Speaking

Verbal fluency

• Achieved when cognitive load is minimized and working memory is maximized.

Decreasing cognitive load

• eliminate distractions. Get in the zone where it is just you and your audience.
• Keep your emotions in check. When you feel insulted, you are overloading your cognition and it leaves you unable to think straight anymore.

Speech Philosophies

Empowerment promise

• starting off your talk with a bold promise
• ex. by the end of the 60-minute talk you will know things about learning that you never knew before, some of what you incorporate into your daily life

use cycles

• circle back to your main theme at least 3 times.
• reason: people zone out. this cements it in their mind

build a fence

• build a fence around your ideas, distinguishing them from other ideas that may be confused with your own.
• ex. "it sounds similar to this other idea, but the distinguishing factor is..."

Public Speaking

No matter how nervous you feel while speaking in public, you are likely to have an exaggerated sense of how nervous you appear—and this will tend to make your anxiety worse. Watching yourself speak on video can reverse this vicious circle: because discovering that your nerves are not as visible as you fear can lead you to feel increasingly comfortable on stage.

The feeling of anxiety is nearly identical to excitement or some other state of arousal that is not intrinsically negative. You can choose to feel it as a mere influx of energy and even use it as such. This is liberating—and your freedom does not depend on getting rid of these sensations.