swyx here: I recently hosted the inaugural AI Engineer Europe and Matt Pocock was a standout speaker, crossing 1m views across talks and workshops in <2 weeks. I asked him to write a post on how he speaks, and he obliged! Reproduced here with permission, with commentary in italics from me. First you should see his keynote (and possibly his workshop):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4F1gFy-hqg
Note: This is a lot more about the vocal element of speaking rather than pure content. Everything here below is in Matt's voice.
I gave a viral talk recently, and @swyx asked me to put something together to explain how I did it - to help future AIE speakers and anyone who wants to learn.
I am, oddly, extremely qualified to do this because I spent 6 years as a voice coach. So I've not only given countless talks, but also taught people how to do it well.
I've put together a list of things I think about when I'm preparing and giving a talk. These are applicable to literally any situation where you're presenting a deck - but also to most in-person interactions. Enjoy.
Tension vs Anxiety: Flowing and Choking
The thing I think about most when I'm giving a talk is tension. Tension is bodily constriction that interferes with the voice. Tight intercostals, neck muscles, and muscles around the larynx.
Tension is different from anxiety. Anxiety is the nerves, stage fright, the feeling of being watched. Stage fright is curable only through repetition. You get your reps in, you do larger and larger talks, and it goes away. I have negligible anxiety when I do talks, usually because I can always picture a bigger gig I've done.
Anxiety feeds tension. You are nervous, so you get physically tense. Your voice catches, your breathing collapses. Your hand start jerking, face freezing, voice going monotone. This is choking - the failure state of any talk.
Its opposite is flowing - an integrated performance state where voice and body move together without friction. It's not effortless - my heart rate is usually through the roof when I'm giving a talk. But it's a state without tension or anxiety.
swyx comment: when you are comfortable, try injecting some tension via vocal variety:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fHoN6MR6MI
Clavicular vs Diaphragmatic Breathing
Tension is a physical problem. The wrong muscles are working too hard, and the right muscles aren't working at all.
This manifests as clavicular breathing. This is breathing led from the upper chest and shoulders. It's the natural 'nervous breath'. And it's a recipe for choking. The more clavicular breaths you take, the more tense you become, the more anxious you feel.
Ironically, the advice to 'take a few deep breaths' can fuck you over. If you're not breathing right, you'll immediately breathe into your clavicle, and start choking.
The fix is diaphragmatic breathing. This style of breathing has you relaxing the belly as you breathe in so that the diaphragm can descend. It's the first thing I taught every student who walked through my door. I'll link to an old video of mine where I talk about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs7a5lt1kx4
Breathing this way is totally free of tension. It's invisible to anyone watching - you just look as if you're completely relaxed. So you can do it on-stage to reduce your physical tension and prevent choking. It's the foundation everything else rests on.
Aiming at the room
Most speakers - I would say 95% of tech speakers I've seen - don't aim their talk at their audience. They are not keeping their audience in mind. They're not even thinking about their audience as they speak.
This manifests in two ways. The first is that they're talking past their audience. They are projecting past them to an imaginary audience that they pictured during practice. They are aiming at the world, not the room. This reads as loud, performative, and hollow.
The second is that they're talking inwardly. They're rehearsing their next line. They're monitoring themselves. This is commonly caused by anxiety, but not always - even relaxed speakers do this. They're aiming at themselves, not the room. This reads as disconnected.
Aim at the room. Read the audience in real-time and adjust. Calibrate to their energy levels. Consider what they might be thinking. Ignore the world, focus on the room. Look outwards, not inwards.
Speaker-Led Slides
Let's finally talk about slides. People focus way too much on their slides, but they are worth of some attention.
Your talk should be speaker-led, not deck-led. The deck is there to support you. It is there to emphasise your points and give you reminders where to go next. If the deck is the talk, with the speaker narrating, why did the speaker even bother to show up.
Slides should be bare. Minimal information per slide. A single phrase. A single quote. A single image. The audience reads it quickly and returns attention to the speaker. Cluttered slides mean the audience pulls attention away from you.
Keep your slides paced. Don't rapid-fire through a bunch of them - nothing will stick. Give each slide, each point, time to land.
Summary
Anxiety can only be cured by reps. But tension is the battleground of the speaker. Fix it with diaphragmatic breathing, and notice whenever you do clavicular breathing. Flow, don't choke.
Aim your talk at the room, not yourself or the world. Keep your audience in mind. Make your talk speaker-led, not deck-led. Use bare slides, and pace them well.
I don't make money off teaching voice any more, so if you enjoyed this, then a donation to Oxford Food Hub would be very welcome.
