• Last time on the podcast, Kristin Bock gave a masterclass on charisma, body language, and presence. Be sure to check out her LinkedIn and newsletter. And be sure to download her Cue Channel Audit, showing how to amplify your charisma on 6 channels (face, body, voice, space, style, digital).

• This week on the podcast, I’m welcoming Soufyan Hamid, founder of The Finance Circle and a global expert in storytelling with over 17 years of experience. We’ll talk about how to design your next technical presentation, so its message, story, visuals, and delivery move your audience to action. RSVP to join live and RSVP even if you can’t join live, so you can gain access to the recording. RSVP by clicking here.

🎙️ Hey, it’s Chris. Welcome to my newsletter on building influence at work with clear, concise, and confident communication. On to the main material!

Should you speak “differently” on stage vs in conversation? And if so, how differently?

In this article, I break down how to expertly adapt your voice to different speaking situations.

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

Pretend you’re in a small room of 5 people, and you say the text below in a loud, energetic voice. Would it fit, or feel a bit off?

“Today because of technology people can work together in so many different ways. People are developing solutions that solve problems in business medicine and communication in every kind of field”

It would feel really off, right? In a small, intimate setting, we dial the volume of our voice down because people can easily hear. It would be quite inconsiderate and pompous to speak at excessive intensity.

On the other hand, if you’re on stage in front of 100+ people, you can’t use your quiet “small room” voice anymore. Few would be able to hear, even with the help of a microphone.

You need to adjust the “size” of your voice to the “size” of the room you’re speaking in.

What To Do

Check out how Patrick Lencioni, bestselling co-author of “The 6 Types of Working Genius,” delivers the same text. You can click the image below to view him on video: after only about 30 seconds, you’ll get a good sense of Patrick’s technique.

He delivers the text with a dynamic and infectious bravado - because he’s on a huge stage. But now, note the nuance: Do you have to speak with Patrick’s level of energy when you’re on stage?

Absolutely not.

You need to adjust the “size” of your voice to the “size” of the room, but make sure it still feels authentic to you.

For example, maybe you’re more reserved.

• Your natural speaking voice tends to be more quiet. When you’re on stage, you do need to amplify it to fit the space, but you don’t need to make it as loud as Patrick did.

On the other hand, maybe you’re outgoing and expressive.

• Your natural speaking voice tends to be very dynamic. When you’re on stage, you need to amplify it further to fit the space, and you can do so to an even greater extent than Patrick did.

Summary

Whatever your personality is, remember: adjust the “size” of your voice to the “size” of the room, but make sure it still feels authentic to you. You don’t need to be a different person. You just need to be adaptable.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence. Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 5 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 10 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

Refer a friend

• Last time on the podcast, Brent Dykes gave a masterclass in telling effective stories with data. Be sure to give him a follow here and check out more information about his book, services, and masterclass course on his website. As a bonus, we also discussed two of his Forbes’ articles, the first on dashboards vs data stories and the second on executive summary disadvantages.

• This week on the podcast, I’m welcoming Kristin Bock, charisma consultant and founder of Body Language Blueprints. We’ll talk about how to build presence and charisma (even if you’re naturally quiet) to maximize your trust, connection, and influence at work. RSVP to join live and RSVP even if you can’t join live, so you can gain access to the recording. RSVP by clicking here.

🎙️ Hey, it’s Chris. Welcome to my newsletter on building influence at work with clear, concise, and confident communication. On to the main material!

When you’re asked a question, do you jump in immediately to share your thoughts, or take a moment to pause and plan?

In this article, I discuss why organization and foresight are necessary for executive presence.

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

Pretend you ask a speaker, “What is your definition of success?” and you hear them say the following. Consider: does it sound like this person is making things up as they go, or that they actually know what they’re talking about?

“Success is alignment between a few things for example you need to know what your values are that’s very important some people don’t know that and go through life blindly so you also need to know about your current goals of course we have to get through our everyday and what would that all be about if we didn’t enjoy that process I mean if you don’t that’s a pretty poor life experience right?”

This person jumped in immediately with their first thought: “knowing your values”. Because they didn’t have a clear plan for what to say next, they proceeded to make a series of associative tangents.

• Talking about “knowing your values” reminded them of “some people not knowing that” and “going through life blindly”.

• “Going through life blindly” reminded them of “life goals” which reminded them of “enjoying life”.

It’s like they started walking in a straight line, but quickly got distracted by the scenery and started zig-zagging all over the place.

What To Do

Check out how Marshall Goldsmith, bestselling co-author of "What Got You Here Won't Get You There," answers the same question. You can click the image below to view him on video: after only about 30 seconds, you’ll get a good sense of Marshall’s technique.

When asked, “What is your definition of success?” Marshall takes a small pause. Then answers:

“Success is as you go through life you have alignment between your, one, higher aspirations; two, what you’re trying to achieve; and three, enjoyment of the process of life itself”

His response is clean and uncluttered because he planned where he was going. Instead of running through the wild west of his stream of consciousness, he takes a moment to sketch a route, then drives smoothly from one milestone to the next.

He knows what he’s trying to say, so we know what he’s trying to say.

Summary

The next time you’re asked a question, don’t jump straight in. It may be tempting to do so to look like an “expert”, and avoid looking “ignorant”. You might be afraid of the “awkward silence”.

But the truth is: we look like an “expert” when our responses are clear and concise. And our responses are clear and concise if we take a moment to pause and plan.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence. Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 5 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 10 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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• Last time on the podcast, Jovita Tam gave a masterclass for leaders who want to remain resilient in the age of AI. Be sure to give her a follow here.

• This week on the podcast, I’m welcoming Brent Dykes, bestselling author and founder of AnalyticsHero. We’ll talk about how to communicate data and use presentations to influence high-impact business decisions. RSVP to join live and RSVP even if you can’t join live, so you can gain access to the recording. RSVP by clicking here.

