In addition to presenting in my classes, I typically give a talk per week in front of groups. People ask me if public speaking makes me nervous. It does not. And I give a lot of credit to my fascination with stand-up comedy. While I’m not a comedian myself, I’ve been a fan of comedians and their process for a long time, and I think there are three lessons that anyone can learn from them about public speaking.
IT’S OK TO DIE
Death is a frequent metaphor for comedians. When they have a great set, they killed. When they have a terrible set, they died on stage. Every comedian I have ever met or read about has died. Often. And they have lived to tell the tale. Once you realize that the downside of speaking is really not so bad, it gets easier to give talks.
WORK IT OUT ON THE ROAD
Once you start giving public talks, you’re likely to speak on the same topic several times. In this way, you’re like a comedian working out a new bit. Comedians will come up with something and practice it, and then try it in front of an audience. You can do the same. Watch the audience closely. You can tell when they are paying attention and when they are mentally somewhere else.
REMEMBER THE ROLE OF THREE
First, it’s easy to remember three elements. Second, the comparison of the first element with the second sets up a schema that creates a set of expectations.When preparing your talks, figure out the three things you want people to remember, and focus on them. Find ways to make comparisons among the elements you are presenting to help your audience generate expectations. Resist the temptation to add more content. Less is more.
One bonus lesson here. Comedians often use callbacks to generate humor. In a callback, they refer to a joke they told previously in the set. By calling back throughout the talk to a point you made earlier, you are giving your audience cues about the information they should remember later.
(Art Markman is a professor of psychology and marketing at the University of Texas at Austin.)
