SPEAKING OUT
Even seasoned performers can falter at the thought of giving a speech – but help is at hand, says Harriet Green
Master the art of eloquent, confident speechmaking
Iwas utterly terrified. Really, really bricking it.’ At Bazaar’s recent Women of the Year Awards, Emma Watson, winner of the Inspiration prize, raised a laugh from the audience as she recalled her nerves preparing her speech for the UN on gender equality. ‘I really didn’t think I had it in me,’ she confessed.
Curious, I later looked up Watson’s UN speech on YouTube. Yes, she looked nervous, particularly in those seconds before going up on stage. She arrived on the podium clutching her notes, started with a wavering voice, and sounded extremely young. But her vulnerability was touching, her passion palpable. It made clear to all those who listened that what she said came from the heart. As such, her speech was a triumph, and made headlines globally.
Whether you are being called upon to address the world on gender equality, or simply making a business presentation to your colleagues, it’s vital to master the art of public speaking. If you are hoping to break into the boardroom, to pitch effectively or to lead a team, it comes with the territory. Yet many people who work at a very senior level remain terrified of this fundamental skill. In a recent survey, 70 per cent of those polled agreed that giving presentations was critical to their success at work. But 20 per cent of the same respondents said they would do ‘almost anything’ to avoid it.
Glossophobia, as it’s known, involves intense anxiety at the mere thought of having to communicate verbally with any group. Symptoms of physical distress include nausea, sweating and panic. The comedian Jerry Seinfeld once joked that, at a funeral, most people would rather be lying in the casket than delivering the eulogy (and indeed, a survey of 2,000 women, conducted in 2013, found that the majority regarded death as preferable to public speaking…)
It’s a feeling that I understand perfectly. Recently, I had to deliver a leaving speech for a colleague. I planned some simple, heartfelt words, with a few jokes inserted to jolly things along. Scores of people from across my organisation arrived to listen. Before I spoke, a couple of men delivered plaudits that were laid-back, bloke-y, irreverent and funny. How everybody laughed! Then – as the applause died down – it was my turn. I looked at the faces watching me, waiting to be entertained. And I froze. In fact, I bombed. Months later, my cheeks still burn at the memory.
‘In evolutionary terms, standing up in front of people who outnumber you and are staring at you, is dangerous. Being nervous is perfectly sensible,’ reassures Robin Roberts, the founder of Rehearse It!, a company that uses actors and their techniques to coach businesspeople to speak with confidence.
‘As the nerves kick in, we take fewer risks and we make ourselves physically smaller. Adrenalin levels shoot up, muscles begin to shake, the mouth goes dry and eyes dilate, blurring your vision. Everyone feels these symptoms on the podium. But some people are good at performing despite them.’
Even the best actors can wobble, as Watson showed; but we are all able to learn from the way they control stage fright. As any experienced stage performer can attest, it starts with the breath.
Patsy Rodenburg, the legendary Shakespearean voice coach, has worked with everyone from Judi Dench and Ian McKellen to Daniel Craig, and uses the same techniques to help global business leaders. She listens to me speak and tells me that I lock my knees and carry tension in my upper rib cage and shoulders that shuts down my voice. At times of stress, she diagnoses, that tension increases to such a degree that I stop breathing. She teaches me some amazingly simple exercises, such as pushing with both arms against a wall, to relax and open my back. In this position, I count to three. The difference when I open my mouth again is extraordinary: my voice is newly resonant and powerful.
‘If you have to give a speech, practise in this position. It will help it go into the muscle memory,’ she says. To speak well in public is as much an athletic performance as an intellectual one. ‘You can’t prepare silently. The voice and speech muscles carry out a very intricate physical task.’ The mistake many of us make, she says, is to forget to warm up the voice beforehand; and she recommends planning a speech by speaking the words out loud, rather than writing them down. ‘You can do it in the shower. It’s not going to come out verbatim, but running through the ideas out loud is so important.’
Ayesha Hazarika, a stand-up comedian and political commentator, has also worked as the special adviser and speechwriter for Ed Miliband and Harriet Harman. Her tip is to study your audience in advance, identify what they might be expecting, and what they like or dislike. As an example of the effectiveness of this technique, she cites an apparently off-the-cuff joke made by Harman at William Hague’s expense. Hague had mocked her for wearing a stabproof jacket. ‘If I am looking for advice on what to wear or what not to wear, I think the very last person I would look to for advice is the man in a baseball cap,’ she retorted. Her putdown seemed so spontaneous and quick-witted, it became headline news. ‘We spent about 24 hours on that joke,’ confides Hazarika. ‘I had studied William Hague. I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist having a crack about it. You need to be ready to have a line.’
Hazarika was also Ed Miliband’s special adviser when he disastrously forgot to talk about the economy in the conference speech he was delivering without notes. ‘I could’ve done it with Autocue, but people want someone to talk directly,’ Miliband explained.
‘That haunts me still,’ says Hazarika. ‘Nobody is expecting you to do a clever trick and memorise everything. There is no harm in writing key points down on a piece of paper. Obama doesn’t memorise his speeches, and he’s one of the finest orators I’ve ever witnessed.’ Instead, she says, familiarise yourself with your notes so you’re not looking down at them all the time.
The most important part of any speech is the beginning. ‘Start with a bang,’ says Roberts. ‘That’s incredibly important – we are hard-wired to make instant judgements about each other.’ And don’t rush in before you’re ready. ‘Look around first, and breathe,’ says Rodenburg. ‘There’s a natural pause. Watch the most powerful people on the planet – they all take the time to breathe.’
Lynne Parker is the founder of Funny Women, which represents women in comedy and helps female professionals to find their own voice. ‘Anybody can improve their public speaking,’ she says. ‘Think like a comedian. Start overlaying your stories with a flight of fantasy. Have some fun, and find your own unique voice. Don’t feel pressured into a particular style of presenting, go with what feels comfortable for you. Say it like it is and how it comes naturally.’
This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to aim for humour, above all else. ‘People might not like that Theresa May or Hillary Clinton aren’t funny,’ observes Rodenburg. ‘But that’s fine. Why should they be? In all my work in top leadership, people long for gravitas. Be authentic.’
Fortunately, the ordeal shouldn’t last too long. ‘Less is definitely more,’ says Hazarika. ‘Seven to 10 minutes is most people’s attention span. Unless you are a very good stand-up comedian or orator, it’s hard to keep people’s attention. Brevity, brevity, brevity!’ And if it goes wrong, as mine did, she advises taking a philosophical approach.
‘Everyone makes mistakes,’ she says. ‘You have to fail a lot to get better at it.’