[0.000 --> 13.960] All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my passion and to my love and, according [13.960 --> 17.920] to my wife, my mistress in life. [17.920 --> 26.240] Seven years ago, I embarked on a journey to analyze 5,000 public speakers from all over [26.240 --> 33.080] the world, amateurs and professionals, in order to distill and understand what makes a good [33.080 --> 42.080] speaker good, what makes a great speaker great, and what makes an outstanding speaker outstanding. [42.080 --> 50.320] The result? 110 core skills. [50.320 --> 60.920] Good loads of subskills. So what does it look like? It looks like this. These are the 110 core [60.920 --> 70.280] skills and the equation is simple. The more of them you fulfill, the greater you are. [70.280 --> 78.000] Now 110 skills, that's quite a tad too many to go through in one TED talk, don't you agree? [78.000 --> 84.880] So what I've done is I've picked out my absolute favorites and I'd like to show you a demonstration [84.880 --> 92.640] of what it can look like. Imagine that this chair is something that you want somebody else [92.640 --> 97.080] to believe in. You want somebody else to buy into this. This is your idea. This is you [97.080 --> 104.840] wanting to make your voice heard. This gives you two options. Either you're on this side [104.840 --> 109.360] of the chair and you're a fairly mediocre communicator, you shoot from the hip, you hope for [109.360 --> 117.160] the best and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Option number two is that you're [117.160 --> 121.560] on this side of the chair and you know exactly what you're doing in every instance of time. [121.560 --> 128.000] You know that by taking a step forward, you increase focus. You know that by tilting your [128.000 --> 134.280] head slightly to the side, you increase empathy. You know that by changing the pace of what [134.280 --> 144.360] you are saying, you increase focus and you know that by shifting yourself lower, you increase [144.360 --> 153.400] trust and you know that by lowering your voice, you get anticipation and you know for absolute [153.400 --> 167.960] certain. That if you pause, you get absolute and undivided attention. Now the question then [167.960 --> 173.960] is can everyone be on this side of the chair? Can everyone become good at these skills? [173.960 --> 181.560] What do you think the answer is? Of course it is. Why? Because it's called presentation, [181.560 --> 187.240] skills, skills, skills, skills, skills. It is not. It has never been a shall never be called [187.240 --> 192.880] a talent. You're not born with a particular gene that makes you brilliant on stage. Something [192.880 --> 200.080] you quiet through life. Now as I said, 110 skills, that's quite the number. So what I've [200.080 --> 206.000] chosen to do is I've picked out the five, would I say most important skills? Whenever somebody [206.000 --> 212.480] comes to me and they want coaching, this is what I focus on. And then I'll actually give you [212.480 --> 219.680] four bonus skills at the end as well. Sounds okay? So let's start with two of my favorite from [219.680 --> 229.120] body language, which is skill 34 and skill 69. That is not intentional. That's 34. What am I doing? [230.080 --> 236.640] What could I be doing differently in this case? Ladies and gentlemen, it is an absolute pleasure to [236.640 --> 242.240] have you here today. Good of you to come. What should I have avoided? I should have avoided [242.240 --> 246.640] closing my body language because whenever a human being closes their body language, it is a [246.640 --> 252.640] sign that they feel threatened in one way or another. So I should have continued with an open [252.640 --> 257.680] of body language. So let's have a look at number 69, which looks like this. I'll have to start [257.760 --> 263.920] up here. So when a presenter starts like this, they go, what should I do better now? Ladies and [263.920 --> 269.280] gentlemen, welcome to one of the most influential subjects known to mankind. Now this will be super [269.280 --> 274.960] interesting. We'll be going through this. You'll have you having an amazing time. Wow, it'll blow you [274.960 --> 282.800] away. What should I have avoided? Reversing. Look what a doubling correct looks like. It looks like [282.800 --> 287.920] this. Ladies and gentlemen, absolute pleasure to have you here. Good of you to come. [287.920 --> 293.760] Well, a double correct looks like this. Ladies and gentlemen, an absolute pleasure to have you here. [293.760 --> 300.080] Good of you to come. Is there a difference? Of course there is. The biggest difference is in here. [300.080 --> 305.600] I can feel a difference while doing those two versions. You become what you are. [306.480 --> 314.080] Now let's ask ourselves, yeah, but David, the close body language things. What should I do with [314.080 --> 319.360] me hands? How should I put them? And the interesting thing with the close body language is that [320.720 --> 326.400] wherever I went, all over the world studying these people, it seems like we've got a general [326.400 --> 332.160] kind of locked body language positions. And I'll show you my favorites that I found. We've [332.160 --> 336.080] obviously got the classical fig leaf