This is a fantastic lecture by Professor Patrick Wilson at MIT on how to speak. Communication skills are arguably one of the most critical facets in life. Especially, how to properly speak in front of others is extremely important for professional success - job interviews, conference presentations, project meetings, and so on. In this video, Professor Wilson clearly outlines what are the fundamental building blocks of good speech and how to put them together to clearly communicate with the audience.

• YouTube Link to the lecture video

About the speaker

Professor Patrick Wilson was a computer scientist at the Massachussettes Institute of Technology (MIT). He was director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab from 1972-1997. His doctoral advisor was Marvin Minsky, one of the fathers of modern AI.

Below is the summarization of his talk on the art of speaking.

Success factors in life

Success in one’s life will be determined by below three factors, ordered by importance.

1. Ability to speak
2. Ability to write
3. Quality of ideas

Quality of your speech

Quality of your speech is contingent upon three major factors.

• $K$: knowledge
• $P$: practice
• $T$: inherent talent (very small)

How to start

No Jokes

Starting with jokes is not a good idea because the audience is not ready for a joke.

Empowerment Promise

Instead, tell people what they are going to learn that they didn’t know at the beginning of the hour.

Samples for the speech “armamentarium”

Cycle

Repeatedly emphasize your idea (three times) so that people can remember

Build fence

Build a fence around your idea so that the audience doesn’t confuse it with somebody else’s idea

Verbal punctuation

Provide landmarks where you let the audience to know that it is a good time to “get back on” to the talk

Questions

Ask a question (and wait 7 seconds for an answer) that is neither too hard nor easy.

Time & Place

Ideally, speak at 11 AM, where it is well lit, cased, and reasonably populated.

Tools

• “Empathetic mirroring”: movements in the physical world are mirrored in the brain.

Boards

Boards are useful when informing, teaching, and lecturing.

• Graphics
• Speed
• Target: where to place the hands. Putting hands in your back or pockets can be inappropriate.

Props

Helps the audience remember the details.

Slides

Slides are good when your purpose is exposing, e.g., job talks and conference presentations.

• Common problem: too many slides, too many words

Use slides as condiments, not the main part of talk. Do not use small fonts.

• Important rules

1. Do not read
2. Be in the image
3. Keep images simple
4. Eliminate clutter

• Common crimes

1. Small font size

1. Laser pointers: not recommended

The speaker gets no eye contact, no engagement with the audience.

Rather, put a little arrow on the slide to point out something.

1. The too heavy crime

With 3 or 4 slides having text, let the audience read them with time.

Informing

Promise

Provide promise upfront with something that the audience can learn from the talk.

Inspiration

Be someone who show passion in what you are doing.

How to think

Teach people how to think

Persuading

Job talks

Someone who is familiar with the talk is not good judge of a good presentation.

• Vision: problem & approach
• Done something: steps that need to solve the problem

You have only five minutes to show the two!

• Contributions

Getting famous: being recognized for what you did

• Why care? You get used to being famous, but do not get used to not being recognized for what you have done

• How to get recognized

1. Symbol: arch
2. Slogan: one-shot learning
3. Surprise
4. Salient idea: near miss
5. Story” how you did it, how it works, and why it is important

How to stop

• Final slides

Uncool ways to end a presentation

Finish while summarizing the key contributions

• Final words

1. Telling a joke is okay
2. Do not thank the audience. It is a weak move.
3. Salute the audience: tell how much you valued your time with the audience