HONG KONG – After decades of pondering the perils and terrors of public speaking, Bjorn Turmann wants to tear up all the old rule books. He heaps scorn on “rules” and delivers unconventional, even startling, advice.

A frequent public-speaking coach to business executives, politicians, educators, students and others across Asia and beyond, Bjorn insists there are billions of ways to deliver effective speeches. He reinforces his “21st-century approach” in his how-to book, Speaking Energy, Public Speaking For Humans.... Finally! (2010, Konstrukt Books, 215 pages).

To the shock of many, Bjorn tells his students and readers to tear up written speeches, forget about rehearsing and reject every list of public-speaking rules. “There are no rules,” he said. He disdains would-be rules for making every speaker the same, “putting them in a box”.

Everyone is unique, as are ideal speaking styles, Bjorn said. Each speaker needs to find a comfy, personal style, one with lively spontaneity that connects with audiences. Why make the process difficult? What comes naturally works best.

All speakers can deliver exciting and convincing messages if they're “willing to be honest with the audience”. It's essential to make a quick connection with the listeners, perhaps by telling a personal story.

“The only thing that matters is that human connection,” Bjorn said. “I don't care what you say or how you say it. Just connect with the audience.

“For listeners, it's the same as readers with a book. Don't bore them. Unless the beginning grabs attention, they won't keep going.

“Think about your best teachers in school. They weren't the ones who lectured to you. They were the ones who inspired you. They told stories and inspired you to learn. The best public speakers do the same thing. They're the people willing to do something different, to stand up and tell a story that's personal, to be spontaneous, and even to go off-track at times. ”

What difference how a speaker stands, where he places his hands or whether he carries notes? "Your body will go instinctively into the position that feels most comfortable," Bjorn said. "Allow that to happen. Maybe your arms will flap, maybe they won't. Maybe your feet will tap, maybe they won't. None of that matters."

In fact, listeners don't connect easily to speakers who “put up a barrier” by pretending to be polished and perfect. It's better to “break down the barriers, chuck away the prepared speech and have a conversation” with an audience. “What difference if it's a conversation with one person or one million?”

A Canadian (in his mid 40s), Bjorn once worked for Microsoft. He arrived in Asia in 1993. Speaking Energy isn't his first book. He's also the author of three novels:The Last Tobacco Shop in the World, The Karaoke World of Cortous Haire, and Good Daughter.

"Public speaking isn't an exact science," Bjorn said. "I see it as an adventure. Like writing fiction, it's about connecting the dots through stories and characters."

Being sincere and telling relevant personal stories can engage listeners much better than reciting statistics, reading prepared remarks or droning rehearsed words. “As I tell my speaking clients, if I haven't told them an inspiring story, then I haven't given them anything to take home,” Bjorn said.

Simply “showing the audience a business card” doesn't work. A dynamic speaker needs to “step in front of the business card” as an engaging, sincere person.

“Every speech becomes too long the second a speaker disconnects on a human level. For example, anyone who recites a memorized speech or reads from a PowerPoint presentation has disconnected.” Once a speaker disconnects, the audience does too.

Delicately, Bjorn jabs at the many political and business leaders who insist on using speech-writers. “I've met CEOs who rarely write their own speeches or PowerPoint presentations,” he said. “They have someone else do it because they're too busy. I've seen some of these CEOs speak and I understand why they have trouble relating to their audiences and vice versa. If someone else penned your words, how can you expect to connect to those words and pass them along as your own?”

Some of Asia's least dynamic, spontaneous and engaging speeches come from national leaders. For example, China's leaders prefer everything, including their own speeches and the audience reactions, to stay very regimented and predictable. No wonder so many listeners doze off amid sessions of the National People’s Congress in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

Other national leaders, like Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen, become effective speakers when veering off-topic on a spontaneous rant. “That's what's different – the part that's unscripted when he speaks his mind without notes,” Bjorn said. “That's when he's the most interesting to audiences.”

Most speakers have a list of “fears”, the things that could go wrong. Usually the list includes “going off topic”, but taking a few detours can work beautifully.

A second fear is being nervous. “Everyone gets nervous,” Bjorn said. “That's because of adrenalin. If you're not nervous before speaking, you're not very interested. You need the blood pumping and adrenalin flowing. It's just another human thing.”

Another fear is hesitation, maybe followed by a lot of “umms” and “ahhs”. “Contrary to what most people think, no one counts the ‘umms’ or ‘ahhs’,” Bjorn said. “Actually, saying ‘ahh’ (even a few times) can be good because it's a pause that makes an audience notice and wait for what comes next.”

Yet another fear is “making a lot of mistakes” rather like former United States president George W. Bush, whose speeches had blunder after blunder. “That's probably not a great thing if you lead the world's most powerful nation,” Bjorn said. “But from a human perspective, the more mistakes you make, the more you're endeared to people. The audience feels closer to you.”

Speakers can conquer almost all their fears by regarding the audience members as allies, not adversaries. Almost always, audiences are friendly. The folks within earshot want every speech-maker to succeed. That way, everyone stays engaged and better informed, even entertained.

“They've come to hear you speak, so they're rooting for you,” Bjorn said. “They don't care if you look a little nervous. Most of them know what that feels like.”

Audiences may be distracted, partly due to the modern problems of busy schedules and information overload, but that's not the same as indifferent. “Unless a speaker gives them something different, they'll continue being distracted,” Bjorn said.

“They're prepared to listen to ‘different’ every time. No one should be afraid to be different. Standing at a podium with a standard corporate presentation isn't what people want. When given that, they very quickly shut down.

“These days, the greatest competition for speakers is BlackBerry devices in the audience. Unless a speaker makes a quick personal connection, the audience members just look at those tiny screens until the speech ends.”

Bjorn even offers a little advice on handling hecklers: “Confronting hecklers with human dialogue is a good way to disarm them. Yelling or getting upset only makes it worse. The heckler then feels like he challenged the speaker and won.”

If taking abuse from a heckler helps a speaker to connect with an audience, or even to gain sympathy, then it can be a good thing.

Should a speaker stutter, tremble, lose a thought or otherwise struggle, then listeners can help to salvage the situation. “Maybe an audience has a responsibility to try and save a boring speaker,” Bjorn said. “How? With eye contact – if you're within the line of sight, you can save a boring speaker. Stare at him, smile at him, start nodding your head or ask an interesting question. There's a lot that someone in the audience can do. Then watch what happens to the speaker's energy level. A listener can change that energy level so easily.”

Ultimately, the solution to all speaking problems comes down to being passionate, finding a rhythm and making a human connection with audiences.

“Public speaking is about human engagement,” Bjorn said. “Any other approach is boring and de-energizing.”

For more information: speakingenergy.com or speakingenergy.wordpress.com

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