From Boring Into Soaring Presentations

Three speakership rules that great leaders embody

An exceptional presentation results from the right framing, connecting with the audience on a profound level and conveying a clear message with wit and fun.

Deep conviction and subject matter expertise are fundamental drivers for an impactful talk. It needs to be based on facts and relevant and meaningful experiences.

The fun starts when the audience can be relaxed and trust the speaker. The fun does not mean jokes but an intimate connection with the audience and respect for their different needs and views; fun results from the speaker not taking themselves too seriously but respecting the audience and not trying to be above them. Laughter comes from Eurekas, not from cheap jokes.

Learning from the best is a good starting point if you want to improve your public speaking skills.

I will write here about three exemplary professionals I have had the privilege to see in action and learn from during the last few years.

Each of these remarkable speakers has their unique way of delivering, their signature, but there are some principles and commonalities that make them great.

They all look world and build their Speakership through three lenses:

• Fundamental understanding, i.e. deep subject matter expertise and their conviction on the validity and usefulness of their message.
• They are guided with proven content and facts, which they attribute directly without trying to look like they are know-it-all, with their own personal and relevant experiences to anchor those facts into the talk.
• And then the fun comes from compassion and wisdom to build a rapport with the audience based on respect and willingness to serve the audience.

These masters are Matt Church, Col Fink and Lisa O’Neill. Two Australians and one Kiwi (New Zealander), but one Kiwi usually equals 5 Australians, so the balance is about right.

Each of them has those three lenses, but the way they use them in their talks is different, elegant in their own right and unique.

∘ Matt Church — the fundamental Solomon of the Speakership ∘ Col Fink — practical speaker, as a matter of fact ∘ Lisa O’Neill — The magnificent empress of the Fun ∘ Three separate but strangely similar masters ∘ And then some more ∘ Hans Rosling ∘ Benjamin Zander ∘ Sir Ken Robinson ∘ It requires skill, will and practice

Matt Church — the fundamental Solomon of the Speakership

Matt grounds everything on his vast knowledge and decades-long experience when he gives his talks. He is not only knowledgeable but a thinker who can frame the talk in a way that can resonate with almost all in the audience.

Matt is not an easy speaker. He can be abstract and even hard to follow, but he never makes things complex or complicated but profound. He can be funny — hilarious in a wicked and sophisticated way — but the main emphasis is always on the message he wants to deliver.

Matt creates a frame for his audiences, skillfully inviting people to enter his world. Once he can see that the audience has channels open and ready to travel, he can deliver even very uncomfortable truths.

Matt often calls himself a teacher, which he is — but in his style, the difference is only two letters to a preacher. Matt’s forte is the fundamental will to lift the consciousness of everybody in the audience. After a couple of decades, he will be regarded as a sage.

Matt’s default lens is life’s totality and significant wonders. Everything else, from facts to fun, is delivered through that view.

Col Fink — practical speaker, as a matter of fact

It is not coincident that Col wrote with Matt the essential guide for public speaking, Speakership. He is an energetic and practical speaker. He is also a great implementer.

Col’s strength is application. He gets the audience to try the content he is delivering. He wants you to own your messages, too.

Observing Col speaking is like watching a rabbit spinning a hula-hoop with an AK47. It could be a dangerous combination, but Col can handle guns. He is not trigger-happy but can instruct you to control the warm gun called public speaking responsibly.

Col’s brilliance is in his absolute respect of the audience and a total lack of self-respect. His ego is not in the way when he is speaking. As a frisbee guy, he has learned that to throw something at the audience requires facts, understanding the winds of the minds and making sure that they can get whatever he decides to throw at them.

The lens Col exemplifies is the factual approach and practical application of the message he delivers. He is a no-nonsense speaker but funnily and fundamentally human.

Lisa O’Neill — The magnificent empress of the Fun

When Lisa speaks, somebody will need to wipe the seats dry after her talks. I have tried listening and watching her talking without belly laughs, but it is impossible.

The difference between Lisa and a great stand-up comedian is the depth of the messages and the width of her life experiences. Her oneliners are legends but always tightly anchored to the truth she is talking about. She is not funny because she wants to be funny but because she can inject her sober and sometimes very personal messages into the laughs.

One I can remember well: Lisa talked about her husband, who didn’t speak to her at school when they were teens, and she was determined to catch him and marry him. Lisa said with a straight face, “He didn’t speak to me when I tried to attract his attention. Well, we have been married for decades. And he still doesn’t speak to me”.

She can be polarising, but never without fundamental respect and robust facts supporting her views. Her f-bomb is a mischievous and naughty nod to the fact that we all are equal and should take ourselves too seriously. The entertainment factor comes from the intersection of seriousness and unexpected carried to the audience with feisty wit. Life is enough challenging without being too tight from the wrong places. That’s Lisa’s maxim.

Her observations are so accurate that the audience can recognise them in themselves or if they are not so courageous in the neighbours.

Lisa’s entertainment and fun factor in delivering her messages is a camouflaged love for life and people. Her generosity is legendary, and her talks give hope that springs from the fundamental respect for life and its challenges.

Three separate but strangely similar masters

Matt, Col and Lisa combined are like the Venn diagram I drafted below. They use their primary lens well but always have all of them in use.

And then some more

A great public speaker can frame things well, standing on the giants and referring to them generously. The framings they use when beginning to take the audience on a journey make them approachable. They connect with the audience by reading the room and recognising the different ways we process their messages. Some of us are more left-brain and some right-brain, but masters understand that both can be on the same journey if the invitation is done well.

Hans Rosling

Look, for example, how the late Hans Rosling uses fundamental scientific facts but has all of us finetuned to listen to his message. He is funny, and his thinking is profound.

Benjamin Zander

And then we have Benjamin Zander. He is funny and entertaining but deeply human. He does not force us to believe him; he makes us experience the truths ourselves and accept them after demonstrating their validity. Music is his way of being deeply philosophical.

Sir Ken Robinson

And finally, my all-time favourite, the late Sir Ken Robinson. He is inviting us to space odyssey within us and taking our children with us. In his talks, I can see the three lenses forming a brilliant telescope to explore the galaxies of creativity we are part of.

It requires skill, will and practice

In the Pixar movie Ratatouille, the old chef says to the rat, Remy: –” Anybody can cook, but only the fearless can be great”. Most of us stop because of stage fright.

It is daunting to go in front of an audience. But the fear must not be an excuse to avoid growing. However, we must always face different audiences in the modern and interconnected world. Leaders especially.

The masters I introduced here are masters because they conquered their fears. They conveyed their messages of hope, creativity and endless possibilities in life. It was more important to them to be in service than slaves of self-doubt, imposter syndrome, or fear. So, make a good decision and start learning public speaking. It is one of the essential leadership skills you can — and must — have. I can help you with that.

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