[MUSIC PLAYING]
DAVID NIHILL: Thanks for coming.
I didn't think I would
be climbing over people
to get through the room.
Somebody must have started a
vicious rumor that Taylor Swift
was coming here today, not me.
She will be around Dublin.
Someone always dodgy is singing
in Dublin when I'm here.
The last time I was in
Google, it was Justin Bieber.
So I don't know who's
booking this schedule.
I do totally hate
public speaking
and I always have done, and
I know that sounds crazy.
My nickname in university
was always Shaking Stevens.
I don't know if you've had it
when you hold a bit of paper,
or something like this.
And it's in your hands
and your presenting,
and you're like,
why is it shaking?
Oh, no, and you're
looking around.
For me, it actually
went through my body
so much that I became like
an Irish salsa dancer.
It was going
absolutely everywhere.
And you'll see it happens now.
Can you see it shaking?
Can't control it, so
I just don't do it.
That was one of the
first things I learned
not to do pretty quickly.
And for this predicament
did I find myself in,
I blame Americans.
I don't know if you've
been there or noticed this,
but they're a lot more
positive than Irish people
and they will support you
with anything, no matter
how bad the plan sounds.
You could be like, I'm
going to give up my job
and sell inflatable
penguins on the internet,
and they'll go like,
(AMERICAN ACCENT)
you should do that, man.
That could be great.
[LAUGHTER]
Sometimes you just
miss Irish people
to tell you that's
a horrible plan.
Get those penguins
down off eBay.
You're bringing
shame to the family.
They would tell you very quickly
that it's not a good idea
to do with your time.
Literally, I was so bad in
the Shaking Stevens days
that when I went to
university originally
in IT Tallaght and
then later in UCD--
but at IT Tallaght
people in other classes
knew I was so bad that it
was worth coming to see me.
That's a very Irish thing.
They're like, this is
going to be terrible.
Let's go see it.
And I'd be there and
I'd be looking around.
I'm like, who are those
extra people down the back?
They're like, they came
to see you go to pieces.
And I was like, oh, man.
And it kind of got the better
me all through my existence.
And it does sound like the worst
plan ever, what I did the end,
was to do stand-up comedy
intensively for a full year
to try and get over a
fear of public speaking.
But I loved Malcolm Gladwell.
I don't if you know
him as a writer.
And I love Tim Ferriss
and I loved AJ Jacobs,
and I loved anyone who wrote
about the 80-20 principle.
Basically, all
authors that had said
you could short-cut
learning processes.
There was a way to
do things quickly
and that people who had
mastery in a certain topic
had usually clocked up
about 10,000 hours doing it.
So one thing-- you could
shortcut to a certain level.
But if you wanted to be a
true master, who would that be
and what would they do?
So that was Malcolm
Gladwell's 10,000 hours--
that if you looked
at Bill Gates,
or you looked at the Beatles,
or you looked at anyone
who had huge
success in one area,
they usually hit
that 10,000 hours.
So I was like, well, who's
better at this than anyone
in the world on public speaking?
Surely, it's comedians.
Like, they're up
there doing this
in the worst of
circumstances every night,
where people might be
coming in off the street
after having a horrible day--
depressed, lost their
job, drinking alcohol,
close their arms, sit there,
and go, make me laugh.
And you're like, surely,
night after night--
and it turns out comedians,
on average, the ones that
are dedicating themselves, do
it-- put about four hours a day
between actually being on
stage and crafting the content
to get on stage.
And usually, they estimate
it takes about seven years
to make an income full-time
from stand-up comedy, which
is roughly about
those 10,000 hours.
And I didn't come across
any of this voluntarily.
A friend of mine tragically
had a spinal cord injury,
fell from a third story
balcony, and doctors told him
he'd never walk again.
And he didn't want
to accept that.
And his insurance company
cut him off and wouldn't
fund his recovery attempts.
And all my American friends
were super positive.
They're like, no, we're going
to get him through this.
We're going to do fundraisers.
We're going to get the money.
And it kind of rubbed
off on me a bit.
And I was like, well, maybe
I can do something, as well.
And I said, well, why
don't we do a charity show?
I know this comedian.
Maybe I can get
him to headline it.
He just happens to be my next
door neighbor at the time.
Maybe he'll do it.
And I went to my friend Arash
and I said, we should do this.
And he's like, oh,
man, that's great.
You're going to be
the host, right?
You're going to host it?
I was like, oh, no.
He did not know what all
my Irish friends knew
and all those extra people
in the back of the room in IT
Tallaght you that I was not very
good at that kind of carrying
on.
But it gave me a
kind of a reason
to realize the ridiculous
of the fear I had
and it gave me a belief that
maybe you could overcome it.
And I think I've learned
the hard way after all this
that you never really overcome
a fear of public speaking.
And I think so many people
get sold on the belief
that you will overcome it.
Take this 10-step program.
Take this class.
Do this weekend.
You can overcome it.
And everyone I met never
really overcame that fear.
They just learned to manage it.
And that's exactly what
happened to me over time.
So I started talking
to comedians.
I said, right, I wouldn't
describe public speaking
as a crippling fear.
I was like, my friend's
sitting there in a wheelchair,
looking at me saying, you're
going to host this thing?
You can't even consider using
that word in that room anymore.
So I'm like, it's just, look
at what you're going through.
I'm afraid of speaking.
That just makes no sense.
And especially when you break
down the term public speaking--
like, Irish people
hate public speaking,
but imagine going to Irish--
Irish people love speaking.
[LAUGHTER]
We love speaking.
We just hate public speaking.
It makes no sense.
You're like, do you
like speaking, do you?
Oh, yeah.
Do you ever do it in public,
you talk to people, you do?
Oh, I do, yeah.
What about public speaking?
Oh, no, no, no.
[LAUGHTER]
But it just has this weird,
very weird thing when
you put these things together.
So I was like, right, the time
has come to try, at least,
and get over this, or manage it.
I wanted to do
this charity event.
So I talked to all
the comedians I could.
I did as much research
as I possibly could.
I really dived into this and
went way down the rabbit hole.
Did the charity show--
it went really well.
One of the main comics
thought it went so well
that he asked me to
open for him at a comedy
club, the main comedy
club in San Francisco.
And I was like,
should I tell him
I have no idea what I'm doing?
No, so I did it.
And that scared
the life out of me.
And I did it again
and I did it again.
And I was very much
influenced by an author
called AJ Jacobs I don't know
if you've read any of his work.
I love him.
He goes into topics
intensively for one year.
So he was a guy who wrote "The
Year of Living Biblically."
You ever read it, where he
followed the rules of the Bible
to the letter, the law,
even though he was Jewish?
[LAUGHTER]
He took it extremely seriously.
At one stage, he was in
New York in Times Square,
throwing rocks at adulterers.
[LAUGHTER]
It's a really, really good book.
So I was like,
right, intensively
for a year-- stand-up comedy.
I can't tell any
of my Irish friends
this plan because they're
not going to support it.
They're not like
the American ones.
They're going to be
like, what you are doing?
You had your master's degree.
You're not using it.
You're going to be a comedian
with no intention of being
a comedian?
It just makes no
sense long-term.
But I did it anyway.
And it turned out it's quite
hard to clog up stage time
if people know you don't
know what you're doing,
so I had to make it look
like I'd been around doing
comedy for a while.
And nobody in America
could pronounce
my last name, which is Nihill.
It was a bit unusual
even in Ireland.
So they kept calling
me Irish Dave.
So I was like,
there's a good stage
name that sounds horrendous
all at the same time.
Irish Dave-- so I had to get
Irish Dave a website to make it
look like he'd been around for
a while and very professional,
and a Facebook page.
And at the time--
mildly controversial--
but you could go on
Fiverr.com and buy likes.
So Irish Dave was pretty
popular there, for a while.
[LAUGHTER]
Mostly in India.
[LAUGHTER]
That would have been a
real red flag for me,
but Americans, they
seemed OK with it.
Even the concept,
I was like, why
would Irish Dave be big in
Ireland for doing comedy?
That's the worst
stage name ever.
That's like a guy called
American Frank touring America.
Like, wait, what's
the American part for?
Anyway, nobody questioned it.
So this got a little bit out
of control and it ended up--
this is at the end
of a full year.
And The Moth is a storytelling
competition in the US.
