Episode 82: On Public Speaking

Stage fright isn’t a personality trait, it’s a habit of self-protection and it can be unlearned. 

After coming back from a talk in Dusseldorf, Germany, I’m sharing the public speaking tips that keep me excited instead of terrified, even when I’m nervous. If you’re a designer, artist, writer, or creative entrepreneur who wants better presentation skills without turning into a polished robot, this is a practical reset. 

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Transcript

Fear Of Public Speaking

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Do you have glossophobia? That's the fear of public speaking. Have you ever spoken on stage? Do you want to? I highly suggest it. I think it's rather fun. And I've just returned from a talk in Germany, and I want to share a few notes from what I've learned. So let's go. Or Alf Gates. If you are listening to this podcast, there's a chance that we've probably met. Because, well, as the Beach Boys said, I get around. And if you don't get that reference, go do your homework. Go look up the Beach Boys. What I mean is, in my career, I travel a lot. And I speak at a lot of events, both in the States and around the world. This is a part of my career that I absolutely love. Oh, by the way, if you want me to come speak with your group or community or company or workshop or event or bar mitzvah, just ask. Oh, yeah, and you know, pay me. Duh. But I'm very reasonable. I love meeting all of you guys. And I love spending time with creative people from around the world and finding out what you do and how you do it and why you do it. And I love being on stage because I'm a show-off. I've been a show-off since I was a kid. Remember, the things that made you weird as a kid make you great today. I think it's hardwired in us creative types. Except many of us forget this tool as we grow into creative adults. I believe being a show-off is part of our creative urge. It's the pride of being able to do something well and the urge to share that and say, look at me, look what I can do. I think that's a terribly important part of what we do. And this ability to say, look at me, is also called marketing. And it's how we get paid. So over the years I've gotten pretty good and fairly comfortable on stage. For me, it's an opportunity to be a show off with my work, to put on a little comedy show, and most importantly, to entertain, enlighten, and educate. I do still get nervous every time, but it's excitement nervous, not pukey nervous. And I was just in Dusseldorf, Germany for a conference. It was the second time I've been to this particular conference. It was their fifteenth anniversary, and I was there for the first time thirteen years ago. The conference is called Beyond Telrand. And Beyond Telrond is a German English hybrid phrase, meaning to think outside the box or to look beyond your own horizon. And if you get the chance, you must go. I highly, highly suggest you go if you can. Out of all the festivals and conferences I've been to, this one is particularly warm and generous and inviting. And the crowd is always kind and eager and curious. So bravo to my friend Mark Tele, who puts the conference on. Thank you for making that all happen, Mark. But this particular event was fun for me in a number of ways. One is because I've not shown my own work at a talk over the last few years. I've been trying to go full stand-up comedian with no slides whatsoever. And to see if the points I want to make still make themselves without visual aids. The answer is yes, they do. I even told Mark that I was not going to show any work when he invited me. But on the plane, on the way over, I was thinking about what to talk about. Oh, by the way, yeah, I procrastinate terribly. The problem was I couldn't figure out how to show my work in a new way. And I didn't want the usual dog and pony show, you know, I did this back in this year for these people, blah, blah, blah. I hate those kind of designer talks. And I know that you do too. So I not only showed my work, I showed the full body of my work. And for 45 minutes it was the James Victory show. I really enjoyed seeing all of my old work and showing my new work, my current work, and showing some work that is going to be. Right now, you're thinking, Oh man, I wish James Victori could be my mentor, my guru. Hell I wish he was my coach. Well, you can make that happen. Go to your work is a gift dot com. There's a questionnaire that will probably help you out, but it'll also give you access to a free call. So let's talk. Let's free you from overwhelm and creative frustration. Let's build your business and help you get paid to do what you love. Again, go to your workisagift.com. Let's talk. I try to make my time on stage interesting for me. Because as you know, if it's not interesting for you, it won't be interesting for other people. But there were a number of things that happened that I think are worthy of sharing. Like educationally worthy. Like steal this point and use it in your talk. So I'd like to run down a few of those with you. First, the reason I've not shown any work or slides lately is because I abhor the act of making slides. I don't like working in keynote or heaven forbid PowerPoint. And I'm quite frankly not that kind of designer. Many designers put up beautiful shows with sparkling interstitial typography that moves and twinkles, and they have marvelous little videos, and ah and I'm not that. I'm more of a raw dog, this is my show type of guy. So when it comes to put up the little bits of information, you know, a slide that says, Hi, I'm James, you know, that kind of stuff on screen, I literally took pieces of paper from a spiral notebook and wrote my slides on them. But even then, it wasn't sexy enough. So I crumpled them up as if I'd pulled it out of my pocket. And then I took these black and white, kind of stark photographs of them. That seemed to work. And it guaranteed that my slides would be different from any of the other presentations. And of course, the first slide was literally a disclaimer. It read, I make shitty slides. So you see, now I don't have to apologize for my lack of fancy slide craft. So there's your first tip. Be honest. Be vulnerable. That is quite frankly why you are on stage. Being honest about your struggle and process is what makes you human, and what makes you a good designer and teacher, and what really makes you interesting. The most curious thing I've been doing on stage lately is going barefoot. And there's something very grounding and light that I enjoy about that. It's not like barefoot has no precedent for me in my life. It's not like I'm putting on an air. I'm barefoot at home all the time. And I even lift weights at the gym with no shoes. I like the grounding effect and