What can successful musical performers tell us about public speaking? Having just sat in an uncomfortable seat somewhere around first base in Fenway Park to hear the J. Geils Band and Aerosmith, I’m thinking hard about the lessons that these performers can teach us. I’ve come up with five so far, and I encourage you to post your own.
If you haven’t seen either of these two monster rock and roll bands perform, then go to TED.com and check out Nora York, a chanteuse that dwells about as far away from Aerosmith on the musical spectrum as you can get – and yet teaches us some of the same lessons: http://bit.ly/azWvWQ.
1. You’ve got to be willing to put it all out there. The first thing that unites Steven Tyler, front man for Aerosmith; Peter Wolf, front man of the J. Geils Band; and Nora York, is that they are giving us all they have. They’re not holding back. They’re interesting because of that – they’re emotional, they’re occasionally over the top, and they never play it safe. Too many speakers try to play it safe, and as a result, of course, ironically, they set themselves up for failure. Ultimately, we want to connect with another human being at a rock concert, or at a speech, and if you’re not ready to connect, you should get off the stage.
2. You need to have a unique voice. No one would ever mistake Steven for Peter for Nora – each is different, with strengths and weaknesses. Steven Tyler is a huge talent, with a huge ego to match. Peter Wolf works the crowd harder than the other two. Nora York engages mind as well as heart in ways that leave the other two gentlemen in the dust. The point is that they do best by being themselves, 110% of the time, with 150% effort. Speakers need to do the same.
3. Every performance needs to have an arc. So you need to put it all out there, and be unique. But not all at once, and not from start to finish. Every speech, every performance, every interaction with the audience, needs to have an arc. You can start out high octane, like Peter Wolf, and only take it down 20 minutes into the show. Or you can build more gradually like Steven Tyler. Or you can recite a poem that links you to ancient traditions and themes, like Nora York. What you do is part of your voice, and your story. But performance is an art form with generic demands, not a data dump. We want first to engage, then build a connection, then go somewhere we’ve never been before, then come home. Every performance needs to have an arc.
4. You have to make it all about the audience. Peter Wolf, of these three performers, works the crowd the hardest. He was in the left field bleachers before the end of his part of the show. But Tyler and York work the audience too, just in their own way and with their own story in mind. Great performers know that an audience is what makes a show possible and they never forget that a communication hasn’t happened unless the audience has got it. That’s why they call it giving a speech.
5. Little human touches are essential – and interaction is huge. Each of these performers has a band behind them, and part of the way we judge and decide to connect or not with a performer has to do with how they interact with the others that perform with them. When Nora York was done with her song, she turned to include the other musicians in the applause – a nice, generous move. Steven Tyler and Peter Wolf both interact constantly with their band mates, even while they’re putting the audience first. If you’re up in front of an audience solo, then how you react with the person that introduces you, and how you interact with the audience, become even more important. If you’re part of a team presenting, then it’s a great opportunity to model good behavior and look like the kind of person we’d want to get to know. (I’ve blogged on how to present as a team before.)
OK, what else can we learn from rock and roll? Let’s hear your insights.
This reminded me of something I wrote a while back (illustrated by video clips) on how politicians can enhance the impact of a speech by having music in the background: http://bit.ly/a4zGa8
Max, you’re up late. Thanks for the comment, and it’s a great point. Music goes right to the emotional centers of our brains, so can profoundly affect the way we experience a speech or anything else that has music underneath it. Something, of course, that movie makers have known forever.
Excellent post Nick. There are very many lessons a speaker can learn from these professional performers.
I pulled out another one about the value of crafting a great climax to each track – and of your talk – and the importance of managing applause properly, using a Dire Straits concert as an example. You can read it here:
http://philpresents.com/2010/05/22/go-out-with-a-clap/
Phil —
Thanks for the comment and the great point about finishing strong. Let your audiences applaud you! It’s a way of letting them give back, and they want to do so.
That’s why I wrote “Rock to the Top: What I Learned about Success from the World’s Greatest Rock Stars!