I have taught public speaking and storytelling for over 25 years to scientists, entrepreneurs, Ph.D. students and politicians (MP’s). Clients include United Nations, Deloitte, The Danish Parliament, University of Copenhagen and many more. -- AMA

What are natural storytellers doing subconsciously that makes it hard not to listen to their stories?

Subconsciously or not, the more you vary your voice, the more people are going to listen to it. Your brain is wired to notice change. When it's repetitive, your brain goes on automatic mode and doesn't pay attention anymore. But as soon as you hear a shift in the voice, your brain will be like "hey, did he start something new? Better listen to know if there's something important". It's like when you see a repetitive pattern, if there's a slight change in it, that's what you'll notice.

So from there, learn to vary your voice. In height, in volume, in rhythm and in "color". And you can also combine those settings. The more you vary it, the more they'll listen.

I'm a teacher, and sometimes I feel like students are like dinosaurs, they won't notice you if you're static, but they'll see if there's movement.

I do a lot of public speaking for work.

There is a music or cadence to different kinds of presentation, and that cadence is influenced by the structure of the presentation.

If you think about the structure of a pop song, and you think about the structure of an essay, there are similarities there that can be leveraged. Musical tension, in the pitch and rhythm of the voice, married to narrative tension, in the content and structure of the story that is being told, combine forces to make for a compelling presentation if done correctly.

There is considerable overlap between acting, music theory, literature, and public speaking.

For an example turned up to 11, watch any good Southern Revivalist (or similar) preacher work a congregation.

I am a professor and I think this is a brilliant take. Music is based around tension. I see my first task, whenever speaking in public, as creating some tension. Often in the form of a question. "You know this, but can you define it" is an usual way to create tension in an audience.

"We all know what innovation is, but can we define it?". You will see people becoming uncomfortable. Then you work to release this tension. Then a concept will make sense and grips the classroom.

The issue is many public speakers create tension without resolving it. Or begin without any tension at all, then there is no attention.

Yes I do agree very much. Excellent comment

Thats very good. I totally agree. Hi from asbjornspeaks.com

Yes, could you answer this question please. Or more specifically, what is the storytelling “flow” to any dialogue, whether a full speech or a short discussion? Is this some super condensed version of the hero’s journey? How important is empathy in framing the intervention?

Great questions both of you!

The great scientist Kendall Haven did, back in 2012, the first neuroscience research project on "Your Brain on Story". He studied how our brains react to stories and how different storytelling-elements affect the brain and how the information is received. This research was ordered by Obama (The American Government).

Long story short, the study showed that within the brain, there is a little walnut-shaped area that the scientists chose to call “The Neural Story Net” because it works as a net that filters the information that the brain gets into a storytelling frame, even if the information isn’t told in a story. This storytelling frame is: main character, helping assistant, opponent, fight, and a solution. And by framing your information in this frame you will always captivate people. They cannot help listening. This is roughly the same frame used in Hollywood. Think about the Batman movies for example; They always have a "main character (Batman), helping assistant (Robin), opponent (The Joker usually), fight (About the planet), and a solution (Batman saves the day)".

These elements can also be used when presenting. For example, I once had a client who worked for a major charity (NGO) and she had trouble raising money. I asked her why she was there: "Why are you doing this work? The pay isn't great. The hours are long. You must have some reason to do it?" And she did. Her father was an ambassador in India and as a small kid, she clearly remembers staying in big fancy hotels with views over the entire city. And she could look down at the massive slums from her window and that's where her passion started. I told her, that this is the story she should tell. And she did. And she starting raising way more money for her NGO.

Here is a link to a talk Kendall Haven gave at Stanford University about the study: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGrf0LGn6Y4

Is you saying "Great question!" everytime you answer a question something you do on purpose and one of your tactics? I'm dying with curiosity!

:-) I say great Qs because I mean it :-)

Is this some super condensed version of the hero’s journey?

This is actually the correct answer. "Story" is a hardwired dramatic... thing... that is inherent to our subconscious humanity.

Person goes into the unknown and returns changed, better able to deal with the known world. That's probably the simplest you can boil it down to while still hitting the essentials.

