Imagine walking into a room full of strangers, going up to the lecturn and delivering a speech on a subject you know nothing about.
For many people, that’s their idea of hell. For others, that’s their idea of a fun Friday night out.
I wasn’t sure which group I fell into, so I decided to go along to a meeting of The Granite City Speakers Club in Aberdeen recently.
The club has been in existence for more than half a century and meets fortnightly between September and April at Aberdeen Arts Centre.
The New Year typically brings with it resolutions to try new things, break old habits, and step out of our comfort zones.
Studies show that for most people, speaking in public is very much out of their comfort zone.
Glossophobia comes third in a YouGov survey of fears
According to careers platform LinkedIn, 75% of people rank public speaking as their number one fear. It’s called glossophobia, glossa being the Greek for tongue.
In a YouGov survey which asked people what scared them most, it came in third, after heights and snakes.
And so I wondered what sort of adrenaline-loving superhumans I was letting myself in for as I arrived at the arts centre.
I imagined they would be the same sort of people who long to go on reality TV shows where they have to face down a cobra or eat a bug.
How surprised I was then, to be met with a group of friendly, gentle, welcoming souls with the first order of business – would I like a nice cup of tea?
Jim Smith, who at 90 years young, has been in the club the longest, did the honours with the kettle.
First the tea, then the topics
Then long-term member Bob Gibb explained the running order of what was about to happen.
There would be a main section, where members presented prepared speeches on a range of topics and then an improvised section.
This is where people are given a topic on the night and then have a short space of time in which to prepare and then deliver a speech on it.
I was told that in a competition, participants are handed a slip of paper as they enter the room.
They then have the time it takes to walk from the door to the lecturn to work out what they are going to say.
As this was not a competition night, they went ‘easy’ on me and handed me my allocated subject during the break about 30 minutes before I had to speak.
Friendly feedback helps people improve
I was excited to unfurl the piece of paper to see what topic I’d been given.
The subject was Artificial Intelligence and the problem wasn’t that I had nothing to say about it but that I had too much!
Not only had I recently written an article AI but I’d also just had a discussion with the crime writer Ian Rankin about the subject, as well as a conversation with my sister about ChatGPT.
I had so many opinions bubbling up about AI that I didn’t know where to begin and couldn’t gather my thoughts.
This provided my first lightbulb moment of the evening. I started to understand that there’s a discipline to this.
It’s part facts, part flair and my theory is that once you get those two right, it doesn’t leave a lot of room for fear.
I learned more about what makes a good speaker during the evaluation process, done by one of the other members.
Technique is something you can learn
Participants receive feedback on their time-keeping, content and delivery.
For evaluations the tone is collegiate rather than critical and given with warmth and humour, clearly with the aim of supporting members to help them improve.
I imagine this is how actors feel when they are given ‘notes’ from the director.
Participants were praised for their ability to “paint word pictures” and to have a beginning, middle and end and also for their gestures and projection.
Topics ranged from driverless cars to Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
Evaluator Bob was kind to me. My ‘note’ was that I constantly took my glasses on and off, which could be distracting.
This was my second lightbulb moment. It’s not just about content and structure, there’s technique to consider too.
Solving my glasses issue could be tricky. I need them to read my notes but I get dizzy if I look at anything else with them on.
I’m either going to have to learn to do this without notes or write in really big letters.
Confidence and camaraderie
Caroline Duguid joined the Granite City Speakers Club in 2019 after seeing a poster on a noticeboard.
She had been asked to deliver a course at work that involved some public speaking.
“I was so nervous about it,” she said.
The club has helped Caroline conquer her fear.
“Once you do it, it gives you so much more confidence. Even just talking to people generally.
“It’s a really positive, enjoyable activity. It’s brilliant – everyone should do it!”
It gets easier…
Meanwhile Jim Smith says it’s partly “the camaraderie” that has kept him in the club.
He adds: “You learn something different every time, with the various topics.
“It keeps your brain active. You don’t have to memorise a whole speech. You can use bullet points.”
In Jim’s opinion, why do so many people dread public speaking?
“It’s nerves,” he says simply. “You conquer the nerves first. The more often you do it the easier it becomes.
“It can be a scary thing depending on how many people you have in front of you.”
Jim explains that doing “the homework” includes working with the microphone, eye contact, projection, timing and even standing.
“This is a learning process,” he says.
“It’s a great thing to be able to stand up at a function and speak.
“It’s a great achievement when you master it.
“And when you see it done properly, it’s terrific.”
The Granite City Speakers Club is one of 130 linked to the UK-wide Association of Speakers Clubs and is open to everyone.
For more information contact: granitecityspeakersclub@btinternet.com or visit Granite City Speakers Club Aberdeen on Facebook or visit www.aberdeenartscentre.com/whats-on/the-granite-city-speakers-club
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