Originally published by John A. Byrne on LinkedIn: New Year's Resolution? Start With A Free Online Course In Business
Why do so many speeches fall flat? Blame poor delivery for one. Who wants to hear a speaker trip over every line or drone on without making a point? Let’s face it: public speaking is an exercise in respecting the audience’s time and IQ, not to mention the spirit of the gathering. While passion and pageant can hold an audience early on, it is no substitute for the most important element of any speech: Strategy.
Indeed, many speeches are doomed to fail long before a speaker strolls to the lectern? Why? Maybe it was poorly structured, with ideas scattered here-and-there without any logical path or clear destination. It could’ve opened slow and soft, failing to stir the imagination or connect with the audience’s experiences or aspirations. Perhaps the main idea was mentioned once or twice, rather than acting as the backbone and subtly weaved into every point. The worst sin of all? The speech lacked the stories that people remember or the gut punch that moved them to action.
Think you possess the moxie to lead? Public speaking is often the bellwether. While failed speakers may be tempted to blame the audience and venue, the reality is that speakers hold the power. It is their job to rattle and rally, to entertain and enlighten. It all starts with planning, prioritizing, testing, and tuning. Those are exactly the skills that students will gain in an impressive new MOOC opening in January: Speaking to Inform: Discussing Complex Ideas with Clear Explanations and Dynamic Slides.
Developed by Matt McGarrity, senior lecturer in the communications department at the University of Washington, the course makes one point clear: everyone will eventually need to deliver a speech, in one form or another. Question is, how do you get your audience to pay attention, retain key points, and (best case scenario) embrace your ideas? Training students to achieve those goals is a special gift for McGarrity, whose online “Introduction to Public Speaking” MOOC has already enrolled nearly 500,000 students. A past recipient of the National Speaker’s Association’s Outstanding Professor Award, McGarrity has taken a different tact to this course, focusing on speech development and leaving delivery to other courses he teaches online. As a result, students can focus on fundamentals like design, insightfulness, and clarity to achieve their goals.
The course also pairs students, so they can provide feedback to each other on what works and what doesn’t in their speeches. For McGarrity, the online milieu, at once more intimate and distant, actually can make it easier for students to learn the speaking craft by creating a less threatening environment than a live audience. “Having it online can be, on one hand, better than it ever would be in class,” he states in a 2015 interview. “Why? There are some people who are so afraid of public speaking, so apprehensive, that they will never come into my classroom. They are the ones who need an opportunity to engage the material more than anyone else. They may be more likely to do so in an online environment where they can practice at home.”