🎙️ Hey, it’s Chris. Welcome to my newsletter on building influence at work with clear, concise, and confident communication. On to the main material!

“Charismatic” public speakers do much more than just be “loud” and “confident”.

In this article, I break down how great speakers use rate of speech to continually, subliminally sustain your interest.

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

Think about your favorite pop song. Hum it.

• Notice it has parts that go faster - around the chorus with the most exciting, intense, and singable lyrics.

• It also has parts that go slower - around the verse where we give more detail and dive deeper in the story.

You would not enjoy that song as much if it had one speed the entire time. Like a rollercoaster, it’s the ups and downs - the variety - that keeps you interested.

Same goes for public speaking. Read the text below and pretend a speaker says it at the same, consistent rate of speech without pausing, speeding up or slowing down. Would you lean in, or tune out?

“Next time you use the restroom, you take your phone with you. Gross, I know, but it happens to be the number one location we actually take our phones. So, you properly sit and you decide, I’m just going to mindlessly scroll for a minute. And before you know it, your bum kind of hurts. Oh my. It’s been 32 minutes. Uh huh. That’s 1,920 seconds where your brain went numb”

Most likely, you’d tune out. No matter how interesting the words themselves are, a boring delivery will make for a boring experience.

What To Do

Check out how Sol Rashidi, bestselling author of "Your AI Survival Guide," delivers the same text - musically. You can click the image below to view her on video: after only about 30 seconds, you’ll get a good sense of Sol’s technique.

Below I’ve annotated how Sol adjusts the speed of her delivery, and how that affects your experience of her words:

[Regular spelling speed] “Next time you use the restroom and you take your phone with you …”

• You’re listening, and being pulled into her description.

[Faster] “Gross, I know, but it happens to be the number one location we actually take our phones.”

• Sol speaks and moves faster because that’s what we’d do if we saw something “gross” - we’d try to escape as fast as possible.

[Slower] “So, you properly sit and you decide, I’m just going to mindlessly scroll for a minute. And before you know it, your bum kind of hurts.”

• Sol again physically manifests her words. She speaks slower to help you imagine getting comfortable on the toilet and mindlessly scrolling.

[Even slower] “Oh my. It’s been 32 minutes.”

• By slowing down even more, Sol makes you dwell on this realization. You’ve been on the toilet a very long time.

[Faster] “Uh huh. That’s 1,920 seconds where your brain went numb.”

• Then Sol speeds up to snap you back and make you see the consequence: you’ve put your brain on autopilot for 1,920 seconds.

Every adjustment in speed was done purposefully to engross you in the scene, and pull you along for the ride.

Summary

Use the speed of your voice to make your words sing.

• Speed up for the exciting, intense parts of your material.

• Slow down for the most poignant, most contemplative sections.

Your voice must be interesting for it to be heard.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence.

*My current focus: a section on how to deliver presentations that get remembered. This will be a deep-dive into how to successfully adapt to your audience in real-time during a presentation to give them a memorable experience.

Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 5 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 10 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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If you can help, it’s an easy two steps.

1. First step is hit the Refer button below. When you click on the button, it’ll redirect you to my Leaderboard page where you can track how many people you’ve referred. In the middle of the page is a special link you can share with anyone in your network. Any people who become subscribers using that link are credited to you!

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(Another option - if you hit the “Share” button on any of my past posts and share it with your network, anyone who becomes a subscriber after clicking is credited to you).

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• Custom list of video recs for 5 referrals. Share what area of communication you want to work on with me, and I’ll compile a list of top videos from my channel I recommend to help you start making headway.

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• Last week on the podcast, Cindy Skalicky gave a masterclass on the top 5% executive communication skills. A 2 minute explanation of those skills is available here. Cindy’s bestseller Red Light Green Light also just released its audiobook version. Click here to check it out.

• This week on the podcast, I’m welcoming Jovita Tam, Attorney, Speaker, and Board Advisor. We’ll talk about the skills leaders need to succeed and remain resilient in the fast-moving modern workplace. RSVP to join live and RSVP even if you can’t join live, so you can gain access to the recording. RSVP by clicking here.

🎙️ Hey, it’s Chris. Welcome to my newsletter on building influence at work with clear, concise, and confident communication. On to the main material!

I’ve seen great slides miss one ingredient that instantly sours their impact: a poor title.

In this article, I break down why the title is so important and how to craft a great one.

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

Take a look at this slide and count how many seconds it takes to see its point, its “so what."

Here’s how long it took me, step by step:

• 2 seconds: I read the title and don’t see the point. All I see is what different variables are present.

• 2 seconds: I try to look at the charts to figure out what the point is.

• 1 second: I see three socio-economic groups, “Low, Middle, and High”, corresponding to the “three socio-economic groups” in the title.

• 4 seconds: I see the colored portion of each bar, corresponding to the “B.A. completion rate”. I realize: the “High” socio-economic group generally has a higher completion rate than the lower socio-economic groups.

• 4 seconds: I finally see the “four groups of math test scores”: “Lowest quartile”, “Second”, “Third”, “Highest”. I realize: the “highest” quartiles have the highest completion rate compared to the lower quartiles.

• 3 seconds: Ok, it seems this is the chart’s point: the higher the socio-economic group and quartile you’re in, the more likely you are to complete your B.A.

Look how long that took: absolutely unacceptable.

What To Do

Check out how American economist Susan Dynarski presents the same slide. You can click the image below to view her on video: after only about a minute, you’ll get a good sense of Susan’s technique.

This is the slide Susan presented:In one second I see the point, brandished proudly at the top of the slide in a short, snappy, jargon-free sentence: “Many smart, poor kids don’t get BA”. I immediately understand why Susan is showing this slide and why this data matters.

That’s exactly what a presentation should do: save the audience time and reduce their cognitive load.

