It’s all about your story. That’s what an Ignite talk is about. Now your story may be an idea, an interest or just something fun; but in the end, it is rooted in your story and your experiences.
You’re not pitching to the audience. You’re inspiring the audience.
Now you might think that’s a tall order. But if there’s one thing true about human nature, it’s that we connect with people when they share their stories. When I hear even the smallest slice of a person at their core, I am inspired. Your audience will be too. So, begin with your story, or something grounded in your experiences of the world. You need to believe that no matter who you are and what your experiences have been, you have something meaningful to offer those in your community. Everyone is a would-be Ignite speaker. Everyone.
At the core, Ignite is about community. At Ignite, the whole community contributes their slice of how to make life better for the community. The audience is your first concern. When thinking of speaking, the first question you have to answer is, ‘why is this important to the whole audience?’ Not just an audience versed in your technical vocabulary, not just potential investors (a big no-no), but simply, the whole audience. Why is your idea something everyone should hear? Once you’ve answered that, you’re ready to go.
I’ve been around town asking some Ignite veterans and I’ve come up with some tips. See, there are basically three stages to being an Ignite speaker after that initial inspiration to take the plunge.
Prepare
First, make sure you can answer the “why should your audience care” question; maybe it will require you to cut out certain parts that are too technical or not important for your main point. Just remember that the talk isn’t for you, it’s for your audience. Put the audience first and your Ignite talk will be legendary, regardless as to how skilled you are at public speaking.
Write your slides last, your script first. You have 20 slides, 15 seconds each. That means you have one or two sentences a slide. That’s it. Any more and you’ll be rushed. So write something which is between 20 and 40 sentences long, which you can say at a nice easy pace. Once that is done, then, and only then write your slides. Just make sure to drop the first and last slides of any content as they will be used up in introductions and applause.
A word on Bullet Points: If you’re going to have bullet points, you need to remember that you’ll want to line up your talking about those points, with the slide containing those respective bullet points. This can put unnecessary pressure on your attempts to control the speed of your talk. Better to have pictures, and text only when absolutely necessary, and not a lot of it. This way, if your timing is off, no one will be the wiser. Muhahahahaha.
Performance, not Lecture: “It’s better to see your talk as a performance rather than a lecture” counsels James Shelley a London Igniter. “Think of it as intellectual theatre. Prepare for an Ignite talk like you’d prepare for stage acting: know your script inside and out, memorize your cues, and practice everything at home until it feels like a natural dialogue.” Performances are about timing, communication of emotion and presentation; whereas a lecture is of course not a theatrical performance and allowed to be much more flexible. Ignite is more theatre than lecture. You have five minutes to perform, so make sure to know your lines.
Practice
For the love of [insert meaningful life-grounding deity, concept or (a)concept here] don’t skip this step! At least practice it once, because likely you will find that your talk isn’t five minutes and this will motivate you to shorten and practice it more.
A thing I’ve always done to make my presentations better, is to record them on a webcam and re-watch them. The added feature of being recorded on webcam feels more like you have an audience and will get you more used to the real thing; and the added step of watching it will make you conscious of verbal and physical ticks that you will have never realized you do. The simple act of seeing yourself do them is often enough to eliminate them, as well as improve your speaking and make you feel more comfortable with public speaking in general.
Talk
This will be the shortest part of the whole experience. Five minutes. That’s all you have to survive. You can do it. Talking with some past Ignite speakers, I’ve gleaned a few tips. You know that feeling where you’re about to do some sort of public speaking and you feel like you can’t breathe? “Focus on your feet and the feeling of standing, that alone will ground you, allow you to breathe deeper and lower your voice” says Chantelle Diachina, past Ignite London speaker and Ignite veteran.
The most engaging talks are the ones where people aren’t reading off a script. Having notes to help with cues is one thing, but scripts put a physical and emotional barrier between you and your audience.
Another thing to remember is that Ignite is the group of friends everyone wishes they had around all the time. It is an immensely supportive community. The best kind of place to share an idea that’s close to your heart. All these tips are to help make you better, but this doesn’t mean you are judged on your skill. From novice to expert, you will find a mountain of support from the Ignite community here in London.
Of course this isn’t all that can be said about speaking. So I want to ask everyone who reads this, who has a question or a tip on speaking themselves, to please tweet your own tips so we can build the best resource to support our wonderful Ignite speakers.
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