A poll from Men’s Health magazine on what scares you the most – where public speaking only was third

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bottom of page 12 in the January – February 2021 issue of Men’s Health magazine presents results from a Twitter poll which had asked What scares you the most? As shown above, based on 3,647 responses the results were 41.4% for failure, 34.6% for death, 19.6% for public speaking, and just 4.4% for flying.

 

Because this is a silly online poll done back in October 2020 (and not from a random sample) we don’t know who answered, where they were, how old they were, etc. It’s just an amusing set of factoids.  

 

Are you ready to speak in public?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At his Manner of Speaking blog on February 5, 2021 John Zimmer has an excellent post titled Should you speak in public? He shows a flowchart for answering that question. On further reflection I decided that I liked his idea much better than his graphic, and produced the PowerPoint alternative (titled Are you ready to speak?) that is shown above. In mine all the yes answers are in a straight line. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is his original for comparison. I didn’t like that he linked twice from a ‘No’ to his ‘Think some more’ box. I recolored the ‘Yes’ arrows from red to green to show how their path wanders. Also, he didn’t use the usual flowchart diamond for a decision box. My three yellow round-cornered rectangles illustrate the mythical computer opcode called Branch and Hang.

 

Don’t quote Hitler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But recently congresswoman Mary Miller did:

 

“…Hitler was right on one thing. He said, 'Whoever has the youth has the future.' Our children are being propagandized,’ Miller had said, appearing to read from prepared remarks.”

 

as was reported by Veronica Stracqualursi in an article at CNN Politics on January 9, 2021 titled Illinois Republican congresswoman apologizes for invoking Hitler as she faces calls to resign.

 

That situation prompted Nathan Heller to write a bitingly satirical article in the February 8, 2021 issue of The New Yorker titled Tips for Public Speakers which includes the following items to not do:

 

“Most important: be a problem solver. At some point in your talk, look audience members in the eye and say, ‘I have a solution for you.’ Try not to look audience members in the eye and say, ‘I have a final solution for you.’

 

Speak in simple language. Say ‘use' instead of ‘utilize,’ and ‘detailed’ instead of ‘granular.’ Try not to refer to your growth plan as an ‘Anschluss.’

 

Hand gestures are your friend. Good ones involve open palms, joined fingertips, or spread arms. Do your best to avoid a ‘Sieg heil’ salute, or pointing at a member of your audience with the words ‘This one, ja – step aside, please.’ “  

 

Back before Twitter there were usenet discussion newsgroups. Godwin’s Law about them says that when an online discussion goes on long enough, Hitler eventually gets brought up. That ends the discussion, and whoever brought up Hitler loses the argument.  

 

The image from Wikimedia Commons isn’t Hitler, it is Charlie Chaplin in a publicity still from his 1940 film The Great Dictator.

 

Better Zoom meetings: the big picture (strategy)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this pandemic year it seems everybody and his brother now is a Zoom ‘expert.’ Much advice just is tactics (specific tips), like an article by Mike Koenigs at Entrepreneur on April 24, 2020 titled 25 Ways to make your Zoom meetings awesome. Every now and then we glimpse the bigger picture and get strategies, like in another article by Mike Koenigs at Forbes Coaches Council on May 6, 2020 titled Avoid the Top Five mistakes people make in Zoom meetings, which advised they were:

 

Ignoring or failing to leverage technology

Failing to connect with your audience

Failing to represent your brand

Failing to optimize for modern attention spans

Failing to observe online etiquette

 

But there are some real, capital E – Experts who have analyzed online meetings. One is Nick Morgan, who in 2018 wrote a 288-page book titled Can You Hear Me? How to connect with people in a virtual world. A third article by Nick Morgan at his Public Words blog on October 28, 2020 discusses Three ways to make video conferencing more bearable, which I describe as follows:

 

The Rule of Predictability

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Provide an agenda (link to it as the very first item in the chat) and have a Master of Ceremonies.

 

The Rule of Transparency

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Begin by checking for local issues. People may be too polite to bring them up. Take a break in the middle of the meeting for some casual chat.

 

 

The Rule of Visibility   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Create a formal mechanism, like a hand raise, for passing the conversation to the next participant. At an in-person meeting you can see who is standing behind the lectern. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The person who finishes speaking on Zoom could acknowledge being done with the TADA reaction.

 

A fourth article by Nick Morgan at his Public Words blog on November 24, 2020 titled Making video conferences work for you describes five more specific things to do:

 

Don’t hang back

Do give back

Don’t hold back

Do feed back

Don’t sit back

Ignore that advice and you may find that Zoom meetings are just modern seances.

Cartoons of speakers were adapted from those at Wikimedia Commons.  

 

Better Zoom meetings: mute, video and chat problems

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Zoom virtual meetings software has controls for turning audio and video on or off, and a chat feature. All of these can be misused, as is discussed by Janani Sekar in an article at  Harvard Crimson on September 24, 2020 titled How to: Deal with Zoom disasters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking while you’re muted (but didn’t mean to be)

 

This is minor. You just unmute, say oops, and then say what you wanted to convey. “You’re still on mute” is a common cry at the online Toastmasters club meetings I attend. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking while you’re not muted (but meant to be)

 

This can be a major ‘hot mic’ downfall moment. There is an article at Snopes titled Did Uncle Don call kids ‘little b#st#rds’ on the air? describing a debunked urban legend about a radio host. Later something similar showed up in the 1957 movie A Face in the Crowd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video off when it should have been on

 

This is minor, and easily fixed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Video on when it should have been off

 

This either could be minor or major. You can gross people out by picking your nose, using your camera as a makeup mirror, or full frontal nudity.