Summary

Every slide you make should have a concise title - readable in a second or less - that conveys the point or “so what”. The subtitle (if applicable) should contain more detail about “what” is being shown, for reference.

By organizing slides in this format, you make the audience care first, then deepen their understanding.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence.

*My current focus: a section on how to properly rehearse for a critical presentation. This will be a deep-dive into every step to take, in the days leading up to your big day, to make sure you look and feel your best.

Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

Refer a friend

• Last week on the podcast, James Warren gave a masterclass in storytelling for leaders and shared his FREE live event on July 28 - how to build belonging in organizations and improve the employee experience. Check it out here: https://www.linkedin.com/events/7480280170436739073?viewAsMember=true

• This week on the podcast, I’m welcoming Cindy Skalicky, CEO of On Point Communications. We’ll talk about executive presence and the top 5% executive communication skills you need to succeed in the workplace today. RSVP to join live and RSVP even if you can’t join live, so you can gain access to the recording. RSVP by clicking here.

🎙️ Hey, it’s Chris. Welcome to my newsletter on building influence at work with clear, concise, and confident communication. On to the main material!

As public speakers, here’s the truth: our audiences are busy and distracted. They won’t listen unless we get to the point.

In this article, I break down the secret to being exceptionally concise.

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

Pretend someone asks: “What skill should modern leaders have?”

You say:

“You need to understand employee needs: they might need more hand holding, or you need to back off cause they know what they’re doing. You need to key into individual needs and provide it”

Great answer. You don’t ramble, waffle, or go off into tangents. You give clear examples, and even a call to action.

But the bar is high in the modern workplace. If you want people to remember what you said, you need something extra…

What To Do

Check out how Angela Cheng-Cimini, global leader in HR, answers the same question. You can click the image below to view her on video: after only about 30 seconds, you’ll get a good sense of Angela’s technique.

After being asked, “What skill should modern leaders have?”, Angela responds:

“Empathy.

You need to understand employee needs: they might need more hand holding, or you need to back off cause they know what they’re doing.

You need to key into individual needs and provide it”

Notice how your perspective completely shifted after the opening word, putting everything else into focus.

Psychologically, this is what happened: your brain has a bias known as the serial position effect, priming you to recall the first and last thing you hear:¹

• You remember the first thing easily because your cognitive capacity is highest at the beginning of a response.

• As the response proceeds, processing power is expanded on all the subsequent information, making it more difficult to remember.

• By that reasoning, the last thing you hear should be the hardest to remember, no? Well, here’s the nuance: the last thing you hear is also the freshest in your memory buffer, making it easier to pick out.

Angela’s guiding word “empathy” and her ending call to action are therefore the easiest things to remember.

Summary

Put your most important words, phrases, or sentences at the beginning of your response to set the stage, and at the end to make your message resonate. That’s how you cut through the noise and get people to listen.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence.

*My current focus: a section on editing and revising a presentation. This will be a deep-dive into knowing what to keep and cut: how to fine-tune a presentation for a smooth, impactful delivery.

Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

Sources

¹Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, "Evidence for Attentional Gradient in the Serial Position Memory Curve from Event-related Potentials"

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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• Last week on the podcast, Libby Magliolo gave a masterclass in executive presentation and shared her FREE AI Presentation Mastery Bundle, which teaches how to use AI to build better presentations faster. Check it out here: https://payhip.com/b/5wBhT

• This week on the podcast, I’m welcoming James Warren, CEO of Share More Stories. We’ll talk about how to tell great business stories, a fundamental skill for influence and executive presence in the age of AI. RSVP to join live and RSVP even if you can’t join live, so you can gain access to the recording. RSVP by clicking here.

🎙️ Hey, it’s Chris. Welcome to my newsletter on building influence at work with clear, concise, and confident communication. On to the main material!

This is Episode 3 in my book writing journey. In case you missed the previous entries, here they are:

• Episode 1: How I Planned My First Book: The 3 Biggest Challenges

• Episode 2: How I Completed My Book’s First Draft: The 3 Biggest Gaps

Hiring the right coach is a pivotal decision. With the right person, your learning accelerates in a transformative way. With the wrong person, you can be set back. I’ve had clients tell me they worked with other public speaking coaches in the past but it wasn’t the right fit, leading to a wasted investment.

I therefore wanted to be careful finding the right editor. I wanted someone who shared my values:

• Responsive and communicative

• Experienced and detail-oriented

• Not just looking to make another transaction, but go the extra mile to identify my goals and exceed them

The editor I chose, Sarah Busby, made an effort to get to know me from the beginning: she checked out my website and YouTube channel, and gave me advice about the overall publishing process. In her edits, she went above and beyond to understand the unique approach I was taking with the book (making it interactive and hands-on, rather than pure text), and give meticulous comments explaining all her recommendations.

These were the biggest edits she helped make:

Edit #1:

Sentences

I’m not good with sticking to grammar or punctuation standards. I used colons excessively, hyphens incorrectly…my editor cleaned up my prose and gave it extra polish.

Here’s an original quote from my book:

I realized: speaking is not writing. It is not the robotic recitation of a pre-planned, perfectly edited product. Speaking is the animate improvisation of our thinking to the living, breathing needs of the moment.

Here’s the revision my editor made:

I realized: speaking is not writing. It is not the robotic recitation of a pre-planned, perfectly edited product. Speaking brings our thoughts to life through improvisation; it’s how to respond, spontaneously, to the living, breathing needs of the moment.

Here’s another original quote:

Based on last section, you now understand the way conversation should flow. It should not be you dismissing, deflecting, or outright denying someone else’s point of view. It should be you meeting them where they are and aligning with their way of thinking (with the other person doing the same if you’re incredibly lucky).

And here’s the revision my editor made:

Based on the last section, you now understand the way conversation should flow. It should not be you dismissing, deflecting, or outright denying someone else’s point of view. It should be you meeting them where they are and aligning with their way of thinking (and, if you’re lucky, the other person should do the same).