Most of us spend our days upstairs, trying to avoid going into the basement of our psychology. But at the end of the day, you still need to go down there, whether it's to change a fuse, check for leaks, or get something out of storage. The storytellers job is to be a guide to this kind of journey.

I agree. Thats really good.

Very good Qs. Storytelling flow can be created in serveral ways. One of the ways is to make a cliffhanger with one of the ingredients in the storytelling frame. Hi from asbjornspeaks.com

How can I improve on public speaking, especially at virtual events and through the screen?

Great question, that's so relevant right now!

The major mistake I usually see is that people loose eye-contact with the online-audience, because they too often look at themselves in "self-view-screen". So, the first (and very important point) is to turn off the view, so you won't look at yourself all the time.

Also, it's important to be at eye-level with your audience. Don't look down at them. Automatically, the unconscious reptile part of the brain will feel threatened and the audience will feel like they are being talked down to. So, it's very important to put your computer on a box or a stack of books, if you don't have a height adjustable table.

Lastly, the third most important thing is to show passion, smile and use your body (hand gestures and vocal variety) to keep people engaged in front of their screens.

Hey; thanks for this AMA!

Whats something simple a Ph.D. student can do which will make the most positive impact on their public speaking skills?

Great question. I will give you two tips for improving.

First tip is very practical. I would really urge you to join a Toastmasters club. It's a worldwide non-profit organisation that teaches people public speaking by participating in local clubs, where you with like-minded people, train your presentation skills. It's full of incredibly kind, interesting, smart people. I've done many workshops there and I'm still a member there (as a mentor).

Second tip is about using storytelling, and I've copied it from one of my previous answers:

The great scientist Kendall Haven did, back in 2012, the first neuroscience research project on "Your Brain on Story". He studied how our brains react to stories and how different storytelling-elements affect the brain and how the information is received. This research was ordered by Obama (The American Government).

Long story short, the study showed that within the brain, there is a little walnut-shaped area that the scientists chose to call “The Neural Story Net” because it works as a net that filters the information that the brain gets into a storytelling frame, even if the information isn’t told in a story. This storytelling frame is: main character, helping assistant, opponent, fight, and a solution. And by framing your information in this frame you will always captivate people. They cannot help listening. This is roughly the same frame used in Hollywood. Think about the Batman movies for example; They always have a "main character (Batman), helping assistant (Robin), opponent (The Joker usually), fight (About the planet), and a solution (Batman saves the day)".

These elements can also be used when presenting. For example, I once had a client who worked for a major charity (NGO) and she had trouble raising money. I asked her why she was there: "Why are you doing this work? The pay isn't great. The hours are long. You must have some reason to do it?" And she did. Her father was an ambassador in India and as a small kid, she clearly remembers staying in big fancy hotels with views over the entire city. And she could look down at the massive slums from her window and that's where her passion started. I told her, that this is the story she should tell. And she did. And she starting raising way more money for her NGO.

Here is a link to a talk Kendall Haven gave at Stanford University about the study: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGrf0LGn6Y4

A video by me talking about Kendall Haven and storytelling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCw8_hMq8hc

The sheer thought of having to speak to an audience makes me physically sick and restless. When it finally comes to that point, I'll frequently choke on my words, get a dry mouth and stutter and experience general anxiety. It has had significant impact on my career so far. I'm trying to do a doctorate in a STEM field which of course requires at least somewhat reasonable presenting skills. What would you recommend for someone like me to overcome these issues?

One of my major workshops in public speaking that I give, is something I've called "The Scientific Pitch". This is a workshop I've held for Ph.D. students, medical doctors and university professors, and a few others in the STEM field. And you're NOT alone. Most of them are so smart and so dedicated to their field/research project, but don't know how to communicate it, because it's never usually taught at universities.

I have two tools that I especially like to give to them and I want to give you.

First one is the power of Storytelling.

