WEBVTT - Practice 8 times as much

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to remember the eight X rule. You can

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<v Speaker 1>become known as an excellent speaker simply by spending more

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<v Speaker 1>time preparing than most people do. Today's tip is from

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<v Speaker 1>my recent Before Breakfast interview with Bill McGowan. Bill is

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<v Speaker 1>an award winning journalist who now coaches people on giving

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<v Speaker 1>memorable presentations. In our discussion, he mentioned that as a

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<v Speaker 1>general rule of thumb, you should spend eight times as

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<v Speaker 1>much time preparing for a presentation as you will be talking.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you are giving a five minute welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>a group, spend forty minutes practicing. If you are giving

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<v Speaker 1>an hour long quey keynote, spend eight hours practicing. Now

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<v Speaker 1>it is possible that for a really big presentation, let's

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<v Speaker 1>say you are giving a TED talk on the main

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<v Speaker 1>Ted stage, my guess is that you'd spend more time

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<v Speaker 1>than that preparing. But for your average talk, people don't

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<v Speaker 1>spend anywhere near that amount of time preparing. If someone

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<v Speaker 1>is asked to give a toast at a colleague's farewell luncheon,

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<v Speaker 1>my guess is they spend nowhere near eight times the

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<v Speaker 1>amount of airtime practicing that toast. That fifteen minute presentation

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<v Speaker 1>to your team about the new review process also nowhere

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<v Speaker 1>near two hours spent practicing for that, And you know what,

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<v Speaker 1>it probably shows. We sometimes have this idea that some

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<v Speaker 1>people are excellent speakers, or even natural public speakers, and

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<v Speaker 1>some are not. And maybe some people are more inclined

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<v Speaker 1>that way than others. But the biggest difference between people

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<v Speaker 1>who seem to be good at speaking those who aren't

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<v Speaker 1>is how much time the good speakers spreend preparing and practicing.

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<v Speaker 1>If you rehearse your presentation multiple times, you are going

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<v Speaker 1>to do better at it than if you don't. So

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<v Speaker 1>once you have figured out what you intend to say,

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<v Speaker 1>build in eight times the amount of time to practice

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<v Speaker 1>as the length of the talk. This might seem hard,

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<v Speaker 1>but it also might not be. I practice my speeches

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<v Speaker 1>in the car. If I've got a thirty minute talk

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<v Speaker 1>and I am driving an hour to the airport to

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<v Speaker 1>fly somewhere to give it, that could be two rounds

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<v Speaker 1>of practice right there. In the past, people suggested practicing

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<v Speaker 1>in front of a mirror or a friendly colleague, but

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<v Speaker 1>as Bill noted, your phone is one of the best

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<v Speaker 1>options for practicing. Film yourself giving your talk, then watch

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<v Speaker 1>yourself giving the talk. You will learn lot. Though, if

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<v Speaker 1>you have a friendly colleague who might be willing to

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<v Speaker 1>watch the video and give you feedback, that can be

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<v Speaker 1>helpful too. People list public speaking as one of their

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<v Speaker 1>main phobias, but I think this is as much about

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<v Speaker 1>exposure as anything else. Pilots are not frightened of turbulence.

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<v Speaker 1>Professional deep sea divers are not scared of sharks. They

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<v Speaker 1>are fascinated by them. Likewise, if you have practiced a

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<v Speaker 1>talk eight times, including maybe once or twice in front

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<v Speaker 1>of a smaller group, if that is possible, you are

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<v Speaker 1>just not going to be as nervous as if you

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<v Speaker 1>don't do that. And since anxiety and nerves can kill

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of time when you might have been relaxing,

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<v Speaker 1>making time for practice might just be a move that

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<v Speaker 1>seems like it takes time but actually saves time over

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<v Speaker 1>the long run. In the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening, and here's to making the most of our time.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening to before breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura

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<v Speaker 1>vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia.

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