With a few tweaks, she better and more clearly captured the essence of my ideas.

Edit #2:

Sections

After spending so much time with my material, I also became too close to it. My editor helped pinpoint spots where my logic wasn’t clear.

For example, I originally had a section on goal-setting, where I talk about the importance of setting specific, objective goals for your communication. In other words, you want your goals to be specific (and ideally quantitative) so you can measure your progress, and you want them to be an objective, consistent standard. My editor helped me see the word “objective” was a little confusing. (Goals aren’t really “objective” since each person sets them for themselves!)

We decided to go with the word phrase “specific, realistic goals” instead, which felt better aligned with my intent. Changes, additions, and subtractions like that throughout the book ensured the reader understood the material just as well as me.

Edit #3:

Structure

My formatting in the book got a bit complicated. I wanted to include plenty of examples of effective vs ineffective conversations, effective vs ineffective stories…As a teacher, I’ve found my clients benefit most when they can see what to do vs what not to do (rather than just being fed theory).

Unfortunately, that led to special formatting for quotes, hand gestures, tone of voice, keywords, and much more. My editor helped preserve the essential parts, and cut down on the excess.

She also helped me realize I had overlooked an entire portion of my book! I had written titles for each of the 9 chapters, but neglected to include titles for the 3 sections in each chapter. By adding in those section titles, it helped make it immediately clear to the reader what milestones they would pass and what benefits they would gain along the way.

I am so grateful to have worked with someone who pushed my ideas to their fullest potential and am very proud of the book in its final, written form.

What’s the next step? Illustrating and formatting - this is going to be a visual book with plenty of beautiful diagrams and illustrations! Stay tuned for more updates :)

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

Refer a friend

🎙️ Hey, it’s Chris. Welcome to my newsletter on building influence at work with clear, concise, and confident communication. On to the main material!

When you speak on a big stage in front of a large audience, do you act like…yourself? Or do you act like the formal, professional “expert” you want to be seen as?

In this article, I break down why taking a natural, conversational approach creates an environment more conducive for connection and engagement.

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

When people attend a presentation, they don’t want to be talked “at”. If you don’t normally talk with a sophisticated affectation, words like these can be perceived as condescending:

“If the time has been allocated on the calendar, there should be no objection to utilizing that time accordingly, irrespective of whether the activity involves video games or football”

People also don’t want to be talked “down” to, like the sentence below. Speaking with excessive informality can be perceived as disrespectful:

“Chill out. Just do the thing you put in your calendar, it’s all good. I know it’s probably video games or football or some BS”

What To Do

Check out how Nir Eyal, bestselling author of Indistractable, balances both extremes to deliver the same message. You can click the image below to view him on video: after only about a minute, you’ll get a good sense of Nir’s technique.

Consider this sentence:

“If you’ve made time on your schedule to enjoy these things, great. Do them. Right? We need to stop moralizing and medicalizing and somehow saying, oh, playing video games, that’s morally reprehensible, but watching football on TV, that’s ok. Why?”

It’s natural and conversational, but respectful and competent. Notice how Nir is making the audience a part of the “conversation” by verbalizing their thoughts:

1. [First, Nir makes his point] “If you’ve made time on your schedule to enjoy these things, great. Do them. Right?”

2. [Next, Nir anticipates what the audience is thinking, and says it out loud] “We need to stop moralizing and medicalizing and somehow saying, oh, playing video games, that’s morally reprehensible, but watching football on TV, that’s ok.”

3. [Lastly, Nir responds to the audience’s counter-arguments by pointing out their internal inconsistency. Why are some activities ok to do, and some are not?] “Why?”

Instead of talking “at” his audience like spectators or talking “down” at them like chums, Nir talks “with” them: he lets them feel like peers. They’re all at a table having a conversation together.

Summary

Your audience will connect with you much more readily if you treat them as part of your social group. Don’t put on airs, talk how you normally do, and let them feel included and understood. That’s how you make your material click.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence.

*My current focus: a section on editing and revising a presentation. This will be a deep-dive into knowing what to keep and cut: how to fine-tune a presentation for a smooth, impactful delivery.

Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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🎙️ Hey, it’s Chris. Welcome to my newsletter on building influence at work with clear, concise, and confident communication. To get free personalized recommendations on leveling up your communication skills, check out my self-assessment.

There is a dizzying array of advice out there on public speaking gestures: what to do with your hands, what shapes to make…

In this article, I break down one easy way to use your hands and quickly look like an expert.

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

Read this sentence and consider what gestures you would use to express it:

“What if I told you, there’s a skill in the world, that everyone can learn, and not just learn but get good at, that will empower us to understand data better, and make a data, informed, decision?”

You’re already one step ahead. Many speakers will not consider what gestures to use. They’ll move their hands around as they talk without direction, creating a flurry of unhelpful, visual noise.

Or they’ll land on the other extreme and plan every single gesture. That’s like an actor on stage performing rehearsed lines. Not a public speaker giving an authentic performance.

What To Do

Check out how Jordan Morrow, TEDx speaker and the "Godfather" of data literacy, delivers the same sentence. You can click the image below to view him on video: after only about a minute, you’ll get a good sense of Jordan’s technique.

Jordan doesn’t flail around aimlessly or plan gestures for individual words.

He moves naturally and spontaneously, yet purposefully, pausing after each of the phrases below and gesturing with his dominant hand - simply moving it upward as if to flag the phrase as important.

Practice reading each phrase below with a similar, simple gesture at the end:

“What if I told you”

“that there is legitimately a skill in the world”

“that everyone can learn”

“and not just learn but get good at”

“that will empower us to understand data and information better”

“and then to make a data, informed, decision?”

Like the conductor of an orchestra, this is how you masterfully direct your audience’s attention.