It's fastest and best way to connect with your audience. When you have learned to put your science/expertise into a personal story, you can feel right away that you're connecting with your audience. They become totally alert and very good listeners. I use this storytelling-tool all the time. For example, one of the hardest people to give workshops in public speaking are the lawyers. They are so busy. When I've done workshops at law firms in Copenhagen, Denmark, sometimes the bosses tell me that if the lawyers start being distracted by their phones I shouldn't worry, but I worry. I want them to listen to me. But i feel confident, since I know they can use my storytelling-tool. So, I use storytelling in my start. And it works. When I start telling a personal story they put away their phone and computer right away. Below are a few videos where I show what I do:

Short video by me where I talk about "Your brain on story": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXvQQet3UCE

Longer video where I start with a story (I have a dream - M.L.K.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBqw-5kbja8

The second tool is the importance of body-mind connection.

You can talk with your body through your brain. For example, if you stand in a victory power-pose for 2 minutes (open body language and arms pointing up), it's scientifically proven that your cortisol and adrenaline will go down and dopamine and testosterone will go up. I always have my workshop-participants do this for 2 minutes while I explain the body-mind connection and at the end of the 2 minutes I ask them to scream while they think about victory. This always creates a great laugh. So, if you have to go on stage, try to stand in a power-pose for 2 minutes while you think about your coming victory as a presenter. I would highly recommend you watch this TED talk by Amy Cuddy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc

Here is a video from a workshop I did at University of Copenhagen, where we do a victory power-pose with a scream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOp1Qj91uTw

How do you teach someone to avoid using filler words, like 'um, and uh'?

With my clients (fx politicians, professors, etc.) I always use a kind of harsh method. This method is also used to train dogs, and I always warn my client (with a smile) and ask if it's okay. I call it the "BIIIB"-method. It's simply that I say "BEEB" out loud every time they say a filler word. That is so annoying for the client, that within minutes, they've got a new relationship to the word "UUUHM" :)

Try having your friends "BEEB" you.

The reason why you say "UHM" is because your cortisol and adrenaline are high, so your feeling of time can be 3 times faster than it is in real life. And you think, unconsciously, that you have to say a sound all the time. But an effective method is reminding yourself that you can do the exact opposite: make a pause of sound. And that's wonderful for the audience and can help make your points stronger.

Is it like your saying beeb? Or beep, curious of the phonetics of this

Yes Like BEEB :-)

Not OP, but I've been in Toastmasters for over 10 years.

Practice practice. Have someone else listen to your speech and count the filler words (ah, um, so, you know, etc) and score you. It might help if they have some kind of clicker to give you immediate feedback.

These words are important in conversations as they communicate "I'm not done talking yet" but are unnecessary in presentations because there's other social cues to replace it. I've had to intentionally add "ah" back into my conversations when on a voice chat because people always thought I was done speaking or the chat dropped.

Toastmasters is such a great place to learn public speaking. A community full of incredibly kind, interesting, smart people. I've done many workshops there and is still a member there (as a mentor). Really recommend it.

Fascinating job! What is the hardest thing/habit you have had to train out of someone?

Good question! This made me think of a few funny stories I had from previous clients.

I once coached a CEO, who was extremely nervous about being on stage. So, when he finally got on stage, his body was so full of adrenaline and kortisol, that he didn't realise what he did with his arms. I filmed him while he was up on stage and when he saw the film, he was really embarrassed because his arms/hands were touching his crotch multiple times during the speech (which is an unconscious motion that relaxes the body and makes the adrenaline and kortisol go down immediately). This is an extreme example of a nervous tic. A less extreme example of nervous tics could be the Ph.D. student who didn't realise he danced back and forth on his feet while presenting.

Anyway, you can imagine that the CEO was very happy after that coaching session, since he had no idea about his "crotch-problem".

One great tip I always give is to film yourself when you present something, because you'll find out what your nervous tics are.

Interesting! What do you help the members of parliament with?

Usually, I help politicians avoid using filler-word's when they are under a lot of pressure, for example while being filmed live on TV, answering questions from journalists.

Also, I teach them how to be more engaging while speaking in front of a crowd. And how they can implement personal storytelling in their speeches.

How did you become interested in your field? Has it been a lifelong fascination?

Thank you for asking. It’s a really funny and random story. It happened back in high school, when I was a 17-year-old kid. I was so tired of school because I got bullied very badly (see full story at my homepage: https://www.asbjornspeaks.com/asbjorns-story).

