but so many of my peers had literal paragraphs on their slides. Don't do that! You're putting way too much effort into something that will hinder you. It's much better to have extremely minimal slides with about 15-20 words on them (bullet-pointed, of course) than to have some extravagant presentation. Your slideshow is completely supplementary and should only reenforce your basic spoken points.
Smile
Just do it. It exudes confidence, even if it's totally feigned.
Open Stance
Making yourself look bigger and not scrunched up also gives off an aura of confidence.
Don't (Fully) Script It!
Bullet points, bullet points, bullet points. A basic transcript is good! But don't properly script it. A speech should have a certain degree of spontaneity to it. You cannot predict how your audience will react, so it is actually worse to script it out in advance. Just keep your key concepts in mind and ride the vibe. It shouldn't take too long to plot them out.
Unleash Your Inner Yapper (and Tell Stories!)
Many of us love to yap. Controlled yapping can be good for public speaking. Don't stray from your main points, but tell stories to your audience. Not only does it make everything feel more natural, but people often connect to experiences and stories much more than evidence or statistics. It is also way easier to tell stories to fill your time quota and hide your unpreparedness. This is probably one of the biggest factors of successfully winging this sort of thing. Just make sure to tie your stories back to your topics!
Maintain Your Narrative
On that note, make sure you stick to your basic outline and narrative throughout the presentation. Don't introduce new or extraneous ideas while you're yapping.
Sound like a lot? It is! I'm still learning. However, I have come to realize these strategies are what probably netted my sweet, sweet 100%. I should have rehearsed more, sure, but I've come to realize that a lot of people over prepare their speeches. A good speech is relatable and engaging. It must convey your humanity and passion. An overly planned out speech comes off as robotic and boring a lot of the time.
It comes down to your personality and social abilities, but I hope that some of these strategies I employed might help some of you. I want to make this clear that these points are for people who wing stuff. If you don't, disregard this post. Anyway, if you like to live dangerously, keep this stuff in mind, and you got this!