It's true stories told
live with no notes
and this is the biggest
competition final
they do anywhere in the world.
It's in San
Francisco and there's
1,400 people in the audience.
And that little ant on stage
about to lay an egg is me.
And if you came up and
hugged me after that,
you'd felt like you
just hugged someone
who got out of the shower--
not good, not sexy,
not anything like that.
But if you were to
see me speaking,
you would have thought I looked
pretty comfortable with what
I was doing.
I didn't have
butterflies in my chest.
I had pigeons.
It was big and bad
and it was messy,
but other people couldn't tell.
So at this stage, I'd learned to
figure out a way that comedians
knew backwards and
sideways of how
to manage that public speaking
fear, how to get to a point
where you know it's
going to go well.
It's just a matter of how
well it's going to go,
and that puts you quite at ease.
And it was just all these things
the comedians knew and learned
the hard way, and clocking
up those 10,000 hours
that the average
person, even people who
taught public speaking, didn't
seem to have a clue about.
And I was like,
it's kind of crazy
that you're ignoring
the one group of people
who are doing this the most,
especially in the world
of business, where most people
kind of need it-- no offense.
Have you been to a
conference lately
where you're like-- they're
first question is like,
not will I sit near the stage?
It's like, where's the plug?
Where's the nearest plug?
Where am I going to
plug-in my laptop?
Where am I going to
plug-in my devices
because this is
going to be boring
and I'm going to need them.
But we actually go in
there with-- the bar
on public speaking is
so low, it's amazing.
Like really, just a couple
of little things, and you
really stand out quite fast.
So today is just
about taking you
through a bunch of those things.
This day was just about
me telling a story
and some pretty crazy
things happened just
because of telling that story,
and a story very unique to me.
And I'll tell you what
happened at the end of that.
But I really went
down this rabbit hole.
I started looking at
comedians, and I'm like, well,
I wonder if business speakers
are doing the same things
as comedians?
Maybe they just don't
know it or they aren't
aware of the correlation.
So I started breaking
down TED Talks.
This is one of my favorite
speakers, Seth Godin.
He's so funny that even
TED described his talks
as hilarious.
But then it's like, well, how
hilarious is he, actually,
and can we measure this?
And it turns out
there's a metric
that comedians use
and are very aware of,
called laughs per minute.
How many times you make
someone laugh per minute?
And it turns out he's making
people, on average, laugh
about 3.4 times per minute.
And then, OK, what does
that metric mean, though?
Give me some level
of comparison.
These are the three
funniest movies in history--
"Airplane!," "The Hangover,"
and "The Naked Gun."
Some guy talking
about marketing will
make you laugh more on a sheer
reputation basis per minute
than the funniest
movies of all time.
So think about that-- like a
team of the best of the best
script writers in Hollywood
sat down and got the best
creative talent and said,
we're going to be funny.
And this guy said, I'm going
to talk about marketing,
and he got more laughs.
Now granted, the movie script
is a longer script to it.
It has a longer period of time
to keep people's attention.
And if you're watching
"The Hangover,"
you're definitely
laughing bigger.
But for sheer repetition,
for engaging his crowd,
this guy is up there with
all the funniest movies
of all time.
And the nice thing is, if we're
trying to produce that, well,
how is he doing it?
And I should tell you
around this stage,
if you're watching this
or you're in a room
or you're writing notes, if
you want to be lazy in any way,
I have a link at the
end I'll give you,
and it links to anything
I'm going to mention,
any of the things I'm
going to mention at all--
video-wise, book-wise,
writer-wise.
And you can download
all the tips for free
because I forget a lot of
stuff to be honest, sometimes.
58% were from
images-- so literally,
just that last
metric alone, sorry,
he is just using
GIFs, funny things
from online,
socially-proven content.
And instead of telling
somebody how frustrated he was,
he's showing them.
I was left frustrated,
it was a bit like this,
and then reveal of
the image, which
creates a little bit of
a surprise and nearly
always a laugh.
I don't you ever
seen a presentation
where you saw somebody
put up something funny
and then they just stand
there looking at it.
And they're like, and you're
like, you're a total weirdo.
That's all you're
thinking at that moment
because they haven't built
an element of surprise to it.
It's really that this is how
I felt. How did you feel?
Show me how you felt.
And when you show it
like that, like a
comedian would do a joke,
where you really hide the
reveal until the end of it,
you get quite a big reaction.
And he wasn't the
outlier, so we actually
studied all the world's
leading TED Talks
and correlated them for
this measurement of humor.
And it turns out every one of
the leading, most popular TED
Talks in the world are funny.
Every one of the top
10 TED Talks are funny.
These are all researchers--
so Mary Roach, Shawn Achor,
and Ken Robinson
are all researchers.
Researchers are normally
not known for being
the most exciting, funny
people-- no offense,
researchers.
But these are very serious,
heavy topics for the most part,
apart from Mary Roach's.
Have you ever seen that, the
talk about the female orgasm?
I only see one guy nodding
his head-- smartest man
in the room.
[LAUGHTER]
That was very quick.
You were like, I
knew this was coming.
Well done, you're going to be
signing books after, not me--
stallion.
But it's very clear that
all these leading talks
were actually funny.
So if you want to go and
you're speaking in these days,
there was nearly an
expectation for you
to have a level of entertainment
within the content you
were giving people.
So how do we reproduced this
very much 80-20 principal
style, which I love?
So we're going to focus on the
20% of the things that give you
80% of the results, and this
becomes quite clear quite fast
in public speaking.
So breaking down any topic--
you can do it with
anything, really.
Language-wise-- any
Brazilians in here today?
No?
This is the only time
with nobody from Brazil?
Brazil and Portuguese
sounds really complicated,
but then you're like,
I think they're just
taking English
words and sticking
an e on the end of
many of them and making
it sound pretty groovy.
And I was like, imagine
you were in a meeting
and you wanted to get some
commentary from a manager.
You'd be like, give me some
give me some [PORTUGUESE]..
AUDIENCE: [PORTUGUESE].
DAVID NIHILL: [PORTUGUESE],,
that's a word!
[LAUGHTER]
And then, if you go
camping and you're not
going to sleep in your
duvet or your bedsheets,
you're going to
need a sleepybaggy.
[LAUGHTER]
It just kept getting better.
AUDIENCE: And you're checking
things off internetty?
DAVID NIHILL:
Internetty, thank you.
You're going to post things on
Faceybooky, watch a YouTubey.
You might play some pingypongy,
kingykongy, knockouty.
You can go to a field, have some
wine and cheese-- pickynicky.
You can do it all.
[LAUGHTER]
So it just keeps going.
I love that language.
My personal favorite
is when you have a cold
and you have some problems
breathing-- vickyvaporubby.
[LAUGHTER]
God, I love that word.
But all of the sudden,
something you do is complicated.
You become-- oh,
I see a pattern.
So what we were doing with
this one is-- it is similar,
but without--
I love the old
Brazilian Portuguese.
Sorry about that one.
That was fun.
You were even more happy
about it than I was to share.
We didn't even mention the
Hedgyhodgy Chili Peppers,
the band.
I love those.
So any tiny principle--
how do we break it down?
So what are the world's
leading speakers doing?
What patterns are we able to
teach people very quickly,
and how can people
get really good
at public speaking really fast?
Number one, always
start with a story,
especially if you're
trying to be funny.
So if you make a
joke about someone,
you have a huge
chance of failure.
If you make a joke about you
or tell a story about you,
it's very easy,
most of the time,
to get some sort of
positive reaction.
If it's embarrassing for
me, it's funny for you
sick individuals.
[LAUGHTER]
It's very much
Irish style on that.
I was fundraising
for these events
for people with
spinal cord injuries,
and I was sending out emails.
And office e-mails, of
course, you normally
end them the same way--
kind regards, very formal.
I'm dyslexic, and
unfortunately in kind regards
I was mixing up a g and a t.
I ended all those
emails, kind retards.
[LAUGHTER]
Oh, yeah, for two whole months.
And sometimes I
tried to be like,
office cool, and I
just dropped kind,
and I was just
going, like, retards.
And that day, I wanted to
just slip into a hole and die.
And look at you all
laughing at my pain.
That's kind of how it works--
embarrassing for
me, funny for you.
So a lot of people in the
leading business talks-- and I
mean the most popular talks of
all time-- were using a story.
