I’m a little slow to the party, I know, but I did my first Facebook Live chat last week for Harvard and had a fun time taking as many questions as I could.  If you missed it, it’s available here and here.

I thought it was a great opportunity to see what’s on the mind of roughly 45,000 viewers.  There were so many questions I didn’t get to that I’m continuing the conversation here in the blog today.  If you still don’t see your question, then let’s take it up in the comments section.  I’ll do a little re-wording as needed for clarity or applicability.  Enjoy!

1.If I’ve only got five minutes for a speech, how do I get my key points across in an interesting way? 

Five minutes is too short a time to persuade an audience of anything complicated, sophisticated, or controversial.  In five minutes, you can persuade an audience, probably, that ice cream is a good thing, but it’s unlikely you could move an audience to enlist in some difficult or complicated cause.

So what can you do?  Basically, tell one clear story, with a moral.  (So that’s why it’s essential that you always wear your bicycle helmet when you take a bath.)  You might be able to throw in one or two proof points – statistics or claims – as well as the story, but don’t get too ambitious.  Five minutes is only about 650 words, not even the length of a typical Op-ed.

The other possibility is to state a headline, three supporting points, and the headline again.

Clarity and brevity are of the essence when you’ve only got 5 minutes.

2.Should a speaker move around the stage or stand still? 

Basically, you should stand still more than feels comfortable – because your adrenaline will be pushing you to move all over the stage.  You’ll have the energy, and your feet will want to dance, but if you plant your feet for at least 30 seconds at a time before moving to another spot on the stage, you’ll look more confident and grounded than if you’re in constant motion.

3.How do I appear natural as a communicator and not contrived?

It’s an age-old question – what’s the art of appearing artless?  The answer, at least currently, is to make your presentation as conversational as possible (without actually imitating the stops and starts, the randomness, and the incompleteness of a real conversation).  One way to see how you’re doing is to video yourself in a real conversation and to hear what you sound like.  Then, add some structure, but try to keep the feel of that conversation in your speech.

4.What are the differences between the body language of men and women?

There were a number of questions around this theme, and it’s a complicated one that can’t be addressed in just one answer or even one blog.  But let’s make a start.  Historically women have often been take less seriously or relegated to a second tier of speaker compared to men.  It’s essential that women (and it’s true for men too) not allow their body language to signal or telegraph a lack of confidence in themselves, because that will be interpreted as a reason not to take them seriously.  So, women (again, like men) must stand tall, with a strong confident posture, open and powerful, with a straight back, a head held high, chin at level, stomach tucked in and pelvis back.  It all begins with posture.

5.How do I know (as a speaker) when I’m being boring?

Your audience will tell you!  Look for signs of restlessness – eyes glazing over, shifting of feet, hand and feet twitchiness, looking away.  Never exceed the time allotted.  In fact, it’s better to end just a little bit early.  If you end with Q and A, the questions will start to peter out when the audience is done.  Beware the one last questioner – he/she may just be clueless.  That’s why I recommend taking Q and A at a couple of points during the presentation, saving a strong close (from you) for the end.