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So, how do you keep your speech from being boring? Because let's face it, nobody likes
to be bored. How many speeches, lectures, presentations have we heard from someone else,
boring us to tears. Well, here's the first step. Prepare your presentation, just as you
normally would, then practice on video and watch yourself. Now I don't want to hear any
excuses. "Oh, I hate watching myself. I don't like my own voice." Tough. Watch the video
of yourself, and tell me what you think. Chances are, your reaction is going to be, "Good god,
T.J., that's really boring." Guess what? You're an accurate judge. You've watched speeches
your whole life. If you think your speech is boring, guess what? You're probably right.
You are boring.
So, just feeling good about it, or putting a smile on your face isn't going to help.
You've actually got to go in, retool your presentation, and make sure it's not boring.
The number one thing most people do to make their speeches boring is they try to cram
in too many facts, too many bullet points, too many numbers. So, so much of being a great
presenter has nothing to do with eye contact, or voice, or hands. So much of being a great
presenter has to do with sitting down, at a chair, at a desk, in front of your computer,
and simply being a better editor. Taking these two hundred facts, narrowing it down to fifty,
and then twenty, and then really just a handful of key points. Then you've got to come up
with examples, case studies, stories, to make these messages, these ideas, come alive. To
make them interesting and relevant. If you do that, you won't be boring.
But the final test, again, you got to practice your new speech, your new edited speech, on
video, watch it. Keep doing it until you can watch a video of yourself and say "Wow. That
speaker' is fascinating. I would love to watch that speaker." When you do that, your boredom
worries are over.