If you’ve ever listened to some of the more popular TED speakers, you may hear and see some things you don’t expect. Brené Brown drops a swear word or two, Tim Urban sings the praises of procrastination, and Cameron Russell makes an admittedly awkward outfit change. Wait a second. Those are things we might consider to be unprofessional or inappropriate in a presentation. They don’t fit the mold of what we consider to be correct for a speech.
If you were to search “things to avoid in a presentation,” you’d get all kinds of varied advice. Some sites remind speakers not to show off with special effects. Others say we shouldn’t use too many “ums” and “uhs.” And others remind us not to skip seemingly uninteresting slides. (I’m not sure why someone would put a seemingly uninteresting slide in his presentation anyway, but that’s beside the point). There are all kinds of rules about what you should and shouldn’t do during a presentation.
And that’s what I want to talk about today—our obsession with what is considered correct or appropriate in a presentation. Don’t worry, I’m not going to add to the heaping mound of lists online. Instead, I want to challenge us, as speakers, to think in a new way about our presentations. I want us to aim for a balance between correctness and expression. But both of these are somewhat relative and hazy terms, so let’s jump in.
Correctness
When it comes to using language, most of the education and instruction we get is centered around using it correctly. You may have vivid memories of a teacher handing back your paper with red marks all over it. Or you may purposely avoid that friend or coworker who always seems to be correcting your grammar. Given that language is the primary way in which we express ourselves, relate to others, and share meaning, it’s a little sad to me that we seem to overemphasize correctness.
Now, if you are building a counterargument in your mind, one that says we need structure and grammar and correctness to govern language so we can continue to communicate effectively with each other, let me be the first to say that I agree with you. We do need all of those things. We just don’t need them at the expense of something that is equally important: expression.
Expression
Expression is the quality of language to create meaning in unique individual ways. If you’ve ever moved to another part of the country or even of your state, you’ve probably noticed funny expressions tied to that geographic region that you hadn’t encountered before. When my husband moved from California to our current home in Tennessee, he had to get accustomed to some of our Southern sayings. Things like “bless your heart” (it’s not a nice phrase), “’’ppreciate y’all,” and “fixin’ to.” It’s these colorful ways of expressing things that make the human language so unique and beautiful.
In the courses I teach, I always show Jamila Lyiscott’s spoken word poem called “3 Ways to Speak English.” If you’ve never seen it before, I encourage you to take about 4 and half minutes and watch it now. In it, she talks about the power structures inherent in language. And in speaking to the balance between correctness and expression, she says:
“Let there be no confusion
Let there be no hesitation
This is not a promotion of ignorance
This is a linguistic celebration.”
So why are we so quick to weed this expressiveness, this “linguistic celebration,” out of our presentations? I think it probably has to do with a combination of these reasons:
Context
Because most presentations tend to occur in professional settings like workplace meetings or conferences, we think our language needs to match the context. And that’s true, for the most part. It’s probably wise to clean your language up and only use the terms you might use in front of your boss. But professional language doesn’t have to mean boring language. You can still foster expression while respecting the boundaries of workplace language and behavior.
Fear
Some speakers are afraid to use language that might make them stand out. Let’s be honest. Public speaking can be nerve-wracking anyway, so some presenters do anything they can to avoid drawing more attention to themselves. Most wouldn’t dare to drop a curse word, promote an unpopular opinion or put on a sweater while speaking like the TED speakers I mentioned did.
The Written Language Bias
Another reason might be tied into what our society considers valuable. In his article, “The Written Language Bias,” Per Linell reminds us that society today still generally prioritizes the written word over the spoken word. Linell says, “writing is in general more bound by norms and conventions.” Experts say that writing often produces an object (like a blog or a paper), whereas speech is made up of “dynamic behavior” that produces an act or an event.
So if we prioritize and prize writing, especially in more professional settings, it’s no wonder our presentations start to sound more like papers with their stifling norms and conventions. We still see the written word as an edited and correct object—something with qualities we value and can control. And we see the spoken word as a more fluid and loosely edited event, which can be scary because we don’t have the same amount of control over it.
The Old Mold
Not many speakers have been brave enough to break out of the mold the old professional presentation rulebook created. But Brené Brown has. And that’s why she is one of my favorite writers and speakers. When she delivers a presentation, she uses language and a delivery style that is vulnerable and expressive. You get the idea that she talks the same way whether she’s in a one-on-one conversation with a life-long friend or whether she’s delivering a message to a room full of hundreds of strangers. This is the authenticity we really crave in a speaker.
The Expression Challenge
For just a second, take yourself out of the role of presenter and put yourself in the role of an audience member. Would you rather listen to a presentation in which the speaker matches the cookie cutter expectations of a professional presentation? Or would you rather listen to a speaker whose is warm and vulnerable and expressive and colorful and maybe a bit different from what everyone expects? Is it safe to assume most of us, and most of our audience members, would readily choose the second?
It’s time for a long overdue shift in the world of presentations. It’s time to throw out the rule book and to start embracing presentations and presenters that break out of the mold. In order to do this, we have to throw out the lists of things to avoid. We have to stop thinking so much about “should” and “should not’s” and correctness. Sure, our ideas and content need to be solid and true. But the way in which we choose to present should be reflective of our individuality. It should be a celebration of expressive communication. Or, as Lyiscott says, “linguistic celebration.”
Find out how we can help you create your next beautifully expressive presentation.