Summary

As you develop your dexterity as a public speaker, you’ll add more gestures to your repertoire that fit your style and personality. But consider this technique as a handy starting point: Pause at the end of each phrase, and punctuate that ending with a gesture - to verbally and visually re-engage your audience’s attention.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence.

*My current focus: a section on building a presentation from scratch. This will be a deep-dive into every step in the presentation preparation process, from pitching a presentation to crafting the outline to designing the slides.

Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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A presentation is made or broken by its beginning.

In this article, I reveal the secret to grabbing your audience’s attention and never letting go: the opening hook.

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

Consider this beginning of a presentation on the founding of Doordash, the food delivery company:

“Doordash began when I signed a 15 million dollar deal with Sequoia”

It’s not bad. The “15 million” number signals this is a significant deal. And “Sequoia” is a big brand name.

But are you hooked? If you had the choice to swipe away or continue reading, you would most likely swipe - because there’s much more interesting content out there…

What To Do

Check out how Stanley Tang, co-founder of DoorDash, tells his story. You can click the image below to view him on video: after only about a minute, you’ll get a good sense of Stanley’s technique.

Stanley says:

“I want to start with this photo because I realized how ridiculous the combination of things was. There’s my Computer science homework, my tax forms, a yellow speeding ticket, and below that a 15 million dollar piece of paper I signed from Sequoia. That’s how ridiculous the journey has been creating DoorDash and I want to share that story with you today”

Why is this hook so much better?

Just like the original hook, it previews the topic of the talk (the founding of Doordash) and sparks curiosity. But it ALSO connects emotionally.

You’re not just listening to some entrepreneur share generic advice. You’re listening to Stanley share his personal story. The nostalgic detail gives you a glimpse into Stanley’s mind and lets you step inside his shoes. You care about what happens next - because Stanley cares so much about it.

Summary

No matter how technical or complex your talk is, you can find a hook that fulfills all 3 requirements:

1. Connects emotionally

2. Sparks curiosity

3. Previews the main message

After all, if you’ve been asked to give a presentation, your audience cares about this material. Figure out why they do: the underlying issue they’re experiencing or overarching goal they’re aspiring for.

• Maybe sales are going down because of a failed marketing campaign.

• Or efficiency has slowed because we’re not hitting our hiring targets.

Leverage that emotional core in your hook and you have your audience’s emotional investment.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence.

*My current focus: a section on how to customize presentations for different audiences. This will be a deep-dive into audience analysis: how to understand your audience’s pains and priorities so you can best prepare your material.

Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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When you speak, the audience isn’t just paying attention to your words. Your tone of voice and nonverbal body language subliminally influence their understanding.

In this article I break down the psychological effect of emotion on judgement and decision-making.

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

According to the appraisal-tendency framework of cognition, emotions reveal implicit goals, giving a glimpse into a speaker’s inner world and tendencies for action:¹

• Anxiety, for example, reveals a perception of uncertainty and low sense of control. It motivates action that decreases risk.

• Sadness reveals a sense of loss and a desire to improve one’s circumstances.

• Anger, on the other hand, reveals a perception of certainty and feeling of high control. It motivates action to overcome the threat.

• Disgust reveals a sense of contamination, and desire to expel the contaminant.

Consider this text, for example, expressed with anger:

“They knew they didn’t want to work with me. Why? I’m humiliated. Then that turns to anger at the board. And it stings”

You infer the speaker feels certain they are right and the board is wrong. You predict they will take action to change the board’s mind. But what if there is a lot more nuance under the surface…

What To Do

Check out how Andrew Sykes, CEO of Habits at Work, delivers the same text:

“They knew they didn’t want to work with me. Why? I’m humiliated. Then that turns to anger at the board. And it stings”

You can click the image below to view him on video: after only about a minute, you’ll get a good sense of Andrew’s technique.

Andrew delivers the words with the following emotions:

1. [Resentment] “They knew they didn’t want to work with me”

2. [Curiosity] “Why?”

3. [Humiliation] “I’m humiliated”

4. [Anger] “Then that turns to anger at the board”

5. [Sadness] “And it stings”

And those nuances influence your interpretation: Andrew is not just “angry” at the perceived injustice, and hoping to get back at the board. He is also uncertain about their reasoning, and feels a sense of loss for his opportunity. He hopes he can improve his actions to avoid this setback in the future.

The precision in Andrew’s emotional nuance allows the audience to understand, connect, and empathize with him on a much deeper, human level.

Summary

When you speak, think about not only the words you want to say, but the emotions you want to deliver them with. Are you just frustrated? Or are you also disappointed, maybe even guilty? Like a great painter expresses colors precisely to match the atmosphere of a scene, great speakers express their emotions precisely to reveal goals, motivations, and values, giving the audience a more intimate appreciation of them and their material.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence.

*My current focus: a section on presenting data. This will be a deep-dive into using data and charts to support our point, without overwhelming our audience.

Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

Sources

¹Annual Review of Psychology, "Emotion and Decision Making"

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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How do you design slides for complex, highly-detailed information … without overwhelming your audience?

In this article, I break down the secret: the gradual reveal technique.

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

Pretend a speaker is telling you about famous inventions from the 19th century and they pull up the slide below:

Likely, your brain feels a bit heavy. And this has to do with working memory: the limited canvas your brain uses to process new information.¹

The more new information your brain is asked to process at once, the more cognitive load you experience, the more overwhelmed you feel, and the less you actually retain.

This slide is requiring you to process not just 3 different images, but 3 pieces of text related to those images containing names, dates, and actions. It’s as if the speaker just tossed several heavy balls into the air. And you only have 2 hands to catch them with.

What To Do

Here’s how Jon Krohn, bestselling author of “Deep Learning Illustrated,” delivers this message. You can click the image below to view him on video: after only about a minute, you’ll get a good sense of Jon’s technique.