They were using a
story to be humorous.
Thing is, if you tell a
story and the funny bit
is moved to the end
quite consciously
to delay the element of surprise
the same way we would show--
and we mentioned with
the images later--
delay that surprise twist
until the end, if they laugh,
fantastic.
It gives a maximum
chance of laughing.
And if they don't,
nothing happens.
They don't know you were
trying to be funny in any way.
Do you ever have
that moment where
your boss calls
you into an office,
and they're like, oh, sit down.
I've got a great joke for you.
And you're like, oh, god,
get me out of here now.
They've already
telegraphed the intention
of what they're about to do.
So you already have a
massive chance of failure.
And the other thing on
this that is pretty key
is, if you want to
create memorable content
or information and
you want people
to be able to tell
it back to you,
they have to be able to
visualize it actually
happening.
So nobody cares
about your story.
They care about themselves
within your story.
So if they can't visualize
themselves within your story,
or you're telling them even
a client's story in your case
when you're pitching
in a business context,
if you don't put features on
that story that their mind can
actually visualize,
they cannot remember it.
They 100% can't remember
facts and figures.
So you never want to
lead any pitch or meeting
with facts or figures,
because your brain just
can't remember them--
very, very difficult.
They're normally the icing
on the cake and not the lead.
And a lot of people make
that mistake in pitching.
But the world's best speakers
will always have a story.
They're always going to have
that funny bit at the end
to maximize the chance
of something being funny,
and they're going
to have details
into it that you can latch on
to or see yourself with it.
So a lot of you probably
speak Spanish, do you?
Many Spanish speakers,
by a show of hands?
How many here, quite a bit?
The word in Spanish
for to fit caber.
Is that right?
Don't trust Irish
people speaking Spanish.
That's why I'm getting
a second opinion.
AUDIENCE: Caber.
DAVID NIHILL: Caber?
AUDIENCE: Caber.
DAVID NIHILL: Yeah.
I know that you noted the first
time, you're like, no it's not.
And then you were like, wait,
it's just his Irish accent.
Yes it is.
He might have said
the right thing.
If I just try and
tell a room of people
to remember the word
for to fit in Spanish,
very difficult to
remember caber tomorrow.
But if we take that
and break it up,
as another Irishman recommends--
Benny Lewis, who
speaks 12 languages
and wrote a very cool
book called "Fluent
in Three Months."
You turn that into
a story so your mind
can remember it-- better
yet, so you can visualize it.
So we take a taxi cab--
New York street, yellow taxi
cab driving down the street,
pulling up outside of Trump
Plaza-- bit of a scary place
to be, but it's pulling
up outside there.
And a big, hairy
grizzly bear runs out
and tries to get in the taxi.
And obviously, the hairy grizzly
bear doesn't fit in the taxi,
though.
The taxi driver is getting
a bit emotional about this.
He's like, man,
what are you doing?
Get your hairy
ass out of my cab.
You're not going
to fit in the cab.
The bear does not
fit in the cab.
Caber is the word for to fit.
So you have a whole visual
lesson wrapped up there
that sounds craziness,
but you'll never forget it
for the rest of your life.
Anyone speak Mandarin Chinese?
This might be pushing
it, but it's Google.
Somebody does for sure.
Yourself over there?
All right, now we're really
testing the Irish people's
language skills.
I got sent there for work,
and I had to try and get
a receipt for all my expenses.
So my manager is like, the
first thing you need to do
is get a tax receipt.
I was like, oh, I'm going
to be so popular in China.
There my first words
are like, hello, I would
like a tax receipt, please.
That's all I knew how to say.
But luckily for
me, the word for I
would like in Chinese sounds
a bit like Irish swear words.
I don't know if
you've noticed-- we're
very good with swear words over
here in this part of the world.
But I would like
in Mandarin Chinese
is [MANDARIN CHINESE] Correct?
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
DAVID NIHILL: Thank
you very much.
And that sounds to my
dirty Irish mind like,
want to shag you.
[LAUGHTER]
And you might have heard this
on the streets of Dublin,
maybe around Copper Face Jacks.
I definitely hear
it there, myself.
And the word for tax
receipt is fapiao.
That sounds a bit
angry, doesn't it?
That's something you might
hear in the streets at home?
Come on now, fapiao.
Cutting me off in
traffic, fapiao.
You'll remember that one.
And word for please, or
not too much trouble,
literally is mafan ni.
[LAUGHTER]
So I literally- I'm sitting
in the taxi with this driver,
and he goes to pull
up, and I'm like,
oh, I'm going for this one.
Oh, it's going to end so badly.
And he jams on the
brakes, turns around.
There's a kind of awkward pause.
And I was just like, want to
shag you, fuck you, my fanny?
[LAUGHTER]
This guy just hands
me a tax receipt.
He was delighted.
He was like, oh,
[MANDARIN CHINESE]..
Bye bye!
And I was like, oh my
god, this actually works.
So I was kind of proud of myself
for learning a bit of Mandarin
Chinese rapidly.
But you will notice very
consciously there isn't
a single detail in that story.
There's nothing,
nothing, nothing
that you can latch onto.
What does the taxi
driver look like?
What kind of taxi was it?
Where did it take place?
What was happening?
It would be extremely hard
for you to remind me tomorrow
if I asked you, how do
you say I would like a tax
receipt in Mandarin Chinese?
But if I ask you all to
say the word for to fit
in Spanish, together?
AUDIENCE: Caber.
DAVID NIHILL: Caber.
Big difference.
So it's a yellow taxi cab, it's
a hairy bear, it's a building.
You visualize it, and you
could picture yourself
within that story.
So if you're public speaking
or you're presenting
and you're not delivering
information in a way
that someone can
remember it, you're
kind of wasting your time--
unless it's on video like this
and you can watch yourself
back, and wave at yourself and
go, look at me on the internet.
But most of the time
it's not like that.
Most of the time you need
people to actually resonate
and you're trying to convince
them of something when
you're in a room.
So if I told you you could
replicate in-- how long
we going to be in here?
55 minutes-- the
world's best talk ever,
and the most popular talk?
So this is Ken Robinson.
The talk is called, "Do
Schools Kill Creativity."
And I'd just like
you to watch it
and go, has this anything to
do with the topic whatsoever?
Does he know where people
will laugh in this story?
Has he told it before?
So just have a watch of that.
Is it connected to the topic?
Does he know where people
are going to laugh?
And do you think he's
ever told it before?
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- We moved from
Stratford to Los Angeles.
And I just want to say a word
about the transition, actually.
My son didn't want to come.
I've got two kids.
He's 21 now, and
my daughter's 16.
He didn't want to
come to Los Angeles.
He loved it, but he had
a girlfriend in England.
This was the love
of his life, Sarah.
He'd known her for a month.
Mind you, they've had
their fourth anniversary,
because it's a long
time when you're 16.
Anyway, he was really
upset on the plane.
He said, I'll never find
another girl like Sarah.
And we were rather pleased
about that, frankly, because--
[LAUGHTER]
--she was the main reason
we were leaving the country.
[LAUGHTER]
[END PLAYBACK]
DAVID NIHILL: So he was
murdering it, there.
You like it?
It's very, very likable.
And I have a
ghostwriting business
where we write for a lot of
the world's leading influencers
and CEOs.
And the number one request is,
I want to be like Ken Robinson.
But Ken Robinson is very
much only like Ken Robinson.
So you'll notice, he
has his own style.
He has his personality.
And you're learning things
about his personal life
by watching his talks.
And his talks are full
of little bits like this
that are unique to him.
You can never copy
someone's personality.
You can never copy their style,
because style is personality.
If you copy Chris Rock-- do
you ever see him doing comedy?
I like him a lot, very funny.
But if you copy
Chris Rock and you
go to your next
Google conference,
you're getting thrown out.
Right?
His personality and style can be
copied, but the techniques can.
So the technique here
is a short-form story
with the keyword at
the end of the story.
And do you notice in that
one-- what do you think
is the key funny part
to that story when
you were watching it?
AUDIENCE: She was the
reason that we left.
DAVID NIHILL: She
was the reason we
were leaving the country-- very
consciously at the end of that.
Do you think he's ever
told that story before?
AUDIENCE: Yes.
DAVID NIHILL: I see
the heads nodding.
To me, I can picture
him in every Christmas
party he's ever been to
just busting out that story.
