Mobeen Tahir

Not Quite World Class – Never Set an Expectation

Public Speaking / /

Again, I swing with all my might. This time, after already making a few misses, my bat just about makes contact with the ball, and we scramble to take a single run. I know I’m letting my team down—this format demands that every shot sends the ball flying out of the ground. But then, it’s what the live commentator says that makes me want to dig a hole in the ground and bury myself… It’s a fast-paced, high-octane cricket tournament being played under lights, with live commentary rousing a large crowd. All the teams have given themselves interesting names—a bit of tongue-in-cheek humour is the order of the day. As captain of the team, I decide to do the same. We call ourselves World 11. This, of course, gives plenty of fodder to the commentator, who, upon watching me struggle while batting, proclaims—much to the amusement of the crowd— “World 11 aren’t quite looking like World 11 right now.” The crowd erupts. I have nowhere to hide. So, I laugh along at my plight—because that’s all I can do. This happened almost sixteen years ago, but I have never forgotten that moment. Not because of the embarrassment—I actually found it funny and have no qualms laughing at myself. I haven’t forgotten it because it taught me a very important lesson. We called ourselves World 11—supposedly a team of eleven world-class players. It was clearly a joke, but still, we set an expectation. And we disappointed. The Public Speaking Parallel In public speaking, it’s easy to make this fatal mistake. Speakers often set expectations for what they are about to say by prefacing with statements like “Let me tell you something really funny.” If the audience doesn’t find what follows truly funny, the speaker has set themselves up for failure—even if their remark was mildly amusing. Many speakers understand the importance of storytelling. But they often begin their story with something like, “Let me tell you something interesting that happened to me the other day.” Now, the audience expects an interesting story. The bar has been set. The risk? The audience may feel underwhelmed. I once watched a speaker introduce a point with, “Let me tell you a fun fact” (about the product he was pitching). The audience’s response was lukewarm. His body language drooped. Almost immediately, he backtracked: “Not really a fun fact.” Ironically, I thought what he said was quite interesting—but his framing created an expectation of something thrilling. When the audience didn’t react accordingly, the fun fact flopped. What Should You Do Instead? Go straight into your message. Just share the fun fact. Don’t preface it. The preamble serves no purpose—it only creates unnecessary pitfalls. If you’re telling a story, dive straight into the action. Immerse your audience in the moment. Don’t tell them what the story is about. Don’t tell them if it’s sad or hilarious. The element of surprise is what makes a story compelling. By framing it in advance, you take that away. Take my story above. If I had started with, “Let me tell you a hilarious story about a time I felt really embarrassed during a cricket match,” you’d already know what’s coming. You’d be expecting something hilarious, and you’d know in advance that I end up embarrassed. What follows would simply be a description, rather than an experience. Instead, I placed you directly into the moment—present tense—so you could experience it as it unfolds. The Lesson: Never Set an Expectation Avoid setting expectations. Don’t frame your most compelling narratives. Go straight in. And don’t call yourself world-class—even if you are. We did. And we weren’t even close.

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Don’t Show Me the Spare Wheel – Know Your Audience

