Background: I recently attended a conference by Grow Rich, Stay Rich (GRSR) with the intent not of making a fortune but of learning about speaking from a direct sales pro. This is the second to last leg of that series, focusing on why you should do this yourself. More background here.
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Let’s say that you’re halfway serious about being a better speaker, regardless of what level you’re at now. A good and even fun way to get better is to watch someone who knows what they’re doing (ideally a professional) talking about a subject you have no interest in. It’s counterintuitive I know, but I think it’s worth doing at least once a year. An hour or two a year listening to an uninteresting subject is no great a sacrifice.
It’s hard for me to evaluate a speech and enjoy it at the same time. When I hear a great speaker the first thing that enters my mind is not, “Geez, why don’t I analyze the living hell out of this guy so I can learn his tricks!” Instead I quite naturally sit back, relax, and enjoy what the guy has to say and not obsess on the oratorical gymnastics he’s using.
However… if the speaker is talking about something I don’t much care about then I will pick his speech apart - looking for both good and bad - not only to learn but to entertain myself. Think of my recent attendance at the GRSR conference. How many of us are drawn in by, “Forget everything you know about foreclosures when I tell you about pre-foreclosures, friends!”
Rather than waiting for an uninteresting topic to cross your path (where the speaker may not be that good), why not actively seek one out? I highly recommend you try this at least once. Speaker selection is key. The GRSR invitation literally showed up on my door, but in case you have to go out searching for someone I recommend:
No Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Mystery Science Theater 3000 was a cult TV show where this guy and two robots sat in front of really bad movies and made fun of them. Don’t attend a talk that you know will be bad to do this yourself. First, this is rude even by my standards - even if you hold your jokes until after the presentation ends. Next, you’re much better off watching someone who runs circles around you and trying to figure out how you can copy them than beating up some poor schmuck.
Not Too Hard/Boring- Don’t go to a speaker who’s going to be talking about something over your head, unless you’ve heard that the fellow giving the talk on nano-exobiology has really, really great body language.
No Overly Strong Opinions - While I’m not crazy about GRSR, I didn’t go in having strong opinions against them. If I went to a Nazi Toastmasters USA meeting - beyond the whole creep/evil factor - my feelings would run too strong to learn anything about oratory from them.
TV? - While TV is full of uninteresting and dull material presented by beautiful people who have had lots of speaking training, I recommend going to live events in your community instead. It’s too easy to give up and change the channel on uninteresting television. And besides, you need to get out and live and stop reading this blog, don’t you?
I’ve already shared my thoughts on evaluating the speaker you’re not really qualified to.
I thought the GRSR was a success for my learning, if not gaining me future riches. I got five articles directly and got the ideas for two coming series in which our GRSR speaker is really, really good and will be revisited. You don’t have to be a blogger hero wannabe to learn from a speaker you’re not in love with.