Do you think it's got
anything to do with schools
killing creativity, loosely?
Nothing, not even loosely.
And one thing you'll see in
all the world's best speakers,
they do this literally
to the letter of the law.
They all do it-- short, personal
stories about themselves.
No story is off topic.
As long as it's clean or
not offensive in any way,
no matter how far removed from
your topic you think it is.
If you're talking
about technology,
crazy things that your parents
do with technology are perfect.
I was trying to get my
mother to call me on Skype,
and she's like, David,
I can't call you
on Skype because that
computer in there has viruses.
And if I use it, I'll get them.
[LAUGHTER]
It's like, brilliant.
Now, is that linked
to technology?
Yes.
If we take the wider topic
of technology, can I say,
new users are having-- sometimes
be resistant to change,
can be resistant
to new platforms,
can be resistant to
new packages, that's
a very good example of that
that lets the audience picture
something within their own life.
And they latch onto it
and actually relate to it.
That's way better
than you just going,
we're in a fundamental
moment of change.
And they're like, wow,
you're so amazing.
But you just don't
learn anything by them
fluff statements that a lot
of people-- the world's best
speakers are always just telling
little stories about themselves
like this that are very,
very likable and easy enough
to replicate if you try it.
You can tell any story
ever by using the words,
I told you that story because.
So if you add those words,
then everybody's like,
there's a reason they
told me that story.
Now, this can't be an Irish
kind of grandmother story.
I don't know if you've
been subject to them
when you're in Ireland,
where they're like,
oh, it was like, when I
was going on the road,
I met Mary there,
and she was out there
looking for a couple of
cows, and her son was there.
He's a bit of an
idiot, now, that fella.
He went to live in
Australia, met a girl there.
There's kangaroos
everywhere in Australia.
I never really
liked those, myself.
I was watching a David
Attenborough program, actually,
on the kangaroos
there the other night,
and I was wearing my
purple shoes at the time.
I've lost one.
I don't even know why I
like the color purple.
You just-- what
the hell are you?
[LAUGHTER]
Has anyone happened
on that in Ireland?
I got those stories
all the time,
but what are we
talking about here?
So obviously, in the world of
public speaking you cannot do
that.
Brevity is levity.
You have a very
short time period.
So we're going to
borrow some techniques
from the world of comedy, one
of them being joke structure.
So comedians live
off joke structure,
which is the minimum
amount of information
for you to understand
the point of the story--
the key part, the
key funny part.
So in Ken Robinson's
example, the punchline
is, she was the reason we
were leaving the country.
And you could see very visibly
that the audience was laughing.
And they laughed
even a little more
than he expected
them to laugh, so he
shut up and let them laugh.
So there's a very
powerful line I
like called, the end
of laughter is followed
by the height of listening.
So the most attention
you will have ever is
the moment after you make
a group of people laugh,
because they have a dopamine
spike and their brain goes,
give me more of that.
So if you have a very,
heavy serious topic--
laughter, serious stuff.
You get to bring them up and
down and up and down as you
want, as long as you know how to
harness this tool effectively.
That's why it can be very
powerful in the world
of public speaking.
And no topic is too
serious for this.
Mark Pollock-- I'm a big
fan of his work in Ireland,
and the charity they
have, and the Run
in the Dark they've set up.
He suffered a
spinal cord injury,
he was paralyzed,
and went blind.
And he wheels out onto
a stage in his TED Talk.
And you can imagine that every
single person there is going,
oh my god, what a
terrible situation.
It's not relatable to the
average person in any way.
But he starts off.
He's like, ladies and
gentlemen, I've got problems.
I'm paralyzed.
I'm blind.
I'm bald.
And I'm from Northern Ireland.
[LAUGHTER]
And they all laugh
straight away.
But then, the even
better line is, listen,
I'm not the only
one with problems.
I bet you guys have too.
And they're like, yeah, we do.
But now, that talk is no
longer just about his injury.
He's made it applicable to every
single person in the room--
humor, serious,
relatable to everybody.
But it's very key.
So if I get up and I'm like,
I went to China one time,
learned some Chinese.
You're like, I don't care.
But that's your
automatic reaction.
Whereas if I say something
like, being in a new place
can be challenging.
You're like, yeah.
No, I agree with that.
OK, tell me more.
Immediately, your
mind is like, where's
a place that I've been
that was challenging?
You're already trying to
put yourself in the story.
So minimum amount of words.
Setup is usually three to
six sentences and no more.
So with Ken Robinson, we knew
he was leaving the country.
We knew there was a
relationship there.
We knew there was some
change, and that's
all we needed to know.
So it just forces you to
get down to the details.
Tagline is anything
additional you
say at the end of the story,
but it normally comes down a bit
in the level of laughter.
We add what Ken did
really, really well.
You delay impact words-- key in
the world of public speaking.
This is when you tell people,
I want your attention,
maybe even you should
write this down.
So the people who
are good at this,
they can control when
you take notes just
by changing sentence structure.
So if I have a startup and I
was pitching a bunch of people,
and I said to you, we have an
80% growth rate year on year,
what do you think I'm most
excited about in that sentence?
We have an 80% growth
rate year on year.
You should give us your money.
What's exciting about that?
AUDIENCE: 80%.
DAVID NIHILL: 80%, right?
That's a big number
I'd be excited about.
Everything else is pretty
changeable in there,
and wouldn't make a big
difference, but 80% is huge.
But if I say, we have an 80%
growth rate year on year,
it's very easy for me
to keep waffling on.
We have an 80% growth
rate year on year,
and then we hired
another team, and then
we got series a
investment, and we
have these other guys lined up.
It's very hard for me to
take a mental pause and go,
that was important.
But if I flip that like
Ken Robinson would do--
like a comedian would do, like
a great speaker would do--
the keyword goes to the end.
Year on year, we have
a growth rate of 80%.
Emphasized, volume comes up for
the keyword, natural pause--
people take out pen
and write it down.
Very, very important.
You guys, especially-- for your
work you're very metric driven.
You're very results driven.
You're always going
to be showing numbers.
If you're really
pushing numbers,
the numbers should be at
the end of the sentence,
or it's just any old number.
Seven, nine, 11--
where did they start?
I don't know.
Thanks for shouting
numbers at me.
Year on year growth
rate of 80%--
it really takes your attention.
In comedy, the funny
word-- you go out
of your way to
move it to the end.
If you're creating
memorable content--
very, very key-- you
want people to remember
what you're talking about.
You might have noticed Irish
people cannot pronounce
the number three.
So I wish this would be the
rule of four, but it isn't.
It is the rule of three.
Three is the smallest sequence
of elements your mind can
recognize as a pattern.
So if you want to
break a pattern,
that's what makes comedy.
Comedy is only funny if
you create a pattern,
you create expectation, and then
you shoot in another direction.
So like a train coming
down the train tracks,
you change direction.
If I say, one, two, your mind
automatically expects three.
One, two, four-- that's comedy.
It makes sense, but
only retrospectively.
It's still a sequence.
I was multiplying the numbers.
You only knew that
after the fact.
So it puts me as the
speaker or the comedian
one step ahead of
you, because you're
making the logical sequence.
I'm breaking a logical sequence.
So comedy is always
apples, apples, oranges.
The misdirect has
to be at the end.
If it isn't at the
end, comedy fails.
So a lot of people it was like,
oh, comedy is risky sometimes.
It is if you don't know
little things that comedians
know backwards and sideways.
They're the true masters
of public speaking.
So I just wanted to show
you these in operation.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- There are 12
different agencies
that deal with exports.
There are at least
five different agencies
that deal with housing policy.
Then there's my
favorite example.
The Interior Department
is in charge of salmon
while they're in freshwater, but
the Commerce Department handles
them when they're in saltwater.
I hear it gets even
more complicated
once they're smoked.
[LAUGHTER]
[END PLAYBACK]
DAVID NIHILL: Not
exactly viral hilarity.
[LAUGHTER]
I think you will agree.
But compared to
Congress that day,
that was pretty epic stuff.
And when they surveyed people,
they remembered two key words,
and I'm pretty sure
you know what they are.
The two most memorable
words-- smoked and salmon.
You have a very clear
sequence, there--
freshwater, saltwater, smoked.
But what happens if he put
smoked first or second?
If you put smoked first, what?