Luckily, I was offered an opportunity to go have an exchange year in California in Nevada Union High School, in the beautiful Sierra Nevada area. One of the first days at school we were given a ballot with over a hundred classes. Everything from horse riding to psychology, and I came across a class I didn't understand. It was called “Speech”. I asked: “What is Speech?“. The lady at the desk answered: “You learn how to talk”. Confused, I replied “I know how to talk”. And she said firmly: “No, you learn how to talk from a stage.”.

This captivated me, and I immediately signed up. Within the first 3 weeks of the class there was a competition between the different speech classes, and I won. For the first time in my life, I ever won something. I had my very first successful school experience.

Afterwards, my teacher Mr. Loren Brown came up and said to me: "Asbjorn, that was exceptional! This is your thing! Everybody has their thing, this is yours. I want you to sign up to all the public speaking competitions in the state. I will be your driver and coach.” Public speaking became a huge thing for me during that year and with my teacher, I drove around the states participating in multiple public speaking contests. I actually became the first foreigner to win the California League in Public Speaking. Since that year, over 25 years ago, my love for public speaking and storytelling has not stopped. I was so lucky to find “my thing” when I was 17.

What is the single most important component of an engaging story?

It's without a doubt showing Vulnerability and delivering it in a personal story. See Brené Brown's TED Talk "The power of vulnerability": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o

Do you - consciously or subconsciously - use your techniques and knowledge from your profession when you communicate in everyday situations?

Yes I do :-)

Interesting! How so? :-)

I always try to use the storytelling frame if I can :-) asbjornspeaks.com

Do you think cadence should be more of a focus for public speaking or should that be reserved for storytelling?

What are your thoughts on intentional planned gesticulation in public speaking?

What’s your favorite initialism or acronym?

Reserved for them both. asbjornspeaks.com

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Hey, yeah thanks! I've created this link with a discount if you'd be interested: The Essentials of Presentation Skills and Storytelling

I tend to "talk with my hands" too much, do you have any tips on how to break that habit or do it less?

It might be because you have to high cortisol and adrenaline, so first I would try to do some body-mind exercises, to bring down my cortisol. Try to stand in a victory power pose for 2 minutes, before you go on stage. :-)

Watch this TED talk by Amy Cuddy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc

Also try to record yourself. That helps a lot.

Here is an example of the power pose with a scream from my own workshop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOp1Qj91uTw

Get back to me if this does not help. Then I have some other tools to give you,

In a way a PhD application interview is a kind of public speaking. Any tips and tricks?

Yes Use the storytelling form of Kendall Haven : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCw8_hMq8hc&t=26s ( sorry my english was very danish that day :-) that means some days its very easy for me to speak english and some days its hard. English is not my mother tongue. :-) )

What is your advice to someone who says “um” or other filler a lot?

Breath deep, long and slow. Note for yourself, that because of the cortisol, the time inside you go 3 times faster, than in real life and that its ok to have silence, to hold those pauses in sound. asbjornspeaks.com

Probably a little too late to the q&a but better late than never!

What was your most embarrassing public speaking memory?

What was one of your favorite memories?

A small personal story before I ask my last question. Disclaimer; I love public speaking, I always have. When I lost my brother they opened the floor to anyone to speak at his funeral. I desperately wanted to share my story of how he saved me from a mistake I made in which he got hurt badly in order to save me while we were kids.(I did not let go of a rope swing. He jumped out and gave me an extra boost and fell onto rocks below to help ensure my safety while sacrificing his own.) When I started to share the story I got choked up and fighting tears. I still got out part of what I wanted to but my emotions made it hard and I felt it wasn't my best public speaking occurrence. I wanted to say so much more about him but just couldn't. There was quite a few stories to pick from but it made me so upset to share anything due to circumstances and lack of time to practice or mental preparation, but what really shook me was how emotions can hinder a public speech.

What are tips you have for people to get through emotional speeches that could provoke emotional responses?

So sorry for the long reply, thank you for reading.

Very good Qs. Thanks. I am preparing my eulogy to my father right now. and a black out because of emotions is certainty one of the fears I have, because I love him very much. My father knows that he is dying pretty soon (He has Parkinson) and he has a very strong faith, so he is very clarified about dying. But not me. I am certainly not clarified. I hope that my strong will to give my father a good eulogy will do that i do not break into tears. asbjornspeaks.com