digging my toes into the floor for grip and balance. Plus, it's really good for your feet. And plus, my daily outdoor wear is boots, clunky, heavy contractor biker boots, and I hate the sound of stomping around on stage. I began going barefoot on stage about four years ago when the airline I was traveling on lost all my luggage on a trip to Zagreb, Croatia. So all I had was my stinky clothes and sweaty socks. So I borrowed a t-shirt and went on in my jeans, a t-shirt, and barefoot. And it felt very freeing. I had a total of maybe seven slides, and they were all handwritten type, and the audience loved it. And I realized barefoot and a few slides was enough. Just make a point. Make a point. Here's another tip about speaking on stage. And this is a big one. If you were not there to change the world, then get off the fucking stage. I've sat through too many designers showing their work who just their purpose seemed to d d drill tedium into your head. I enjoy the show off James Victory show. But it's not about me, me, me. I always try to remember it's about you. And you and you. It's about the audience. Another speaking tip I learned from Vaudeville. And for many of you who don't know what vaudeville was, go do your homework. Vaudeville was the dominant form of American entertainment from like the 1880s to the 1930s, until radio and then the movies came along. And it featured a variety of acts like comedians and acrobats and musicians. It's kind of like Conan O'Brien or, you know, um, or TV talk shows. You get a bunch of entertainers to come up one after another. But the rule of vaudeville still applies to entertainment and even public speaking. And the rule is this get in, get out, and always leave them wanting more. Meaning, have something to say, say it, and don't loiter. Don't linger around too long. Know when to stop. Control the environment. Control the stage, quite frankly. Another fun thing that I've been doing with audience around the world is to break the tension right up front. Right up front. Many speakers feel the need to pontificate from stage like some kind of oracle. These are the words I'm speaking and they're important. The first thing I do on stage is walk right out to the edge and get everybody to stand up and stretch. I do this partially to disarm them, because they've probably been sitting through a number of boring talks. So it's a good healthy measure. Also because the audience and I are both nervous. And in this way we can one pay attention to that, but we can also shake the sillies out. So I get them to stretch a bit. Then, after exercising, I invite them to play. And I say, This is a test. So I get them, everybody to stand up and start swaying gently back and forth with their arms over their head, like they're in Madison Square Garden, right? And I start swaying and I start singing a cappella Prince's Purple Rain. You know, purple rain, purple rain. And by the first reframe, they're all singing with me. And in Dusseldorf, this little concert was so humbling and heartwarming to have 500 people swaying along with me in perfect union, singing purple rain. It was so beautiful. But remember, it was a test. So after I say, Hey, by the way, that was a test of your ego or your lack thereof. And it was a test of your creativity. And it was a test of your ability to just fucking play. And I asked them if they could not stand up, or they couldn't wave their arms, if they sat there with their arms crossed and they couldn't sing. I said, please ask yourself why. Ask yourself why you can't play. Ask yourself who shut you down? Who took away your ability to be a goofball? Right? The ability to play is such an integral part of our commercial creative life. And without it, our work is just, well, it's work. And we're ticking boxes and following rules, and that shit doesn't interest anyone. Nobody wants to see your work. People want to see you play. So in my work, as a designer, whether it's work for clients or even personal, self-driven stuff, self-authored work, I try to use art and design as the teaspoon of sugar to talk about bigger ideas. I want to make points about asking for what you want. I want to make points about reminding people that the things that made them weird as a kid is important and you've got to put that in your work. And I try to remind them that their work is a gift. In many ways, it's a gift that comes to you. But also, if you can understand that your work is a gift for others, it changes how you think about your work. It changes what you make and even who you work for. Because when your work is a gift, you no longer work to satisfy a boss or to gain a paycheck. You now work to make yourself happy. And now you give your audience something of real value, a piece of yourself. I think my whole body of work tries to remind people to feck perfection and to just be themselves and understand how powerful that is. In my work and on stage, I ask people to remember to ask for what they want. Ask for what they want from their relationships, from their work, from their clients, and from the world even. As a matter of fact, one of the projects I showed from stage was something that I'm presently working on. And it's a series of motivational, inspirational posters, similar to the ones I had done for the Department of Probation in New York City. But this one is for kids or very cool adults. But they're also limited edition, and they're silk screens, which are pricey to make. So after I showed that series, I said, Hey, by the way, if there's anyone who wants to sponsor or collaborate on these, let me know. And here it goes. As soon as I walked off stage, this delightful designer, Christoph, who is now my new best friend, came up to me and said, How do we make those prints possible, James? Oh joy. So now I have a sponsor for the printing of the series, and now we're off to the races. And we're making this print series happen because I asked for what I want. Listen, Dusseldorf was a great success. And the next step is Boulder, Colorado. I'm looking forward to that one too. I enjoy public speaking. I actually have fun on stage. You can too. But I also take it as a duty and as a service and as a teaching opportunity. I want to share my wealth and share my struggle and maybe make it easier for others in their own struggle, in their own lives. I hope you all get the opportunity or create the opportunity to speak on stage. And don't wait to be asked for what you want. And when you're on stage, be yourself and be honest and try to change the world. Hey, by the way, if you haven't signed up for my May 20th webinar called Irreplaceable AINU, take a look at JamesVictoria.com. Talk about changing the world. Go take a look at JamesVictoria.com for my May 20th webinar, and I'll see you there. I love ya. Adios.