He just becomes weird.
One of like most
likeable, epic presidents
ever literally just
becomes a bit strange
just by changing that sequence.
It wouldn't be funny anymore.
It would get no reaction.
This one isn't viral hilarity.
Free beer, topless bartenders,
and false advertising.
Right?
And that was a bar
in San Francisco,
and they were male
topless bartenders,
and I was not expecting that.
[LAUGHTER]
So don't worry about
that one, then.
Anyway, but what happens
if I move false advertising
to position number
one in that sign?
So if it started off
with false advertising,
and then the other
two, what happens?
It's just weird.
Not even Irish people
are going into that bar.
[LAUGHTER]
That's how powerful
knowing these tools are.
It's the difference between
something successful or not.
I ended up writing a book
about all this lunacy.
And if you write a
book, then you're like,
oh, I need to get famous
people to say nice things
about my book, right?
Publishers are always trying
to get you to do that.
It's a bit cringeworthy,
but you have to try.
So I got one there,
two, number four.
This book is great.
I haven't read it yet,
but David drew a picture
when he was six years
old of a penguin drinking
beer in a Chinese
restaurant, and it
was clear the potential
for slight wisdom
and misguided
creativity were there--
Marita Nihill, David's mother.
[LAUGHTER]
What happens if I put my mother
in position number one there?
I'm a nutcase.
Mothers would be proud.
They're like, I
should be number one.
I made you.
Which is true.
But I literally go into Barnes
and Noble when I'm in New York.
And I'll go in--
you know, bookstores
are pretty quiet places.
And I'll watch someone
pick up that book,
and they're kind of
reading it, and then
they're like, [CHUCKLES].
[LAUGHTER]
And they have a little
weird moment to themselves.
And it's not like
it's viral hilarity,
but it's just a
flip of expectations
that they weren't expecting.
And you can use this
absolutely everywhere.
It doesn't have to be the world
of public speaking solely.
PS section of an
email works really
well for a little
one, two, four.
I'll follow up, I'll do
this, and then something
that's totally different.
So I'll email you next
week, I'll give you a call,
or I'll be standing
outside your side
your door in the
middle of the night.
Just kidding.
Bye-bye, now.
Then, you're going to be
worried you get fired.
Don't blame me for that one.
But it's just
somewhere where you
can play around a little bit.
So if we had to sum
this up, a lot of people
will teach you public speaking.
Have many of you
taken a class before--
by a show of hands-- in the
world of public speaking
somehow?
And it kills me a little bit
when I see them training it,
because they come in
with their video camera.
And they're like, say three
things into the camera.
We'll record you, play it back,
you'll see how bad you were.
You're like, what the
hell did you expect?
You didn't give me
any preparation time.
You're here because I
hate public speaking.
Why would we do this to me?
Why would you do this to me?
This doesn't make sense.
How you deliver content
is not the key part.
Rubbish content delivered
beautifully is still rubbish.
So if I come in, I'm
making eye contact
and holding it, and
really freaking you out.
Well done, look at this.
He already wants to leave.
Or I'm walking around and moving
my hands like this, graciously.
You're not allowed to stand
public speaking with your hands
in your pockets.
I've had him in my pockets
for half this thing.
It really makes no difference.
And the people who emphasize
that have never been onstage--
100%.
You'll see comedians stand there
the whole night, sitting down
on a stool sometimes,
arms folded
over, hands in their
pockets, look at their feet.
But the content
is really strong.
And if the content--
the story, the thing you
want to resonate-- is strong,
how you deliver it-- unless
you're being a total weirdo
by running around
while you're doing it--
isn't as important
as you'd think.
And a lot of that
training, to me-- comedians
would never do that.
They'd never come in and go,
let's start with delivery.
They'd be like, what
are you going to say?
Like, if you're on a
Conan O'Brien show,
or you're on David
Letterman, you
have to send in your script.
They don't care how you're
going to practice it.
You don't turn up and
do the run-through.
Why would you do that?
What are you going to say?
That's what we care about.
OK, go say it.
People resonate with what
you say, not how you say it.
It's quite important.
But how do we do this fast?
So that's why a lot of
this is on the content.
I'm going to give you a
load of quick delivery
tips in a minute.
But honestly, the
biggest difference
is always in the content.
And it's always in you getting
personal about the content.
You can have an amazing
chart in there-- a pie chart,
and people go, oh god,
that pie chart was amazing.
Where do I get my hands on it?
Like, that's just
not going to happen.
They're like, oh, that chart you
had, the way it went up, down,
up again at the end?
Didn't see that coming.
Whew, how did you do it, magic?
Never.
They're just like, you said
something about your mother.
That was amazing.
You used to work here,
so did I. We lived there.
I lived there.
They never come up to you after
and say anything else, really.
So general topic-- you can
tell any story you ever want.
Remember, as we said, I
told you that story because.
Start really wide.
Nobody cares about the
specifics of your opinion first.
Like, walk them into it a bit.
Hey, we all have moments where.
We all do two things where.
Being in a new place
can be challenging.
The idea is to capture as
many people as possible.
If you walk into a room and
you're pitching something,
and you're a bit lawyerish in
your approach-- you're like,
this is wrong and
you need to change.
We're argumentative
buggers as people.
Like, 50% of the room will
naturally fold our arms and go,
I don't agree.
And you don't want
that to happen.
So very wide statements at
the start, and then kind of
bring them down the
funnel towards your way
of seeing things.
So identify five stories that
you love telling, and try
and shoehorn them into
any presentation ever.
No matter how far off topic you
think it is, put it in there.
All the best ones
I've worked on ever--
and I'm talking about people
who were speaking to 26,000,
27,000 people in a very
high-stakes tech environment
where all the
investors are there--
are using personal stories,
and they are always
the things that
get tweeted about,
and always the things
that get the traction,
and always the reason they get
asked to speak somewhere else.
So get those in there, and
use that joke structure
we went through.
Remember, the details
are important.
You guys don't have a clue
how to ask for a tax receipt,
but you do know the Spanish
word for to fit, which is?
AUDIENCE: Caber.
DAVID NIHILL: Caber.
Anyone want to go for
the tax receipt one?
That could get
controversial real fast.
Don't do it.
Being recorded,
we'll get in trouble.
And then, you just play
around with the details,
because that's what allows you
to have a little bit of fun.
So that's the content
creation side.
I want to give you as many
tips as I can on delivery
as fast as I can.
I just like that cat.
[LAUGHTER]
That cat doesn't
even need a buildup.
Some images are just
awesome all by themselves.
So what makes the biggest
difference the fastest?
So I believe these will give
you the biggest results.
I believe most people don't ever
teach them or dwell on them.
Number one most useful
thing I ever learned
was the memory palace.
So it's a memorization technique
popularized by Joshua Foer
in a book called
"Moonwalking With Einstein."
The story's amazing
if you don't know it.
He was a "New York
Times" journalist
who went to the US Memory
Championships, which
is actually a sporting
event where they
compete on remembering things.
It sounds like a lot of
people's worst nightmare.
And he's like, well, I
don't have a great memory.
I wonder if I went all
80-20 principle on this--
went intensively into it
a bit like A.J. Jacobs,
did it for a year, came
back, how good I'd be?
He came back, became the US
memory champion one year later.
He became the 11th best
mind in the whole world.
The book is pretty epic.
They're all using
the same technique.
So they take a memory palace
like we already learned.
They take something like
caber, they create a story,
and they put it somewhere.
So this is my story.
That night, I was
stood on stage sweating
out my shirt in front of
1,400 people at The Moth.
And this is a story
about my mother
coming over to San Francisco
and having a pretty fun time,
and going home wearing
Lululemon merchandise.
Really changed her over there--
got way more active.
But all I'm doing while
I'm on stage and talking
is, I'm walking around my house.
It's very hard for your mind
to go, what word is next?
What do I say next?
What do I say next?
But if you go, where am I?
That's very easy to answer.
So I'm standing in the kitchen.
There's a bear and a taxi
driver in the kitchen.
I need to talk about caber.
So you basically
prepare your talk
by making a bullet point list.
A comedian would
make a set list.
And then you create a
wild, fictional story
in your mind for every point.
And then you go
one step further.
You put it in a physical
location in the building
you're most familiar
with in life--
often the house you live in
or the place you grew up.