 

 

Video filter cat-astrophes (Updated February 9)

An article by Aaron Feis in the New York Post on February 9, 2021describes how a Zoom filter transforms lawyer into cat during court hearing.

 

Zoom chat

 

An article by Sarah Gershman at the Harvard Business Review on November 4, 2020 titled Yes, virtual presenting is weird explains how:

 

“The chat function is a great way to get immediate audience response. You could begin with a relevant question and ask people to type the answer in the chat. For example, you might ask everyone to write one thing they hope to learn from the presentation. The chat is especially helpful to introverts who may not want to speak up. Make sure to read aloud at least some of the answers (and use first names if you can). When you engage the audience immediately, you feel as though people are listening, which raises your confidence for the rest of the presentation.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zoom chat (with the wrong private person)

 

This might be minor. Just one person thinks you are creepy. But that person might also be creepy as in this 20-second video clip from Taxi Driver (with very bad language).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zoom chat (with everyone instead of a private person)

 

This can be major, depending on what you inadvertently said.

 

Images of a cartoon monkey, microphone and webcam came from Wikimedia Commons. Cartoons of men with upset and horrified faces both came from the 1912 book The Cartoonist’s Art by J. Campbell Cory at the Internet Archive.

 

Better audio at Zoom meetings: microphones and speakers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio is an important part of a Zoom meeting. I am a member of two Toastmasters clubs, so I have gradually learned how to use Zoom. A voice goes through a microphone, computer, Zoom software, and a speaker before you hear it. Anthony English has a seven-minute YouTube  video titled Zoom Audio Test (step by step tutorial). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Desktop computers typically used modest speakers like the 3” wide ones shown above. But laptops have even smaller, tinnier speakers that only provide half-decent quality. Consider using external speakers.

 

A laptop computer typically has a tiny electret microphone located above the top of the screen, next to the webcam. When you move back from the camera, you also move away from the microphone and then may not be heard clearly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This problem can be solved by instead using a lavalier (lapel) microphone clipped to your shirt, as is shown above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or you can get a headset with a noise-cancelling microphone and headphones. For $30 I got a Logitech H390 USB headset (shown above). It has an eight foot cord, which gives me room to move around. There also are wireless headsets.     

 

Anyhow, what is a lavalier? I’d heard of musketeers and grenadiers, so a lavalier might be a fierce Hawaiian warrior who throws balls of lava. But lavalier really is a jewelry term for something hung around the neck. It is named for the mistress of the French King Louis XIV – Louise de la Vallière.

 

An image of John Kasich wearing a lavalier microphone, and icons for microphone and speaker all came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

Better Zoom meetings: cameras and lighting

 Camera Distance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a blog post on January 11, 2021 titled Keep your hand gestures visible when speaking at a zoom meeting, I discussed keeping far enough away from the laptop web camera, as is shown above. But there is much more to discuss both about cameras and lighting. I am a member of two Toastmasters clubs, so I have gradually learned how to use Zoom.

 

Privacy Shutter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The webcam on your laptop may have a sliding privacy shutter, as shown above. When you start Zoom you need to remember to open it. Or, you may have a homemade one from tape, which needs to be removed.

 

Camera Angle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another factor is the camera angle. If your laptop is sitting on a  coffee table (just 16” high), then the camera might be looking up your nose, as shown above. If your laptop is sitting on a table or desk (about 28” high), then the camera might almost be level with your eyes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can elevate the camera by putting it on a cardboard box, as shown above, or a stack of books. You can buy laptop stands that both elevate and tilt the keyboard slightly upward.

 

 

Camera Type

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As shown above, there are several types of video cameras with different resolutions. The HP Pavilion laptop I bought almost a decade ago had a VGA webcam with just 640 x 480 pixels, whose product is a resolution of only 0.31 megapixels. My current Lenovo Thinkpad has an HD (720p) webcam with 1280 x 720 pixels whose product is a resolution of 0.92 megapixels. A Full HD (1080p) camera has 1920 x 1080 pixels whose product is a resolution of 2.07 megapixels. And finally, an Ultra HD (4K) camera has 3840 x 2160 pixels whose product is a resolution of 8.29 megapixels.  

 

Of course, you could buy a web cam with higher resolution. 1080 p webcams are relatively inexpensive. But you also might be able to use the camera in your smartphone. To do that you will need to download an app to your phone, and download software to your laptop, as is discussed in articles at Wired and PC Magazine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will need a tripod or other stand to position your phone camera, as is shown above. My five-year old Samsung Galaxy Relay just has a 720p camera – the same as my webcam. The current Samsung Galaxy 10 and Apple iPhones have 4K cameras.    

 

Lighting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lighting is another important factor. It should come from in front of your face, not either above or behind. As shown above, some type of small desk lamp might be used. A high-intensity lamp with a bare incandescent bulb will result in too much glare. An inexpensive gooseneck lamp is somewhat better. A lamp with a white diffuser (vintage Ikea ‘Smog’) is even better.   

 

This post was inspired by an article from October 21, 2020 by Allison Shapira at Global Public Speaking titled “You’re on mute!” The 3 biggest mistakes we’re still making in virtual presentations, another article from January 4, 2021 by Fred E. Miller at No Sweat Public Speaking titled Don’t do these things and you could become a terrible Zoom Presenter, and a YouTube video from May 25, 2020 by Markus Seppälä titled Improve Zoom quality for free – 3 easy tips.