If you’ve ever listened to some of the more popular TED speakers, you may hear and see some things you don’t expect. Brené Brown drops a swear word or two, Tim Urban sings the praises of procrastination, and Cameron Russell makes an admittedly awkward outfit change. Wait a second. Those are things we might consider to be unprofessional or inappropriate in a presentation. They don’t fit the mold of what we consider to be correct for a speech.
If you were to search “things to avoid in a presentation,” you’d get all kinds of varied advice. Some sites remind speakers not to show off with special effects. Others say we shouldn’t use too many “ums” and “uhs.” And others remind us not to skip seemingly uninteresting slides. (I’m not sure why someone would put a seemingly uninteresting slide in his presentation anyway, but that’s beside the point). There are all kinds of rules about what you should and shouldn’t do during a presentation.
And that’s what I want to talk about today—our obsession with what is considered correct or appropriate in a presentation. Don’t worry, I’m not going to add to the heaping mound of lists online. Instead, I want to challenge us, as speakers, to think in a new way about our presentations. I want us to aim for a balance between correctness and expression. But both of these are somewhat relative and hazy terms, so let’s jump in.
Correctness
When it comes to using language, most of the education and instruction we get is centered around using it correctly. You may have vivid memories of a teacher handing back your paper with red marks all over it. Or you may purposely avoid that friend or coworker who always seems to be correcting your grammar. Given that language is the primary way in which we express ourselves, relate to others, and share meaning, it’s a little sad to me that we seem to overemphasize correctness.
Now, if you are building a counterargument in your mind, one that says we need structure and grammar and correctness to govern language so we can continue to communicate effectively with each other, let me be the first to say that I agree with you. We do need all of those things. We just don’t need them at the expense of something that is equally important: expression.
Expression
Expression is a quality of language that helps us create meaning in unique and individual ways. If you’ve ever moved to another part of the country or even of your state, you’ve probably noticed funny expressions tied to that geographic region that you hadn’t encountered before. When my husband moved from California to our current home in Tennessee, he had to get accustomed to some of our Southern sayings. Things like “bless your heart” (it’s not a nice phrase), “’’ppreciate y’all,” and “fixin’ to.” It’s these colorful ways of expressing things that make the human language so unique and beautiful.
In the courses I teach, I always show Jamila Lyiscott’s spoken word poem called “3 Ways to Speak English.” If you’ve never seen it before, I encourage you to take about 4 and half minutes and watch it now. In it, she talks about the power structures inherent in language. And in speaking to the balance between correctness and expression, she says:
“Let there be no confusion
Let there be no hesitation
This is not a promotion of ignorance
This is a linguistic celebration.”
So why are we so quick to weed this expressiveness, this “linguistic celebration,” out of our presentations? I think it probably has to do with a combination of these reasons:
Context
Because most presentations tend to occur in professional settings like workplace meetings or conferences, we think our language needs to match the context. And that’s true, for the most part. It’s probably wise to clean your language up and only use the terms you might use in front of your boss. But professional language doesn’t have to mean boring language. You can still foster expression while respecting the boundaries of workplace language and behavior.
Fear
Some speakers are afraid to use language that might make them stand out. Let’s be honest. Public speaking can be nerve-wracking anyway, so some presenters do anything they can to avoid drawing more attention to themselves. Most wouldn’t dare to drop a curse word, promote an unpopular opinion or put on a sweater while speaking like the TED speakers I mentioned did.
The Written Language Bias
Another reason might be tied in to what our society considers valuable. In his article, “The Written Language Bias,” Per Linell reminds us that society today still generally prioritizes the written word over the spoken word. Linell says, “writing is in general more bound by norms and conventions.” Experts say that writing often produces an object (like a blog or a paper), whereas speech is made up of “dynamic behavior” that produces an act or an event.
So if we prioritize and prize writing, especially in more professional settings, it’s no wonder our presentations start to sound more like papers with their stifling norms and conventions. We still see the written word as an edited and correct object—something with qualities we value and can control. And we see the spoken word as a more fluid and loosely edited event, which can be scary because we don’t have the same amount of control over it.
The Old Mold
Not many speakers have been brave enough to break out of the mold the old professional presentation rulebook created. But Brené Brown has. And that’s why she is one of my favorite writers and speakers. When she delivers a presentation, she uses language and a delivery style that is vulnerable and expressive. You get the idea that she talks the same way whether she’s in a one-on-one conversation with a life-long friend or whether she’s delivering a message to a room full of hundreds of strangers. This is the authenticity we really crave in a speaker.
The Expression Challenge
For just a second, take yourself out of the role of presenter and put yourself in the role of an audience member. Would you rather listen to a presentation in which the speaker matches the cookie cutter expectations of a professional presentation? Or would you rather listen to a speaker whose is warm and vulnerable and expressive and colorful and maybe a bit different from what everyone expects? Is it safe to assume most of us, and most of our audience members, would readily choose the second?
It’s time for a long overdue shift in the world of presentations. It’s time to throw out the rule book and to start embracing presentations and presenters that break out of the mold. In order to do this, we have to throw out the lists of things to avoid. We have to stop thinking so much about “should” and “should not’s” and correctness. Sure, our ideas and content need to be solid and true. But the way in which we choose to present should be reflective of our individuality. Presentations should be an open space for expressive communication. Or, as Lyiscott says, they should be “linguistic celebration.”
Find out how we can help you create your next beautifully expressive presentation.
