Wise Words from the World Public Speaking Champion: Outsmart and Outlast

Few ambassadors were invited to join a workshop conducted by World Public Speaking Champion Darren Tay last month. With the workshop titled "Outsmart and Outlast", we hear what our ambassadors took away from the experience.

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Darren Tay’s smile was an infectious one. As he entered the room, his smile eased the rigidly formal atmosphere, and everyone else in the audience felt the corners of their mouth subconsciously turning upwards too. It was hard not to smile back at a face that smiled from ear to ear. We started off the workshop by doing the Mexican Wave. Really. Darren calls it his “signature wave” and he begins all his workshops, all around the world, with this wave. If you don’t believe me, you can check out Hong Kong’s spectacular wave on his Facebook page (link below). Darren says it “raises the audience’s energy level and breaks the ice.” He’s completely right - apart from awakening the muscles in our legs on a cold Friday night, the wave also gave the audience a positive, energetic first impression of Darren.

The rest of the workshop was no less interesting. Peppered with quirky personal anecdotes, Chinese proverbs, and deep-belly laughs from the audience, Darren’s presentation took us through his key learning attitudes, content strategies, prep strategies, and nonverbal communication tips. In this article, I will attempt to summarize my biggest takeaways, but I highly recommend all of you to attend his workshops in person (if the opportunity presents itself) in order to glean his advice in its entirety.

Darren began by emphasizing "all public speakers must understand that NOBODY is 100% perfect with effective communication skills on a daily basis." There will always be words that we mispronounce or use out of context, or times when we simply can’t find any words to say at all. However, when we deliver a speech, it is critical that we try and get as close to perfection as possible.

"Facts tell, Stories sell" was the main takeaway in the workshop's discussion about content, as Darren believes stories help capture the audience's attention in delivering a point. Moving on, he spoke about the importance of ensuring content is culturally and age appropriate for your audience, before memorization and pronunciation get ticked off the to-do list. "During my speech at the grand finals in Washington, coming from Singapore, I had to change few terms to cater to the American audience. Like 'secondary schools' is better known as 'high school' in the U.S.

Darren also shared his comprehensive evaluation routine to further hone his speeches. "Audience members, instead of using the mirror, I suggest you all invest in a video camera." he said

Darren recommends videotaping his speeches rather than practicing in the mirror because it allows him to see his entire body and not just his face. Once he has filmed himself speaking, video enables a three-tie evaluation

1. Audio Only - Watch the video with your eyes closed. This enables you to focus and find errors in solely your verbal communication.

2. Video Only - Watch the video a second time but turn off the sound. Although it sounds strange, this method will help you to focus on your non-verbal communication, allowing you to spot errors in your hand gestures, body language, and eye-contact.

3. Audio and Video - Watch the video a third time as normal. This will help you perform a holistic evaluation of your speech; you will be able to check for coherence, and see whether your body language is appropriate for your content.

Lastly, Darren narrated his experiences and tips for times when you are asked to speak without preparation. In either extemporaneous or impromptu speeches, a set of pre-prepared speech scaffolds can help you tackle almost any topic. These following speech structures will provide you with a basic structure for your speech, leaving you to fill in minimal gaps. These scaffolds include:

• WWWWWH - This is the question word scaffold: Explain the “who, what, where, when, why, how” about your topic, and make connections between them for coherence.

• Past, Present, Future - If your topic is a social issue, explain the past, present, and future direction of the issue. Involve important stakeholders, places, and causes and consequences.

• Local, National, Global - Another way to analyse a social issue is to analyze its relevance and implications on a local, national, and global level. Also include causes and consequences of the issue.

Following a speech structure can be extremely helpful because they are not only easy to use, but they are also extremely easy for the audience to follow. They will provide you with a logical outline for any topic, and are simple enough to only require a basic understanding of your topic.

The tips above are only three of many that Darren provided in his workshop; if you are interested in learning more about Darren and his public speaking strategies, you can visit his Facebook page, website, or Youtube Channel. His book, Express to Impress, is also available for purchase on Amazon.