Want to Sharpen Your Speaking Skills? Go to the Tape.

It’s football season!

Don’t worry, you don’t have to know anything about the sport to understand today’s newsletter. 😂

During my seven years of coaching, I spent the majority (90 percent) of my time in the film room.

That’s right…not the practice field.

Not the weight room.

The film room.

I was doing one of two things:

• watching my players’ most recent practice/game footage or

• watching our upcoming opponent

Coach Rob, that’s great and all but what does that have to do with speaking?

I’m glad you asked. 😉

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Sharpening the Craft

We’ve talked in previous newsletters about the importance of capturing your speeches on video.

It doesn’t matter if it’s your cousin Pookie’s iPhone or the most advanced camera on the market: Get footage of your talks.

But, let me ask you this: How many times do you watch the tape?

👀

🦗…🦗…🦗…🦗

I’ll go first. 🙋🏾‍♂️

Hardly ever. 🙈

I give 40 talks a year and I rarely never watch the video.

Yes, it is embarrassing.

So this weekend, I opened my laptop and did the hard work. Here’s what I found. 👇

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What, When & How

First, I have a simple system for identifying and correcting bad speaking habits.

Take a piece of paper (I believe in lo-fi solutions) and write the following:

What - Identify the habit that needs to change.

When - Isolate the times that trigger the habit.

How - What is your plan for correction?

Then take a deep breath and watch the tape. 🌬

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Pockets

What

Sticking my hand in my pocket

When

During long stretches of verbiage

How

• Longer pauses to break up the speech

• Looking at this picture right before my keynote

• Sewing my pockets closed 😂

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Pointer Finger

I promise I’m not picking my nose. I’m stroking the top of my goatee. 🤦🏾

What

Stroking my goatee

When

While I’m thinking of a response during Q&A

How

• Lock my fingers in praying pose to break up hand motions

• Create more separation between my torso and elbows

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Um…

I used to teach a college speechwriting course, and I would always talk about LUY - Like, Um, and You Know.

LUY makes a MUY bad speech. 👈🏾 That was my saying.

Well, this was me as I watched the footage.

I’ll spare you the audio.🙉

What

Saying “um”

When

During “thinking moments”

How

• Deep breathing and more silent pauses

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The Mic Drop 🎤

This may be the hardest internal work that speaker will do.

But trust me, incorporating film review into your post-speech practice will improve your skills and catapult you to more stages.

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3 Seats Remain! 🪑 🪑 🪑

We’re three weeks away from PLATFORM™ and down to three spots. 👀

2024 will be a big year for the speaking industry.

If I was serious about the craft, I’d start arming myself to take advantage of it.

Let’s see you in Dallas.