In yesterday's blog, Guy Kawasaki presents some really good tips for how to deliver a speech. He provides information from, of all things, a singer, who points out that singing and speaking are a lot alike. He's right.
I have what must be a genetic abnormality in that I have no stage fright at all. None. Speaking comes very easily to me, which solves 75% of what most people grapple with when they speak. However, the difference between a good speech and a great one is in the details, and the techniques.
And amazingly, one of the best examples of the use of technique I've seen lately is, of all people, Mick Jagger.
I recently bought a DVD of three Rolling Stones concerts from 2003. On that particular tour, the Rolling Stones played shows in theaters, in arenas, and in stadiums (stadia?). The set also includes a "behind the scenes" DVD, with a lot of footage of Jagger preparing for the tour.
Now, the man is not young. And he's getting up there with the Rolling Stones in front of a hundred thousand people, and he'd better deliver. He doesn't have the energy or the stamina anymore to make this happen on pure horsepower anymore. If you want to see pure horsepower, take a look at this
So what he does is use a lot of technique to conserve his energy, to manage the crowd's mood, and to pace the show. He's been doing it for forty years, so he's good, and when you know what to look for, it's fascinating.
An example: during an interview segment, he talks about the part of the concert when he looks out at the crowd and says "Are you having a good time?" He does this, he explains, when the crowd's energy is flagging a little during a show, and he wants to whip them up a little. When he asks the question, everyone cheers and yells, and the performance gets elevated a little.
Now, I'm not Mick and you're not Mick, but there are lots of similar little tricks that can be used to make a speech better. Thank you, Mr. Kawasaki, for providing a list.
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