And all you're doing
when you're giving a talk
is walking around clockwise
or anti-clockwise.
It must be sequential so you
don't double back on yourself.
And there's no limit.
The only limit
there is creativity.
So I walk in the kitchen,
and a big elephant
jumps out of the fridge.
I need to talk about elephants.
I walk into the bathroom
and Lionel Massie
runs out of the bathroom
dribbling the football.
I need to talk about 10% GDP.
That's the next thing
I need to remember.
He wears the number
10 on his back.
So it's just whatever
you associate
with something-- you use that.
You never use the
keyword itself.
You picture the
associated memory.
And that's how these guys do
large sequences of numbers.
People who remember
large volumes of numbers
are usually turning the
number into an animal.
So they're like, pig, goat,
bear-- whatever it may be,
something has to be
associated with each thing
that they can visualize.
Sound like craziness?
It's a big old topic.
Jump into it.
I'll supply some
links after this talk
where you can read
up on that some more.
But if you use it,
you can literally
use this within five
minutes and you will never
be that person backstage
who is standing
looking at their notes.
You ever see someone
public speaking just about
to go on, or just
outside a meeting room
before they're
coming in to pitch,
and they're standing there
looking at a piece of paper?
How would you describe that
person with a bit of paper
just before to give
a presentation?
AUDIENCE: Shaking Stevens.
DAVID NIHILL: Shaking Stevens.
That was just me, thank you.
And the hips, yes.
Nervous-- anything else?
AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE].
DAVID NIHILL: Yeah.
Unprepared.
Everything's negative.
So if you're that
person and then you
walk out with the bit of
paper, everyone in the audience
assumes you're not
prepared already.
So you need to find a way
of doing this and hiding it.
So a very good way
is drawing this out,
hiding it on your person
just for confidence reasons,
or putting it on a stool, hiding
it somewhere, putting a bottle
of water in front of it.
If anyone sees that,
they haven't a clue
what that little drawing
means, as long as you
don't pick it up and hold it.
So a lot of the time, I'll
have it on a stool next to me
somewhere.
I'll go over, take a
moment, have a drink.
Nobody else can see that I'm
actually looking at the notes.
And I'm not trying to
read word for word,
which is very obvious.
I'm just trying to go,
where am I in the house?
Oh yeah, we're in the bathroom.
And then, if my talk
gets cut short--
which happens a
lot in the moment--
I just skip a room.
And I'm like, oh, that
takes about a minute
to explain if I go
into the bedroom.
Let me walk straight through.
And if this talk has a
structure and there's
a couple of key
learning points in it,
how many key learning points
do you think would be in it?
AUDIENCE: Three.
DAVID NIHILL: Three, exactly.
So a lot of people have 10 key
things, or five key things,
and people go away and they
literally can't remember them.
So if you have three
key points, you're
very easily able to
keep a structure.
That's the number
one most useful thing
I ever learned from
comedians, and it's
saved my life in public speaking
I don't know how many times.
And anyone who's ever tried
it is like, that's amazing.
That helped me so much.
So people's normal biggest
fear around public speaking
is going blank on stage.
This completely eliminates it.
It also works really
well for names.
I'm sure nearly
everyone in this room
has a hard time
remembering people's names.
The minute you meet them, the
minute they say their name,
you need to create a visual
representation of that name
with somebody who
you already know
or somebody famous
with that name.
With this one,
even if I asked you
to picture your favorite
restaurant, and you go,
OK, I've got my favorite
restaurant in my mind.
Where's the server?
Is there someone
that greets you?
Yeah.
Where are they?
You can see them.
How many tables are
in that restaurant
on the floor when you walk in?
You'll be like, oh, 11 or 12.
Very quickly you
can visualize it.
Where's the bathroom?
Yeah, I can see the bathroom.
And you can do that with any
building you've ever been in.
Imagine if you're using it as
the foundation for your talk
and it's a house you live in
that you know really, really
well.
So just try it.
It makes a big difference.
Cut the fluff is huge.
I just like farm
animals, so I try and get
one into most presentations
for no apparent reason.
There was a monster
in New Zealand,
you might have heard of him.
He was roaming the glens
wild and scaring people
and freaking them out
for years in New Zealand.
And then they finally
tracked him down,
and he looked like this.
Shrek the sheep.
He was a bit of a furry
stallion of a sheep,
and he was roaming
wild for six years,
and that's how he
got that fluffy.
And then in New Zealand, they
put him on live television
and they sheared
him for charity.
And he just became a fraction of
the little sheep he used to be.
Unfortunate news is,
this is your talk,
and this is any talk you've
ever given or been subject to
in corporate world whatsoever.
And this is what
it should be like.
If you're lucky enough
to ever write a book
and work with an editor,
that's what they're
going to do to your content.
If you're lucky enough
to ever give a TED Talk,
that's what they're going
to do with your content.
That's great.
It's an hour.
Oh no, no, we're
going to get you
to do the nine-minute version.
So it's good to have a system
where you edit yourself.
And the best way to do
it is score the content
from one to five.
One is stuff that people
don't really react to,
they don't get
excited about, they
don't mention it afterwards.
You don't think it's that key,
but it kind of made it in there
for some reason.
Five is stuff that people
applaud, they laugh,
they love it, they
tweet about it,
they always ask you about it.
And then, anything in
between on that range.
And you want to end up with
threes, fours, and fives,
and just chop everything
that's one and two.
And just repeatedly do
that until you get down
to something that has
three key points to it,
and really you're like,
oh, that's my best stuff.
Did the rest need to be in here?
It never needs to be in there.
You think it does at
the start, but when
you trim it down and
practice it, you're like,
oh, I didn't need to
have that in there.
So do cut the fluff.
Never, ever speak from
behind the podium--
very useful.
Always just turn
up with a clicker
that you have yourself if
you have to public speak,
because who speaks
from behind a podium--
apart from some of
your lovely colleagues?
But if I was stood here like
this for this whole talk--
hello, who am I?
Who normally speaks here
from behind a podium?
AUDIENCE: Priests.
AUDIENCE: Obama.
DAVID NIHILL: Priests, yeah.
Obama-- Obama was amazing,
but we have some politicians
not quite fit into that mold.
So usually politicians,
priests, or?
AUDIENCE: Lecturers.
DAVID NIHILL:
University lecturers--
Those people you slept through
for a lot of your life.
But that's not a
very engaging bunch
that you want to be part of,
but we have that assumption.
Also, if you don't see
someone, you don't trust them.
So Ted Talks are always--
like, comedians are never
hiding behind anything.
A TED speaker is
always just on the mat,
and they have a
clicker, and that's it.
So very helpful for yourself
just to get away from it
and be able to walk around.
Because if I was giving
to talk now and you guys
weren't listening,
I can go for a walk.
If, just say, you happen
to be on your phone,
I can stand here without
saying anything to you.
But just by being able to come
over, you'll usually stop.
So it just gives you
control over the room.
But if you're stuck
there, you don't have it.
So you see a podium,
get rid of it.
Get away from it.
If you're meant to be sitting
down behind the table, jump up.
Let people see you.
Be quite visible.
Move around a little bit.
Most people use filler words.
Irish people definitely
use filler words
when they're speaking.
I did a radio interview
the other day,
and the lady who
went down after me
was like, well, I
suppose, it's kind of,
you know, it's one of
those things, I mean,
have you ever felt like.
And I was like, wait a minute,
that was, like, 11 words
and you haven't
said anything yet.
[LAUGHTER]
And I do it all the time.
And the way to change that,
as well, public speaking,
is simply to raise
your voice 20%.
Right now, I'm speaking a
little bit louder than normal.
There's no audible change
for you guys whatsoever.
And it's impossible for me
to say at an elevated tone
the word, uh.
[LAUGHTER]
It'll nearly blow
your own brains out.
You cannot do it.
So just elevate your voice,
and that fixes that problem.
No other training
needed whatsoever.
If someone tells you you
speak too fast, you don't.
Speak whatever is
comfortable for you.
The only time you need to
slow down is the key points--
80%, stand still, and
then you can go back
to doing all your weird stuff.
But make your key points
when you're standing there.
Comedians delivering
a joke, they
might be running
around the stage,
but when it's funny time,
it's front and center.
They step forward a bit.
The voice comes up.
You react.
And then they might
go for a walk again.