Instead of showing everything at once, he gradually reveals one new piece at a time:

Jon allows you to process each new piece fully before moving on, reducing the cognitive load on your working memory, and optimizing your learning experience.

Summary

Slides should be simple, visual support for your words. Let them be understandable in a few seconds or less.

If you need to present complex, detailed information, aim to break it up into easily digestible pieces. Then gradually reveal each piece, one at a time, so your audience is never overwhelmed.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence.

*My current focus: a section on slide design. This will be a psychological primer on how audiences perceive visual information and how to organize that information on slides in an engaging way.

Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

Sources

¹ National Library of Medicine, "Working Memory Underpins Cognitive Development, Learning, and Education"

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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A lot of presentation advice out there focuses on what content to include, and what content to cut. Not enough focuses on the order of material.

In this article, I break down the right and wrong way to order points in your presentations.

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

Consider the following passage and order of points. Is it effective, or could it be improved?

“There are two leadership responsibilities: creation of psychological safety and motivation of high performance. And you can split that into four quadrants: if there is high safety and high motivation that’s where learning happens, if there is high safety but not motivation people don’t want to be there, if you have neither safety nor motivation then you get apathy, if you have motivation but no safety you get anxiety”

Tons of important information. But a horrible order. The speaker talks about:

1. High safety, high motivation (best)

2. High safety, no motivation (so-so)

3. No safety, no motivation (worst)

4. High motivation, no safety (so-so)

Why do we have to start with the “best” and end with “so-so”? It’s like eating a four-course meal, with a fantastic appetizer … and average dessert. You’re left feeling “so-so” about the entire experience.

What To Do

Here’s how Amy Edmondson, bestselling author of “Right Kind of Wrong” delivers this message. You can click the image below to view her on video: after only about a minute, you’ll get a good sense of Amy’s technique.

This is her order:

1. No safety, no motivation (worst)

2. High safety, no motivation (so-so)

3. High motivation, no safety (so-so)

4. High safety, high motivation (best)

She starts with the “worst” and ends with the “best”.

Summary

In a presentation it may be tempting to give your most important, most interesting point first. But think about the consequences big picture: what’s left for your audience to look forward to?

Instead, ensure each point builds meaningfully to the next. Make the order feel so inevitable that if you were to arrange them a different way, the presentation would no longer work. Like a story that builds to a climactic conflict, or a piece of music that builds to a resounding finale, save the best for last.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence.

*My current focus: a section on the purpose of slides in presentations. This will be a deep-dive into correcting common mistakes made on business slides.

Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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When you speak, it’s not just your words that convey meaning. It’s your tone that plays a huge part in people’s interpretation.

In this article, I break down the different ways we can use tone to support, amplify, or even purposefully contradict the point we’re making.

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

Consider this sentence:

“I need a boundary with you, I don’t need that perspective in my life right now”

At first glance, it seems there’s only one way to understand those words.

But that’s because we’re assuming intent.

Based on your experience in similar situations hearing similar words, you likely assumed this was said in an angry, aggressive tone of voice. But many other tones are possible…

What To Do

What if we read this sentence in a sad tone of voice:

“I need a boundary with you, I don’t need that perspective in my life right now”

In other words: “How could you do that?”

Or an amused tone of voice:

“I need a boundary with you, I don’t need that perspective in my life right now”

In other words: “I’m just playing around, I don’t really mean what I’m saying”

Or, check out how Elaine Lin Hering, bestselling author of Unlearning Silence, delivers that sentence. You can click the image below to view her on video: after only about 30 seconds, you’ll get a good sense of Elaine’s tone.

She says it in a calm, yet assertive, tone of voice:

“I need a boundary with you, I don’t need that perspective in my life right now”

In other words: “I get where you’re coming from, but please respect my space”

Summary

Think of how many other ways you can say that sentence. Maybe with humiliation or resignation or disbelief or guilt…

There are so many layers of nuance you can add to seemingly straightforward words. Just like in music, it’s not just the notes that carry importance. It’s the way you sing them and harmonize them that make the piece complete.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence.

*My current focus: a section on mastering vocal variety. This will be a deep-dive into techniques for adjusting the musicality of your voice and continually re-engage your audience’s attention.

Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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How do you look confident as a public speaker, without looking arrogant?

In this article, I break down the two nonverbal ingredients you need: warmth and competence.

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

Consider a speaker saying this sentence while rolling their eyes at the audience, throwing their hands up with dismissive gestures, and pointing entirely to themselves:

“We hired 6000 employees to make sure we can scale our business”

That would be seen as arrogant. Because it’s “competent”, dominant, even confrontational. But not warm.

In her book “Cues: Master the Secret Language of Charismatic Communication”, Vanessa Van Edwards describes four quadrants of nonverbal perception:

1. Low warmth and low competence: Not liked or respected

2. Low warmth and high competence: Not liked, but respected

3. High warmth and low competence: Liked but not respected

4. High warmth and high competence: Liked and respected

As public speakers we need to aim for Quadrant 4: High warmth and high competence, which equals confidence and charisma.

What To Do

Check out how Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom, demonstrates high warmth AND high competence in his public speaking. You can click the image below to view him on video: after only about 30 seconds, you’ll get a good sense of Eric’s technique.

Eric doesn’t speak with zero body language (low warmth, low competence)

• Or with dominant, self-centered body language (low warmth, high competence)

• Or with inviting but disorderly body language (high warmth, low competence)

He speaks with dominant, yet open body language: an expansive posture with wide gestures, taking up the space around him.

You understand he is confident and proud of what he accomplished, but also humble and willing to improve.

Summary

In a mirror or front-facing camera, look at yourself: is your body language contracted with arms close to the chest and torso slouched inward? Or is it egotistical, dismissive, and erratic? Avoid those at all costs.

Find the combination of postures and expressions that lets you feel authentically warm and authentically competent.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence.

