How to Speak

Comments · 8.7K

• MI

  @mitocw · 6 years ago (edited) · pinned

  For more information on Professor Winston&apos;s How to Speak lecture, visit <a href="https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/res-tll-005-how-to-speak-january-iap-2018/pages/how-to-speak/">https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/res-tll-005-how-to-speak-january-iap-2018/pages/how-to-speak/</a>

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• MA

  @MarcoDinacci · 5 years ago

  &quot;Your success in life will be determined largely by your ability to speak, your ability to write, and the quality of your ideas. In that order.&quot;

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• FI

  @FilosSofo · 6 years ago (edited)

  title: &quot;How to speak&quot;<br>the guy in the video: <b>*starts speaking*</b><br>me: damn, he&apos;s good

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• AR

  @ar9907 · 5 years ago

  We are lucky that we live in an age where we can watch/listen to something like this for free

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• EL

  @EloraWiseman1 · 3 months ago

  fact : he gave this lecture for almost 40 years in MIT starting in early 1970s and last lecture was delivered in 2018. the video was uploaded and the lecture was made public after his passing in mid 2019.

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• GR

  @GregoryKC · 6 years ago (edited)

  <b>A summary of the whole talk. Save, read, use... Enjoy!</b><br><br>I believe it&apos;ll be usefull for many people out there!<br><br>Start <br>1. Do not start a talk with a joke. <br>2. Promise - Tell them what they gonna learn at the end of your talk. <br>3. Cycle – make your idea repeated many times in order to be completely clear for everyone.<br>4. Make a “Fence” around your idea so that it can be distinguished from someone else’s idea. <br>5. Verbal punctuation – sum up information within your talk some times to make listeners get back on. <br>6. &nbsp;Ask a question - intriguing one<br> <br>Place and Time <br> <br>7. Best time for having a lecture is 11 am. (not too early and not after lunch)<br>8. The place should be well lit. <br>9. The place should be seen and checked before the lecture.<br>10. The place should not be full less than a half, it must be chosen according to the amount of listeners. <br> <br>Tools <br>For teaching. <br>1. Board – it’s got graphics, speed, target. Watch your hands! Don’t hold them behind your back, it’s better to keep them straight and use for pointing at the board. <br>2. Props – use them in order to make your ideas visual. <br>Visual perception is the most effective way to interact with listeners. <br> <br>For Job Talk. Exposing, Slides <br>3. Don’t put too many words on a slide. Slides should just reflect what you’re saying, not the other way around. Pictures attracts attention and people start to wait for your explanation – use that tip. <br>4. Make slide as easy as you can – no title, no distracting pictures, frames, points and so on. <br>5. Do not use laser pointer – due to that you lose eye contact with the audience. Instead you can make the arrows just upon a slide. <br> <br>Informing <br> <br>Show to your listeners your stuff is cool and interesting. <br>You have to be able to: <br>-show your vision of that problem <br>-show that you’ve done particular things (by steps) <br>All of that should be done real quick in no more than 5 min. <br>Persuade your listeners you’re not a rookie (Prof. Winston contrived to do that from the very first seconds of his talk) <br> <br>Getting Famous <br>If you want to your ideas be remembered you’ve got to have &quot;5 S&quot;<br><br><br>- Symbols associate with your ideas (visual perception is the best way to attract attention) <br>- Slogan (describing your idea) <br>- Surprise (common fallacy that is no longer true, for instance, just after you’ve told about it) <br>- Salient Idea (not necessarily important but the one that sticks out) <br>- Story (how you did it, how it works…) <br> <br>How to End <br> <br>- Don’t put collaborators at the end, do that at the beginning.<br>- Question’s the worst way to end a talk. <br>- It’s good to end with a Contribution slide – to sum up everything you’ve told with your OWN decision. <br>- At the very end you could tell a joke since people then will leave the event feeling fun and thus keep a good memory of your talk.<br>- &quot;Thank you (for listening)&quot; isn’t good ending, it’s trite at least. You can end with a quote of a prominent person (my own knowledge), with a salute to people (how much you valued the time being here, the people over here..., “I’d like to get back, it was fun!” <br><br>That part actually I find the hardest one, since saying “Thanks” is a kind of a habit and it’s really difficult to make people clap if your talk wasn’t fascinating, so you’d better do this great and you won’t have to worry about how to end!

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• VO

  @voicelab9884 · 6 years ago

  &quot;I always finish with a joke, and that way people think they&apos;ve had fun the whole time!&quot;

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• JA

  @jakehands · 5 years ago

  I had to stop watching after he told everyone to close their laptops.

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• VA

  @valtemiosantos · 1 year ago

  I am Brazilian and I am 24 years old. The internet is an incredible tool. We can learn from the best professors in the world, from the biggest universities in the world. This is fantastic! I regret that many young people are not aware of the power of this platform.

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• KI

  @kittyjayway · 3 years ago

  Mark fans, this guy passed away in 2019, please be respectful to him in comments among the jokes from the stream.

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• ER

  @ernieho5468 · 6 years ago (edited)

  Once upon a time, I stayed up late at the MIT lab. At 6 a.m., I saw Professor Winston walk in and start drawing on the board.<br>I asked, “Hi Prof. Winston, why are you here so early?”<br><br>He didn’t respond—just kept drawing on the board.<br><br>An hour later, he turned and called my name. “Hey Ernie, what’s up?”<br><br>I looked at him and asked, “Hi Prof, is this the drawing for the course later this morning? Why do you still rehearse the material when you’ve taught it so many times?”<br><br>He smiled and replied, “I’m like an athlete—I have to rehearse and improve my performance before every game. I’ve done this for decades. It’s my commitment to the students.”<br><br>In that moment, I was speechless. Tears welled up in my eyes. I felt the deepest respect.<br><br>The man standing before me was the Ford Professor at MIT. He rehearsed every class, even after more than 30 years of teaching. His commitment and dedication weren’t just spoken—they were lived.<br><br>He was Professor Patrick Henry Winston, a great spirit who inspired thousands of brilliant minds.<br><br>Prof. Winston, may you rest in peace.<br><br>Thank you for teaching and mentoring. Your dedication lives on in our hearts.

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• RE

  @realhumphreyappleby · 6 years ago

  We&apos;re so lucky that this gem of a lecture was captured before he died. Now he can deliver this talk every year, just like he did before.

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