But it's the only
time-- if you're
one of those people who's
like, oh, I'm too slow.
I speak too fast or too slow.
You don't.
Just whatever is fine for
you is fine for the audience.
But for key points, to slow
it down and raise your voice
a little bit if you
have this problem.
First 30 seconds is
the most important.
If you're going to memorize
anything word for word,
do it the first 30
seconds, because if you're
a nervous public speaker--
if you hate public
speaking like I
do-- you can say anything
in the first 30 seconds.
You have no control of what's
going on over your body.
So you're all sweating,
things are going mad.
You walk out.
You get a bit flustered, and
then you're just, like, oh god!
And you're standing there,
and you're like, hello, uh,
thanks for having me, uh.
It was like I started off today.
I was like, oh, people
everywhere, oh god!
Oh, hello.
Oh, thanks for having me.
Oh, something about
Justin Bieber.
I don't know why I said that.
[LAUGHTER]
Why didn't I memorize the
first 30 seconds today?
No!
That's what was happening to
me when I came out here today.
Should have been doing
it, but I didn't.
Makes a big difference.
Because you all have been
to a conference before,
and a speaker comes
out and does that.
Like, hello, uh,
thanks for having me.
Uh, so many of you here today.
It's great.
Uh, I'm very honored.
Um, so many great people
made this event possible.
And you're just
like, kill me now.
This is terrible.
Whereas someone comes
out and they're like,
I'm standing there and a
tiger is staring right at me.
And you're like, ah!
Did he eat you?
What happened there?
Tell me more.
Second, so a very good
public speaker, storyteller,
comedian-- they
start in the action.
They use the present tense.
And it's go from the word go.
There's no fluff in there.
They realized brevity is
levity, and every word counts.
But just mad things can happen
in that first 30 seconds.
And try and stick
to the time limit.
We're going to do it today,
just in case anyone's running
to watch the World Cup.
Don't worry, we'll
finish bang on time.
These you can get when a
little timer built into them.
And they'll vibrate so you know
exactly what the time is doing.
And I'm also cheating.
This is a free app that I
use that I'll let you see,
and that's the countdown
clock for me that I can see,
but you didn't know I had
until I ruined it right now.
OK, thanks.
But very handy just so you
know to shut up on time.
Don't pet hamsters-- more
animals, woohoo, happy days,
right?
Most people when
they're nervous,
they will do this
with their hands.
[LAUGHTER]
Like they're petting a
little imaginary ball of fur
that they're keeping very
warm in there for some reason.
And it's very easy to
stop yourself doing that.
I was looking for another
ball, but I don't have one.
Practice at home with two
glasses, one in each hand,
or a bottle in each
hand, because this looks
very natural to your audience.
It's actually correlated to
the virality or the view count
on your talk-- the more
you move your hands--
but it doesn't feel
very natural to do.
And when you're practicing with
two things, one in each hand,
every time you
bang them together
you become very conscious of it.
You're not going to do that
kind of hamster petting.
That would be really weird.
You're like, oh, what's my
iPhone doing to that ball?
Very unusual, don't do that.
But you get the idea.
So if you want to shortcut
that learning process,
when you're practicing,
a glass in each hand.
They clink, you know.
But then you get very accustomed
to speaking like that.
It looks completely normal.
Don't pet the hamsters.
If something mad is
going on, acknowledge it.
Always acknowledge the obvious.
Anyone training you--
I hear this in business
speaking so much, and I'm
like, oh, it's terrible advice.
They're like, if you're having
problems, just work through it.
Ignore them.
I'm like, don't ignore them.
Everyone in the room can see
something mental is happening,
so you have to say it.
Like, if you're having
a breakdown, if you
make a joke that's
horrendous, if you have
a big stain on your shirt,
they're just like, good god,
can you not wear your
breakfast cereal?
What happened to your clothes?
What's going on here?
You have to talk about it.
I saw a guy once--
literally, the fire
alarm started going off.
And he's like, don't worry,
I've got 16 slides left.
We'll get through them.
I'm like, the
building's on fire, man.
We're all out of here.
But the easiest laugh
you'll ever get ever
is acknowledging the obvious
thoughts of the audience
towards something you're doing.
If they're thinking it, you
get marks for vocalizing it.
If you're like me, when I live
in America, I start talking,
I can't assume that
they know I'm Irish.
They could be thinking anything.
They're like, oh my god, is
the Australian, or Canadian,
or intoxicated?
I just can't tell.
[LAUGHTER]
They don't know.
So I have to say it, or
they're just thinking,
where's this guy from?
So it's very important to
spell that out if you're
conscious of the fact that
you might have an accent
or you're a second
language speaker,
get it in the opening statement
in a way that isn't strange
whatsoever.
But just watch this.
One of my favorite
speakers ever,
Dave Eggers,
petting the hamster,
acknowledging the obvious.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- Thank you so much, everyone
from Ted and Chris and Amy
in particular.
I cannot believe I'm here.
I have not slept in weeks.
Neil and I were sitting there
comparing how little we've
slept in anticipation for this.
And I've never been so nervous.
And I do this when I'm nervous.
I just realized.
[LAUGHTER]
[END PLAYBACK]
DAVID NIHILL: Bang,
gets a laugh, moves on.
One of the best talks
you'll ever see.
But if he didn't
say that it would
be a bit weird, because
you're like, what on earth
is he doing?
He's like, playing
baseball with a hamster.
He's like, really going for it.
Something great speakers
will always do also--
and you'll find it every leading
talk-- when they get a chance,
they will add acting.
They will try and
bring something to life
for you by telling it
in the present tense
and changing their
voice or their behavior
just a little bit, so
it's nearly something
like an actor would do.
And a lot of people will say,
I'm no good at voices, though.
I can't do that.
You just have to change
your voice a little bit.
You don't know what
my mother sounds like.
You know what my dad
sounds like, right?
There's no racial
connotations, there.
There's no risk factor.
You're just illustrating
that it's another person,
and that allows you to
shorten the amount of words.
So you don't say, and then
she said, then I said.
It's like, damn it.
And then she says whatever
the thing she's going to say,
and we all move
on quite happily.
But just watch another one of
my favorite speakers, four-
or five-time "New York
Times" bestselling
writer, John Acuff-- really,
really good, small difference,
big impact.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- But we can't get a cat because
my wife, Jenny, is allergic.
And so McRae, our youngest
daughter, scrunched up her face
and thought, and then said, we
can get a cat when mom is dead.
[LAUGHTER]
[END PLAYBACK]
DAVID NIHILL: Likable?
Do you like it?
I love him as a speaker.
And it's just all short,
personal stories all the time.
He's an amazingly
popular speaker.
He told me he studies 100
comedians for every business
speaker he does.
So he's really trying to
replicate their stuff,
but amazingly likable.
But do you see?
In that moment, he
becomes the daughter.
We can get a cat--
and pay attention to
the sentence structure.
Everything we've
learned so far today.
We can get a cat when mom is--
still makes no sense.
Mom is dead.
Then it all makes sense, so
people are going to laugh.
He's facilitated that laughter.
He can just stand
there and soak it up.
You're not stepping
on your words.
So if the end of laughter
is followed by the height
of listening-- he knows that--
they have time to react.
If they don't, he
just keeps going.
But at no moment would you
know he was trying to be funny.
But of course he is.
That's a story he's told before.
He knows they're going to laugh.
This will save
your life if you're
pitching, presenting in any
way, or public speaking ever.
Never finish on a
Q&A. Don't do it.
That's like presenting suicide.
That would be the
equivalent of U2
going on a tour around the
world, writing a new album,
going to Madison Square
Garden, bringing the energy
through the roof.
It's 10 songs, they've
already played nine,
they've got one left.
Bring it home, or just ask
the audience, hey, anyone here
play an instrument?
Maybe you want to bring it
home, finish us off here?
They'd never do that, right?
Like, they've created.
That's all their work.
That's everything they've said.
They get to bring it to an
end and leave the strongest
possible impression, or just
give it to random chance
and say, anyone want to share?
And you know when
you ask a question,
it's always a life story.
Well, like in my company,
there's a guy called Brian,
and he's, like, not really
nice, and then there's
a thing about this.
And I feel emotionally in a way.
And you're like,
that's-- what's that?
That's not a question.
Have you ever seen that happen
at a conference, where it just
goes on and on and on?