position. Then we have the double bunny position. [337.120 --> 341.040] You have the right bunny position, the left bunny position, the right hawkled, the left [341.040 --> 346.240] tackle. Then you have the fork lift. You of course have the peacock with flapping elbows. [346.240 --> 353.840] You have the major, the merkle, the prayer, and the bigger. One of my personal favorites is the [353.840 --> 359.120] the British horse rider. And the British horse rider. It's a person who holds their hands like this, [359.120 --> 363.920] puts it just above the chest and it's like they're off somewhere. Oh, God, they're a fox over here. [364.960 --> 370.400] And then we found two T-rexas as well in the study. It's such a weird thing presenting like this, [370.400 --> 377.200] or like this. Okay, so you mean, David, that we need to have an open body language. Yeah, that's [377.200 --> 380.720] what I mean. And I'm not allowed to have them in my pockets, not allowed to have them in my major, [380.720 --> 388.080] or the double bunny. No. But what on earth should I do with them then? What you should use them for is [388.080 --> 392.960] what is called functional gesturing to show that something is getting better. Well, that something [392.960 --> 399.120] is getting less good, or that it's one, two, three, four, five that we are going to go through. Use [399.120 --> 404.880] your gestures for what they're supposed to be used for. And what's interesting with this is that [404.880 --> 410.800] if you imagine the time we've spent on this planet as our race, how much of that time have we [410.800 --> 416.240] spent using gestures and nonverbal communication in order to communicate what we're saying? Is that [416.240 --> 423.920] more than verbal? Absolutely. Give me a, let me give you an demonstration of how important it is. [424.640 --> 429.600] So I'll say something now, and everything I say will be super positive. My facial expressions [429.600 --> 433.920] will be super positive, and the way I say it will be super positive, but my hands will be saying [433.920 --> 440.000] the opposite. Are you with me? Because this requires some focus. All of you should learn more [440.000 --> 444.880] about public speaking, because if you do that, you will become better. You will grow, and you will [444.880 --> 449.440] develop as a human being. People will love your presentations, listening to your arguments, [449.440 --> 455.440] and just generally loving whatever you're doing. So do yourself a great favor. Learn more about [455.440 --> 460.080] this particular subject, because you'll be thanking yourself for the rest of your life. And [460.080 --> 464.800] particularly you have been absolutely incredible, so I thank you for listening here. [464.800 --> 472.000] Thank you. [474.560 --> 479.360] Now the question is this, did you listen to what I was saying or what I was doing? I believe that [479.360 --> 483.840] you focused entirely on what I was doing, and that is the case with body language and gestures. [483.840 --> 489.120] If it's not saying the same thing as what you're saying verbally, there's a discrepancy and a [489.120 --> 498.160] disturbance in the communication. Let's move on from body language to a couple of tips on voice. [499.680 --> 503.440] And the first one I'm going to give you is about pace. So listen to this. [504.320 --> 507.840] Ladies and gentlemen, what I'm going to take you through now is incredibly important now, [507.840 --> 511.200] and for the rest of your future life, we'll go through the cortex, we'll go through the limbic [511.200 --> 515.360] and the retillion system. We'll go through a psychological advanced profile where we'll take you [515.360 --> 518.800] through the entire steps of the structure, we'll then look at how that relates to Aristotle [518.800 --> 523.520] as Ethos, Loughes and Pathos, and I'll carry on in this pace. Compare that to this. [525.040 --> 531.920] Ladies and gentlemen, I'm now going to take you through something that is entirely and utterly [531.920 --> 540.000] boring, something that you will have no use of in your entire life, in every second spent [540.000 --> 548.960] listening to me now and on will be a waste of time. Now look at your faces, you're like, [548.960 --> 554.640] whoa, that last bit, I want more of that, that was super interesting, the useless stuff, yeah, [554.640 --> 561.920] I don't want the brain so much, I want the second bit. Why? Because your brains, they react to when [561.920 --> 567.760] a person has a low pace, you think that what I'm saying is more important than whenever I have a [567.760 --> 572.800] high pace because that illustrates that I don't really want to be there, there are exceptions to [572.800 --> 583.680] this rule but that is the basics. So keep a calm pace. My next tip goes on pauses, the pauses, [583.680 --> 589.280] the pauses, the pauses are important, absolutely it is. So let me give you a classical rhetorical [589.280 --> 597.440] proverb now without pauses and it goes like this. Did you know that every single decision you've [597.440 --> 601.760] taken in your entire life and will take for the rest of your life is based on one thing and one [601.760 --> 607.760] thing only. If you give that to the people listening to you that is the feeling, that is what will