Public Speaking / /

As my mother and I approach the car on display, the salesperson begins her demonstration by opening the boot. I think, Well, that’s an odd place to start. She then proceeds to remove the base layer of the boot to reveal the spare wheel. At this point, I am a bit confused. After a few further illustrations in and around the boot, we slowly progress towards the rest of the car. As my mother and I examine the driver’s seat and enquire about the car’s tech features, my dad emerges from the office. After exchanging a few pleasantries, the salesperson offers to show my dad the spare wheel. Luckily, my dad turns down the offer, saying that wasn’t important. Now, it is entirely possible that for some customers, the spare wheel might be the most important feature of the car. But the salesperson has not asked us what we are looking for. This was an incident that reminded me of a fundamental principle in communication and sales—one that applies equally to public speaking. We see this so often: salespeople trying to sell us something without making the effort to understand what we actually need. Most people have probably heard about the famous interview exercise in which the interviewer hands the interviewee a pen and asks them to sell it. The rookie mistake would be to immediately start highlighting the features of the pen: It writes so smoothly, it feels great in your fingers, there is a special deal on right now, and so forth. The correct response to this exercise is to ask questions instead: Are you looking for a pen? What kind of pen are you looking for? What do you intend to use it for? What’s your budget? Once the buyer’s needs have been established, the seller ought to highlight the most relevant feature of the item—be it a pen or a house. All business, at its core, boils down to this basic principle. Yet so many businesses fail to understand it. They create a product and then try to force their customers to buy it: You should buy this pen because it writes in the most beautiful shade of blue. But the customer might be looking for a black pen. Or a pencil. Or fruit and vegetables. When we take the stage and speak publicly, we are inevitably selling something. If it isn’t a direct business pitch on a product or service, we might be selling an idea. We are there to convince the audience of something. The exact same principle must apply. We must ask ourselves: What is it that my audience needs? When conversing with a single person or a small group, the task is certainly easier. One can simply ask. When presenting in front of a large audience, the same approach clearly won’t work. But the speaker must do one thing: make a mindset shift and turn their attention towards the audience. They must remember that they are there for the audience. What might the audience actually need from them? This simple switch changes the presenter’s focus from themselves to the audience. They stop fixating on what they must say and think instead about what might actually be of value to the audience. Don’t just start selling the spare wheel.

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It’s Like Playing Beethovan on Stage – Master Public Speaking as an Art Form

Public Speaking / /

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said, “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means, to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” And Mark Twain said, “There are only two types of speakers in the world. 1. The nervous and 2. Liars.” I speak a lot in public: mic’d up on large stages, pitching to investors, delivering training, or talking on live TV. I absolutely love it, consider it my calling in life, and feel privileged that I get the chance to do it as much as I do. But my excitement when taking the stage is always accompanied by a faster heartbeat, a dry mouth, sweaty palms, and a generally higher-than-normal body temperature. But that doesn’t mean I’d prefer the casket. Thriving as a public speaker does not mean we must find a way to disable our nervous system. Instead, it means we learn to master the skills we need to shine despite our natural human instincts. Luckily, this is possible. But it requires a very important mindset shift—and that is treating public speaking as a form of art. Imagine if you’ve never laid your hands on a piano keyboard, never taken a lesson, never known a major scale from a minor, and are told to perform Beethoven on stage. What would happen? Let’s just say you wouldn’t expect a standing ovation. But if you take a few lessons, develop a few skills, and practice, you will feel a lot more confident. You might still be nervous, but you’ll give yourself a meaningful chance of delivering a strong performance. Music is considered a form of art because it requires the practitioner to develop a set of skills and polish them over time. Once you add some creativity to the mix, you create an original piece. You have art. Public speaking is the same. It demands that a set of skills be developed and polished over time. And eventually, the public speaker can develop their own style, get creative, and produce a work of art. My dear reader, you might think learning to play the piano takes time—and yes, it does. But while you can get through life without learning music (although I would argue that music is amazing and everyone should attempt to learn an instrument), going through life without mastering public speaking is a colossal, wasted opportunity. Oprah Winfrey said, “What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.” Oprah didn’t say it’s a “nice” tool; she called it “the most powerful tool.” And I agree. Words, when communicated appropriately, have the power to melt hearts, change minds, and alter the course of history. Moreover, we are all public speakers anyway. Every time we talk to another person, we are speaking publicly. Whether it is making a business pitch to investors, selling an idea to your partner, or communicating with your toddler who has just thrown a tantrum, we become public speakers every time we interact with another person. Why not master it? Luckily, our daily interactions with others also provide a perfect opportunity to practice and cultivate our skills. So why isn’t everyone a world-class public speaker? It’s because many don’t see public speaking as an art form. Once we make this mindset shift, we become more deliberate in the way we listen, the way we curate stories, the way we structure our narrative, and the way we use the tools at our disposal to become strong communicators. If you want to know more about what those skills are and how they can be developed, stay tuned to my blog where I will go deep into the many facets of public speaking. Or subscribe to my newsletter to receive each post in your inbox. Although the pursuit of becoming a world-class public speaker ought to be a lifelong journey, one can achieve important milestones very quickly as long as one is headed in the right direction. Get excited. By being here, you’ve already begun your journey toward becoming an artist.

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