Take a Trip Down the Rabbit Hole

Ahh the dreaded TED Talk. What a time to be alive. If there's one thing that every college student looks for in a class description, it's definitely "a plentiful amount of public speaking. Not. Not only is a speech an assignment that requires some research, organization, and writing, but you also have to present that piece in front of the class. The whole class. Scary. A paper you can write and forget about, but a speech? You have to burn those words into the side of your brain if you want to avoid looking like you blew the assignment off and forgot every word. Or at least that's how it feels for me. I'm sure many of you can relate. 

Yes, speeches are scary. We all knew that. The thing is, though, the TED Talk took the scariness to a whole new level. Not only would we have to memorize the presentation and deliver it in front of the class, it was recommended that we leave all notecards and safety nets behind and deliver this thing under lights and cameras like we were famous or something. I don't know about you, but famous isn't really my thing. 

However, for the sake of my perfectionism, I decided to embrace "famous." The worst part of embracing "famous" you may ask? Looking down the rabbit hole of practice. I knew that I would never be able to practice enough to feel comfortable, but I sat down and got to it. We all have to start somewhere, right?

While preparing for class, I got my first glimpse down the rabbit hole of doom. Our classing reading was titled, "How to Give a Killer Presentation." In my head, I thought to myself, "Great, more instructions on how to take a deep breath, strike a power pose, and get over it." And then, author Chris Anderson suggested, "[Preparation] typically takes six to nine months."

SIX TO NINE MONTHS? I DID NOT HAVE THIS MUCH TIME.

However, what this statement did tell me though is that I would need to begin preparing much sooner than I usually would for a presentation, and that's exactly what I did. It was very helpful to already have a lot of the research and phrasing completed after writing my paradigm shift paper. Personally, I began drafting my script soon after I received my feedback about my paradigm shift paper. In this way, I was able to draft a script as soon as possible so that I had more time to practice. 

Anderson also suggested that speakers not read off a script or teleprompter because the audience will know. Although this meant I would have to spend a lot more time practicing, I'm glad we were also instructed in class to be as minimal as possible with our notes when we presented. 

Keeping this in mind, I wrote a script, and as I was practicing, I began by reading off my script. I found that this approach was short lived, though. I found myself using the script as a crutch. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to see my script during my actual presentation, I finally forced myself to tuck the script away and trust my gut. In the end, I found that I had practiced with my script so much that putting it away was really not much different. I was only looking at my script when it was available just because I could, not because I needed to. 

Once I felt comfortable enough in my memorization, I utilized some of the techniques we talked about in class. We talked about practicing in front of a mirror, practicing in front of a roommate, videotaping yourself, and actually practicing in the location where the speech would given. 

I had already been practicing by myself in my room and I had been conscious of my body movements, so I skipped right to videotaping myself giving my own speech. So maybe my body movements were more distracting than I thought. Anderson suggested, "Simply getting a person to keep his or her lower body motionless can dramatically improve stage presence." I thought videotaping myself was very helpful in actually viewing my performance from an outsider's viewpoint and keeping my lower body as still as possible. I had never tried this method before, and I found it very helpful. I ended up giving my speech upwards of twenty times this way and I filled the storage in my phone. However, I was prepared. 

It had come to crunch time, and I decided to move on and give my presentation to my roommate twice. I found that I was just a bit more nervous actually speaking to another person, but I still had my thoughts memorized and ready. I found that it was important to embrace the nervousness that my audience of one had created, and use it to my advantage as Anderson suggests in his article.

Thinking back on my preparation, I'm still a bit disappointed that I never actually visited the one-button studio to practice before giving my speech. I think it would've been helpful to feel the atmosphere under the lights and cameras and to experience the cramped space of the room. I think I could've minimized my nervousness had I given myself ample time to be comfortable in my environment. 

Additionally, I wish I would have incorporated scripted body motions and tone inflection into my speech. I think I could have improved my TED Talk just a bit by adding these elements into my preparation. In class, we talked about how body language and tone can be more memorable than what  a person is actually saying, and I feel like I could've improved this aspect of my speech.

Overall, though, I was satisfied with my TED Talk, and I don't think spending more time practicing would have improved my performance. I think my preparation could have moved on to "in-the-moment" elements of focus.

Here's the actual performance:

Considering my performance, I personally feel that my introduction and personal anecdote worked well. I think throwing out ridiculous statements about how children's behavioral issues should be treated caught the audiences attention. I remember seeing really scrunched, confused faces. 

I also think my personal anecdote was interesting for the audience. It gave them some insight to my life and established my credibility. I also think I was most comfortable in my delivery at this point because I was speaking about something personal. 

In the beginning though, my body language showed some signs of nervousness. I had my hands and wrists locked together a bit, and in real life, I'm a bit more enthusiastic and smiley, so I think it would've been more personal for me to accentuate those elements of my personality within the speech. 

As the speech moved along though, my body language loosened up, but I did hit a few moments where I lost my place as I was speaking. The first time, I think I avoided distraction by simply moving past the slip in speech and moving on, but the second time I messed up, I laughed awkwardly. I did move on, though, but I could have avoided some distracting awkwardness had I just moved right along.

One of the best aspects of my speech, in my opinion, was the way I continued to incorporate references to my personal anecdote about Chase throughout the speech. It gave the audience a way to continually relate the facts I was telling them in real life. 

I also thought incorporating a graph of the increasing cases of autism was helpful for the audience to visualize and realize how fast the number of cases of autism is growing. This graphic made it easy for the facts to stick with the audience. It gave them something to remember.

Lastly, I think my conclusion was a bit cliche. Looking back at my speech, I think I could have made a bigger impact on the audience had I focused a bit more on my personal anecdote as I was ending my speech. I think it would've been helpful to reiterate my main points, and avoid trivializing my topic with a cliche. 

Overall, I was satisfied with my TED Talk. I was definitely prepared enough and knew my facts as I was saying them. My body language and tone was not distracting, but I think I could have improved my speech just a bit had I used these elements to improve my speech rather than just diminishing them. My topic was relevant and focused, and I think the facts that I did provide were "sticky" enough to impact the audience. Overall, I was happy with my performance and my preparation.