Ah, public speaking, how terrifying! I actually think I've come a long way in the past few years and have become a lot more comfortable with it, but I have much further to go yet. Much of my improvement, I think, has come from speaking up in uni classes (which was itself mostly in reaction to the awkward silence that tends to pervade when lecturers ask questions). It forces you to become comfortable with putting out your own opinion, and with having every pair of eyes in the room focused on you. I've been told I'm pretty good at public speaking, whatever that's worth. Last year I took part in a wee debate on human rights and foreign aid for the Irish Forum of Global Health. A lot of people told me I should really take up debating; one guy even told me that I was the highlight of the evening. I think what sells it for me is my sense of humour (wow, I've really been blowing my own horn in this post). You might not believe it based on my fairly dry comments on Hubski, but in person I can actually be pretty funny, I like to think. At the aforementioned debate I opened with a joke about the previous speaker - something about it being bad to prove wrong someone who had actually worked in the field - and that set the tone for the rest of my stint. At one point people actually burst into applause at one of my jokes; I was pretty proud of that one, I won't deny! I still find speaking terrifying, but I find that if I throw out some humour it makes the audience more comfortable and makes me feel more comfortable and confident too. mk makes a very good point with regard to not saying "ums;" I think, in general, that it is a very good idea to slow down when speaking - it makes you look much more confident. Don't be afraid of short silences, either.
Ha ha ha! Please by all means toot your own horn, I love it! I've never thought of you as being dry on Hubski, for what it's worth. I think you make some great points especially regarding humor in public speaking. It's a very effective way to get the audience engaged and on your side. However, humor much like beauty is in the eye of the beholder and can fall flat on it's face at times. I'm glad you had success with it, but I've certainly seen people fail when it comes to humor. And yes, mk does make a good suggestion regarding watching yourself speak. It's important to get rid of the "ums" it does give you more credibility. Have you ever given a speech where you fell flat on your face? Have you ever uncontrollably laughed like Joanna in the podcast? I have never done that, however I did once start laughing as an audience member and couldn't stop it and had to be asked to leave the classroom when I was in sixth grade. Luckily the person giving the speech was a friend of mine and thought it was hilarious. I was certainly more embarrassed than anyone else.
Ah yes, you do have to calibrate your sense of humour according to the audience. I don't have any memories of screwing up particularly badly myself (though perhaps my brain has erased all evidence of the trauma) but I've been at plenty of talks where the speaker's jokes fell completely flat, and it's really awful. I think spontaneity in humour is very important; jokes can be rather unfunny if you can tell that they were prepared beforehand. Spontaneity in general is a good thing, though; there's nothing worse than a speech that sounds too rehearsed - preparation, like all things, requires a great deal of judgement as to where "too much" lies. I've never freaked out too badly, but I did hear about a friend of a friend who started crying during a debate. She actually finished, crying the entire time.
Those awkward silences during the lectures. I know those. Especially fun if you know the answer, but don't dare to speak up. All you hear is that buzz when many people are whispering to each other. Maybe I should help those poor lecturers out and maybe even learn something in the process, just by speaking up...