Public Speaking for Psychologists by Paul J. Silvia & David B. Feldman

Author:Paul J. Silvia & David B. Feldman [Silvia, Paul J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781433807312
Publisher: American Psychological Association
Published: 2012-04-11T22:00:00+00:00

THE AUDIENCE IS YOUR FRIEND

The key to managing calamity is to understand that the audience is on your side. They may be bored and listless during your talk, but they’ll side with you if something goes wrong. Psychologists tend to be sympathetic, play-well-with-others types: It’s one of many traits that is highly correlated with listening to National Public Radio and frequenting farmer’s markets. And most of your audience gives talks, too, so they know that things go awry. If you simply make a joke and move on, people will respect you for your poise. But if you curse, fret, or get flustered, you’ll lose your audience’s sympathy. “Get over it,” they’ll think. “It isn’t that big of a deal.”

Consider, for example, two ways of handling a midtalk calamity. Just as you reach the dramatic denouement—will it be statistically significant?—the projector flickers and dies. Computer projectors are fickle beasts, animated by a cruel desire to thwart your SEPA talk. You could curse under your breath—or loudly—and spend a few minutes tinkering desperately with the machine, trying to revive it. This is the bad, graceless way. The audience can see that you’re stressed. Each passing minute makes you more stressed and the audience more impatient. When you finally give up and say, “Okay, let’s just keep going,” you’ll hear exasperated sighs and grumbles of “it’s about time” from the audience. Trying to salvage the talk made it awkward.

Instead, just make a joke and move on. Any joke will do: The goal is to handle the event with humor, poise, and grace. You could make a self-deprecating joke (“Wow, even the projector is bored by my talk”), a non sequitur (“I knew I should have showered”), or a joke about the crappy equipment (“Should we have a moment of silence for the expired projector?”). The point is to convey that it isn’t a big deal, that you won’t be derailed. Then finish your talk, take questions, and sit down. From the audience’s perspective, you took the hitch in stride. They’ll giggle at your joke, sympathize with your plight, and appreciate that you soldiered on. If you aren’t funny, don’t worry. Many psychologists—perhaps millions—are not even slightly funny. You can omit the joke part and simply move on.

People watching your talk are like toddlers who whomp into a coffee table. Slightly confused, they look at you to see if what happened merits crying or giggling. The audience won’t make a big deal out of a disaster if you don’t.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.