*My current focus: a section on mastering body language. This will be a deep-dive into how to use hand gestures and facial expressions to complement our words and elevate our message.

Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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This is Episode 2 in my book writing journey. In case you missed the previous entry, here it is:

• Episode 1: How I Planned My First Book: The 3 Biggest Challenges

A book is like a child. At the beginning of a child’s life, you give everything. Every detail of their everyday is crafted with the utmost care so they’re as happy and comfortable as possible.

In the same way, I spent weeks outlining every single chapter, section, and sub-section of my book. Crafting every piece with the utmost care, so they connected to each other in a logical way, and felt part of a larger whole. I spent sleepless nights then filling in the words until, after months of toil, my vision finally came together!

BUT as we all know, a child eventually grows up. And a book … eventually takes on a life of its own.

When I started to re-read my manuscript from the beginning, I realized how many gaps there were! These were the most egregious ones:

Gap #1:

The Introduction

I put so much pressure on myself to get the introduction right - because if I didn’t, who would want to read the rest?

My original introduction jumped straight into my story as a shy kid who was terrified of talking to anyone, and the teacher who changed my life forever. But upon re-read I realized: Who cares?

I don’t mean anything to the reader at this point, so my struggles aren’t relevant. I decided to revamp the introduction to highlight struggles the reader likely feels: not being heard in a noisy world, feeling like they’re speaking but not having impact - all the reasons they opened the book in the first place.

Then I end the introduction by showing how I close that gap: I don’t just teach communication technique. I teach how to think - critically and holistically so we intuitively understand what good communication is, and how to effortlessly deliver it.

Gap #2:

My Section on Communicating Data

My book is about effective communication for business leaders in any industry, technical and non-technical. I wanted to include a section on communicating data, since data has become a fundamental part of modern decision-making, but I really struggled with where to put it.

After a lot of trial and error, I decided to add it to my section on slide design. My reasoning: when presenting, we need data to show sources other than ourselves are making a claim, and to make our assertions more clear and precise.

• If I say something is “better”, for example, how much better? I need data.

• If I say something is a “premium” market, what exactly does that mean? I need data.

Numbers facilitate comparison, letting us evaluate current progress vs future goals, so we can make specific, well-informed decisions.

Gap #3:

My Section on Delivering Presentations

Because I spent so much time teaching this material for years, I’d forgotten what was common knowledge. I unintentionally skipped over certain steps throughout the book because I assumed they were known.

For example, in my chapter on presentation I realized I forgot to discuss:

• Why you should take the time to know your audience

• How to understand an audience’s needs if you can’t speak with them directly

• How to customize a presentation for different audiences

• How to speak to mixed audiences (containing people with a variety of goals and challenges)

I had to completely revise the chapter to add in the new material, and make sure it seamlessly connected to the rest.

Ultimately, I am grateful for this writing experience. By forcing me to account for every gap in my knowledge, I became a better speaker, teacher, and trainer - because my understanding of the material became that much deeper.

What’s the next phase of book writing? Doing even more revisions and then … hiring a professional editor. More updates to come!

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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Humor is so hard to do in public speaking.

You might think you’re killing it up there. But all your jokes might be dying on impact.

In this article, I break down how to do humor right when you present, so you don’t unintentionally offend everyone:

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

According to the benign violation theory of humor, something is funny if it’s a “benign violation.”¹

Let’s break that down:

“Violation” means you contradict someone’s expectations.

For example:

1. You’re sitting with headphones in, and expect no one to talk to you. Then someone grabs your phone.

2. You go up to stage and people expect you to speak. But you slip and fall.

Both those examples are violations but they’re not funny. Because they’re not “benign”.

“Benign” means your audience perceives the violation as a false alarm. They don’t consider it to be dangerous or distasteful.

For example:

1. You’re sitting with headphones in, and expect no one to talk to you. Then someone grabs your phone … and replaces it with a more expensive one.

2. You go up to stage and people expect you to speak. But you slip, fall … and do a little dance on the way back up.

The joke sets itself up to be a violation at the beginning. Then the “punchline” at the end sucks the danger out, so you perceive it as benign.

A joke that is too benign or too much of a violation therefore isn’t funny. You need to hit the “sweet spot” in between.

What To Do

Consider this case study. You’re a public speaker who specializes in presentation skills. You’re explaining to an audience what “bad slides” look like in their company, and you show them this bad slide they made:

You want to make the audience laugh. So you plan to say, “I realized where this slide’s inspiration came from” and reveal a funny image. Let’s go through three options you could use:

Option 1:

It’s not funny. Because it doesn’t violate expectations. We all know the slide was probably inspired by company templates and guidelines.

Option 2:

Think about the audience. What you’re saying with this image is their slides are as bad as s***. That may be funny to you. Not funny to them - because it’s not benign and hurts their ego.

Option 3:

This is the image Garr Reynolds, bestselling author of “Presentation Zen,” uses to make his joke:

His live audience cracks up because it’s a violation of expectation (no one saw that coming). And it’s benign. Garr’s point is that “bad slides” have too many flashy things going on, just like kid’s cereal boxes.

You can watch Garr deliver the full joke by clicking on the image below and viewing him on video. He gets to the punch line about 30 seconds into the clip:

Summary

To be funny during your presentations, take the time to understand your audience. Understand what they consider to be a violation and what they consider to be benign. Err on the side of caution, since this is a professional environment, and people may have different cultural, societal, and professional expectations for what is acceptable.

But manage to hit that “sweet spot” of humor, and your audience will adore you.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence.

*My current focus: a section on enhancing storytelling with emotional expression. This will be a deep-dive into identifying the right emotion that moves your audience from resistant to receptive.

Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

Sources

¹ National Library of Medicine, “You Must Be Joking! Benign Violations, Power Asymmetry, and Humor in a Broader Social Context”

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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When you think of a “public speaker”, you probably think of someone who’s “loud” and “intense”.