If you say these words,
it will save your life.
I'm going to take
a few questions
before I make my conclusion.
Because that tells them
a couple of things--
I'm going to talk some more.
There is a conclusion left.
And that way, when
someone goes to ask
you one of those really
long-winded stories,
the other people in the room
will death stare at them going,
shut up, shut up.
And you can see the eyes.
We're never going
to get out of here.
He said he has a
conclusion to come.
We're not finished.
I need to go home.
And you literally feel it.
So they'll do, partly,
your job for you.
But then, if there's
that awkward moment--
have you ever seen a
speaker standing there
and someone's like, any
questions for the speaker?
And they're just
like, oh god, please
somebody ask me something.
And then, the presenter will
be like, someone back there?
And they're like,
no, it wasn't me.
[LAUGHTER]
And then, I just have
to walk off like this.
OK, goodbye now.
And nobody even knows it's over.
Like, it's total madness,
but it happens all the time.
So if I say, I'm going to
take a few questions before I
make my conclusion,
and nobody asked
any questions, no big deal.
I know I have another slide.
And how many things are
going to be on that slide?
Either one or three--
two of the most memorable
combinations you can ever have,
one or three.
So if you take nothing
away from this talk today,
here's one thing.
If you take nothing away from
this talk, here's three things.
But it doesn't end in a
way that they control it.
So if you're
presenting and you want
them to switch over to
this product or service
or take action--
listen, I've said
a lot here today,
but ultimately it comes
down to these things.
And then off you go.
They applaud, say thank you.
When you say thank you,
everyone knows it's over,
and then it's fine.
Makes the world a better place--
well, I don't know about
that, but more exciting.
Review and evaluate--
you're not going
to want to listen
to yourself back.
You're like, oh god, I
hate listening to myself.
I hate listening to myself.
Everybody does.
Comedians will do a comedy club,
do their set, audio record it
on their smartphone, listen back
to it instantly, and adjust.
So they're constantly
editing themselves.
You won't want to do it.
And if you're like,
David, I'm never
going to do that,
ever, audio record it,
put it through a service
like Trint, which
is a transcription service.
It's really, really cheap
to use and really good.
There's a number of them,
but that's the best one
that I've found to use.
And then, just turn it
into a script, and go oh,
there are my words.
I better edit this script.
And now, all of a
sudden, you're actually
preparing your talk
for the next time
without having to
watch yourself,
but becoming quite conscious
of the amount of mad things
that you've said.
But you'll see patterns.
You're like, oh, I said, but,
I said, I'm excited 57 times.
Like a guy I was working
with the other day--
I was like, I don't
think they believe
you're excited after the 56th
time there that you said,
I'm excited.
So with that, I'd like
to take a few questions
before I make my conclusion.
[LAUGHTER]
So listen, I'm hanging
around after if you
want t ask me any questions.
But I didn't want to
leave you hanging.
I love this sign.
Roses are red, bacon is
red, poems are hard, bacon.
[LAUGHTER]
It's completely rubbish.
And it tries to
illustrate everything
we talked about today, and it's
brilliant in its rubbishness,
because it acknowledges
the obvious failure of what
they were trying to do.
So even if you were trying
to be funny and you go,
oh my god, that did
not work, did it?
And everyone will be like,
no it didn't, and then
they all laugh.
It's always totally
fine, as long
as you acknowledge
how bad it's going.
If you're up there and
you're thinking it's amazing,
and you're doing all this
stuff with your hands,
and you're making
the eye contact,
and you're making
your big points,
and they're sitting there going,
what a weirdo, what do you do?
So just always, always, always
acknowledge the obvious,
and have a bit of fun with this.
People are so supportive
to see you doing well
in public speaking.
Like, have you ever seen
someone do terribly,
and you're just watching them,
and you're like, oh my god.
I hope that the ground
just magically opens up
and a tunnel appears that
they can slide through,
and it brings them
back to a fireplace
and their slippers with
a mug of tea, just going,
thank god that's over.
Like, you really
want that to happen.
And I could tell
you that all day--
how supportive people are
of you public speaking,
but this is the best example
I've ever found in my whole
life of just how long they
will wait for you to speak,
how long will they
will support you,
and how long they
will literally--
as a nervous speaker,
you think silence,
you have to fill
it all the time.
This is the opposite example
in its ultimate form.
So I hope you like it.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
- This is how bad I was
sex for the first time.
- Yesterday?
[LAUGHTER]
[LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE]
[END PLAYBACK]
DAVID NIHILL: What
a legend of a man.
So that was a full 29
seconds, and the best example
I've ever found--
the end of laughter
is followed by
height of listening.
They estimate the
people, on average,
watching this or in this room
laugh about 15 times a day.
And as kids, we used to
laugh about 300 times.
So anyone who
brings a little bit
of that back to
corporate life, you
tend to stand out, and
actually get rewarded for it.
You'll get asked to
speak more and more often
on behalf of your company.
So there's no downside
to doing any of this.
That's the link I
promised I'd tell you
where you can get
more of this info,
and if you want to
get in touch with me.
And all the tips you can get
that I've mentioned today
in the back of
that book for free.
You don't even have to buy
it if you don't want to.
And I'll put that up again at
the end if you want to get it.
I don't want to
leave you hanging.
Remember me, on stage,
telling the story
that I was like, loads of crazy
things happened in The Moth?
The Moth, by the way, I should
tell you that they score people
after their story.
So, like, the
Olympics after you've
gone-- that sounds like
my worst nightmare,
like some stranger is going to
hand up a number judging you.
Imagine you lost your
virginity and strangers were
hiding at the end of your
bed, and just popped up,
and went, two!
[LAUGHTER]
In my mind, it was-- oh, I know.
That's happened to you?
I didn't think that was a thing.
I though-- no?
OK.
So I'm on stage, right?
And I had self-published
a version of my book,
and now I'd sold to a publisher.
And they said, you need
to rewrite the ending.
So I was like, maybe if I
win this competition that'd
be a good ending.
And it was three comedians
in this competition,
and of course my theory is,
comedians are the world's
true master of public speaking.
They're going to be one,
two, three for sure.
So it's down to one speaker
left to go-- one storyteller.
And the comedians are
number one, number two,
and number three.
I'm winning, and there's
one lady left to go.
My friends are in the audience,
including my friend Arash
with the spinal cord injury.
They found the name
Irish Dave somewhere,
and they put two
and two together,
and they're like, that's you.
You never told us.
And they all came, and
I was like, oh god, no.
So this lady went
last, and she beat me
by, like, point-something.
And I was like, oh no.
There goes the
ending to the book.
That screwed all of theories
around this topic completely.
She was amazing.
And then I started
talking to her.
I was like, how did you do it?
Like, you don't
have any background
in comedy or anything.
She's like, I read everything
I could get my hands on--
loads of useful stuff.
And I was like, tell
me, tell me, tell me,
because I'm about
to publish a book.
I want to know.
And she was like, well,
this one was really useful--
pulled up all these cliff
notes, "Seven Comedy Habits
To Be a Better Speaker"
by David Nihill.
[LAUGHTER]
The chances!
I was like, you beat
me with my own book!
I was like, right, that's
the end of this story.
Now I have no ending.
And then, actually
this guy saw it
and asked me to
come do a TED Talk.
And I was like, now, that
would be a good ending.
I was like, hold on, actually.
I have a friend called
Arash, and his story
is better than anything I
could ever come up with--
hugely inspirational.
Can I send you a clip of him
in action, his first talk ever?
I think you'll love it.
And I sent it to him, and
he booked him in my place,
and Arash got a 51-second
standing ovation
as he told everyone
how he trained for one
whole year to do something
doctors would say he'd never
do again and stand
on his own two feet,
because he wanted to propose
to his girlfriend eye-to-eye
instead of doing it
from his wheelchair.
So of course she said yes.
He stood up out of
his wheelchair onstage
and she came out and joined
him, and the audience
lost their mind.
And the hairs on
the back of my neck
even stand up just
telling you guys about it.
So if you take nothing else from
this talk, start with a story
and really find the key point--
the fun part or the funny part.
Use those comedians' techniques,
because at the end of day
it's your story.
You know it better
than anyone else,
and you never know what will
happen when you tell it.
So thank you very much
for your attention.
I appreciate it.
[APPLAUSE]
Thank
you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