move [607.760 --> 620.000] them. Now I'll add pauses and it sounds like this. Did you know that every single decision you've [620.000 --> 624.880] taken in your entire life and you will take for the rest of your life is based on one thing and one [624.880 --> 636.560] thing only and that is an emotion. Now if you give that emotion to the people listening to you, [636.560 --> 644.080] they will take the decisions you want them to take. Is there a difference? Absolutely. [645.920 --> 654.000] But you know what? Some people are afraid of the pause. So you go like, whoo! I'm going to do one of [654.000 --> 663.360] those. I'm not. I refuse. I prefer to compromise. And you know what the compromise for pauses? [664.480 --> 675.360] What does it sound like? Yeah. It's like a scock of sheep when you listen to certain conferences. [675.520 --> 687.360] There's nothing among these 110 skills that lowers your ethos and your credibility more than [689.600 --> 694.560] because it signals that you don't know what you are saying and where you're going in your talk. [697.200 --> 703.600] So let me give you an demonstration. Did you know that every single decision you've taken in [703.600 --> 708.240] your entire life and will take for the rest of your life is based on one thing and one thing only. [712.960 --> 723.360] And that is a feeling. I think you prefer the one with silence. [726.320 --> 733.040] Now those were the five main skills I wanted to take you through. And if you haven't used them [733.040 --> 738.240] before and you start using them as a public speaker, they will make a difference to your speech. [740.560 --> 747.520] I'd like to treat you to four small skills as well. Just to give you an appreciation of how small a [747.520 --> 753.600] skill can be, but still have a great impact. And it looks like this. [754.560 --> 763.680] And those were the four skills. Did you follow them? [765.360 --> 773.440] Number one was I looked up, which illustrates that I'm thinking, which increases your sense of [773.440 --> 779.920] presence for me on stage. The second thing I did was that I did an audible inhale, [780.640 --> 784.000] which makes your brain believe that I'm going to say something that's exciting. [785.920 --> 792.960] I then combine that with a decaying smile, which means that I smile with my mouth and with my eyes. [796.640 --> 805.280] Did you fall for it? Because what I did as well was this. I did it self-lafter. And also that [805.280 --> 811.040] increases anticipation of what I'm going to say. So four small skills executed in five seconds, [811.040 --> 817.920] changes the state of your mind. I'd like to pick out one of those and just end off with that. [818.480 --> 824.080] That is the decaying smile. Decaying smiles has in study shown that you are more likely to be married, [824.080 --> 827.360] less likely to be divorced, you're happier, you're more content with life. [830.000 --> 833.920] And you actually are more relaxed in situations like this. [835.360 --> 840.720] So I asked myself am I a decaying smiling person? And to figure that out, I walked over to my [840.720 --> 846.560] computer and I logged in and I looked at all my 60,000 Google photos, they're not all of me, but [847.200 --> 852.320] of family members and others. I looked at mine and it seemed like my brain required short of a [852.320 --> 859.280] miracle to do a decaying smile, where you smile with your entire face. I thought that's not fair [859.280 --> 865.120] and considering the psychological benefits, I better learn this. So I spend not four but six months [865.120 --> 870.960] learning how to do a decaying smile. And suddenly my brain was launching decaying smiles in just [870.960 --> 878.720] everyday happiness. It's beautiful and I felt happier as a human being. I want to show you what it [878.720 --> 886.080] looks like. Now every time I go on my summer holidays, I take a photo of myself and these were [886.080 --> 896.000] the last years of those photos. This was 2014, there's no decaying smile. 2015, definitely, no decaying [896.000 --> 906.480] smile. 2016, still no decaying smile. 2017, no decaying smile. This year, decaying smile. [907.840 --> 913.680] Does it make a difference? Absolutely. It brings joy to you and stability to me. [913.680 --> 921.680] Now we've come to the end of this talk and I would like to end with something that relates to boxing. [921.680 --> 929.040] You know Muhammad Ali and the likes, they have combinations for when they're going to strike [929.040 --> 935.520] somebody, knock out. And the same kind of combinations exist in public speaking as well. [935.520 --> 942.960] So what I'd like to show you is this combination. I'm going to start with the number 34, go to number [942.960 --> 951.520] 8 and then we'll carry on to 69 and 98 to 67 and 18, 22 and 101 and 21. Are you ready for the [951.520 --> 961.200] combination? Okay, looks like this. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that you've had fun, that you [961.200 --> 971.440] have learned, but more than anything, I hope that you feel inspired to become a greater public speaker. [972.320 --> 979.040] Because anybody can become good, anybody can come great and everybody can become outstanding, [979.040 --> 989.680] because it all comes down to one single thing.