In this article, I debunk that myth by showing how skillful public speaking isn’t about volume or intensity. It’s about contrast:

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

Pretend you’re attending a talk, and the speaker shouts the following:

“I don’t have a pain reliever problem. I solved my pain reliever problem 20 years ago by buying the generic or the yellow box or the cheap one. Well this is your challenge. You are busy trying to sell something that solves a problem people don’t think they have. And if you’re showing up trying to sell something that people don’t think they need, they’re not going to listen to you. That’s a challenge”

No matter how charismatic the speaker, if they’re constantly yelling, it’s going to get old fast. It would feel like this image: noisy, flashy, with everything equally loud and unimportant.

What To Do

Check out how Seth Godin, bestselling author of “This is Strategy,” delivers the same message. You can click the image below to view him on video: after only about 30 seconds, you’ll get a good sense of Seth’s technique.

I’ve used boldness to indicate where Seth purposefully increases the volume and intensity:

“And the reason is simple. I don’t have a pain reliever problem. I solved my pain reliever problem 20 years ago by buying the generic or the yellow box or the cheap one. Well this is your challenge. You are busy trying to sell something that solves a problem people don’t think they have. And if you’re showing up trying to sell something that people don’t think they need, they’re not going to listen to you. That’s a challenge”

That line stands out because everything else is less loud and less intense.

It feels like this image:

The very first thing you perceive is the line for B. It is the “loudest” and most “intense” line, with everything else grey and more transparent.

You instantly understand that line is the most important part of the image.

Just like you immediately understood this line “You are busy trying to sell something that solves a problem people don’t think they have” is the most important part of Seth’s message.

Summary

When you speak, identify where you want the peak of your narrative or your climax of your message to be. Give it an appropriate contrast in volume and intensity so it stands out among all the other sentences.

That’s how you sustainably engage your audience and masterfully direct their attention.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence.

*My current focus: a section on storytelling. This will be a psychological primer on telling business stories that inspire action, using a reproducible formula.

Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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“Body language matters” is a common public speaking tip. But what exactly does it mean in practice?

In this article, I break down how to maximize your body language for on-stage and on-camera presence:

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

Imagine this sentence said with hands in pockets, face neutral, and shoulders slouched over:

“To be head of a company that does so much good in the world, committing my life to this mission is a dream job”

Why is that confusing, and even unsettling?

Because this person is saying one thing with their words (I feel really great about this), and something entirely different with their body (I don’t feel really great about this).

What To Do

Check out how Everette Taylor, CEO of Kickstarter, delivers that message. You can click the image below to view him on video: watch 15 seconds with sound, and 15 seconds without - just paying attention to the body language.

Without sound:

Notice how body language conveys nearly everything you need to know.

• The smile, raised eyebrows, and wide, open, emphatic gestures indicate happiness, optimism, and earnest commitment.

With sound:

Words make the emotions more clear and intent more precise.

• Great speakers therefore bring verbal and nonverbal expression in alignment to give their audience a holistic experience of the material.

For your next appearance on stage or on camera, I encourage you to do this:

Don’t only prepare what to say. Prepare how you’ll deliver it.

Rehearse by recording yourself or looking at yourself in the mirror. Consider: if someone couldn’t hear you, could they still understand your emotion and intent?

Summary

Body language does matter. But don’t let it feel like performance. If you’re not the most expressive speaker, that’s fine. If you are very expressive, that’s also fine. Just make sure your gestures and expressions support and elevate your words in an authentic way.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence.

*My current focus: a section on how to choose the right ideas to make your point. This will be a deep-dive into constructing effective responses for a wide variety of professional examples and case studies.

Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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Persuasive people in popular media are confident, articulate, headstrong, and often aggressive.

But that’s not how persuasion works in the business world.

In this article, I break down how to successfully persuade: meet people where they are first.

• What Not To Do

• What To Do

• Summary

What Not To Do

Consider this situation. You’re talking to a manager. You want to convince them success in their role depends on giving good feedback. You say this:

“If we don’t tell people how we feel they will never change”

Decent. But what if this manager is risk-averse … their biggest concern is feedback will hurt people’s feelings.

How do you convince them then?

What To Do

Check out how Kim Scott, bestselling author of Radical Candor, makes her argument. Click the image below to view the YouTube short:

Kim says:

“I was brought up to be polite … and kind. The thing that is most important is it’s actually unkind not to give feedback”

Why is that much more persuasive?

Because it starts with what the listener already values: kindness

From that common ground, it bridges somewhere new: “it’s actually unkind not to give feedback”

Our new point of view is not jarring or off-putting because it’s still connected to our common ground. We’re showing the listener a slightly different way of evaluating the same situation.

Summary

Your audience has ego. We all do. They will resist attempts that deny or denigrate their worldview.

So root your message in things they know and believe. That way, they are more likely to understand and accept your new idea.

I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence.

*My current focus: a section on how to structure responses for greater memorability. This will be a deep-dive into techniques for making your point clear, supporting it with relevant examples, and ending with a sentence that ties everything together in a refreshing way.

Stay tuned as I build the book in public!

More Free Goodies from Chris:

• New to the newsletter? Subscribe for free and get a 140+ page guide of communication tips, tricks, and templates here.

• Interested in personalized recommendations on your communication? Take my free self-assessment.

• *Curious about my communication and public speaking coaching? Learn more by clicking here or email me at info@thehiddenspeaker.com

PS — This content is free and I intend to keep it that way. If you want to support the newsletter, you can invite friends to subscribe and get referral rewards in the process (Custom List of Video Recs for 10 referrals, 15 Minute Mentorship Session for 25 referrals, 30 Minute Mentorship Session for 50 referrals). Simply send the referral link below in a text, email, or share it on social media with friends and you’ll get credit for any new subscribers.

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