Maya Prohovnik: preference

Transcript context

…True. I think with public speaking, for me, the first thing that I had to do was decide that I didn't hate public speaking because I think it's human nature. It makes sense that we do not want to be in front of a crowd and we don't want to be performing. And it's just an unnatural thing that humans, I think make ourselves do. I remember actually when I was in high school, I had to give a presentation and I had so much anxiety I couldn't sleep the night before. And I remember I was getting ready for school that morning and I was like, I'm just not going to hate public speaking. I just can't get through my life feeling this way. And so I just got up there and I had fun with it, and it felt so much better to not feel worried about it. So I think ever since then I've been okay at it. And then I have gotten lots of opportunities to do big scary public speaking things for Spotify, and so I think I've had to get even better. I think my tips would be my biggest one is probably reframing. Everyone has this anxiety before they have to perform or they go on stage. Reframing that anxiety to understand that the thing your body is doing is surging you with adrenaline to help you. And so letting that feeling wash over you instead of fighting it, I think has been so effective for me because otherwise, it can feel like a panic attack. And so I think you have to be like, cool, my body's getting ready. We're excited, we're going to go do this on stage. That has been really helpful. I practice a million times anytime I have to do public speaking. So I think everybody has different memorization tactics, different ways of doing speaker notes that work for them. And so I think part of it is you have to do a bunch of public speaking to see what works for you. So some people work best with no notes. I almost read complete sentences a good, I can enunciate things while I'm reading, so that works best for me. Some people like bullets and then they go a little bit off the script. But I think once you figure out what method of speaker notes works for you, I rehearse probably at least 10 times all the way through once the speaker notes are final. And you can practice your exact delivery. You can practice where you're going to put jokes in. You can figure out what doesn't feel natural or where you're going to trip it up, and then you can change the words that you're using. And so I like to get to the point where I can remember ad-lib at least half of the notes that I have in there, and that way I know I'm going to feel confident coming off script. I make a lot of eye contact with the audience, which I think makes them think that I'm not reading speaker notes. So I think that's really important. If you can stand it, which I can't, record yourself or watch yourself in a mirror, it messes me up more. But I think for a lot of people, that can be really helpful to figure out where your issues are. f you can stand it, which I can't, record yourself or watch yourself in a mirror, it messes me up more. But I think for a lot of people, that can be really helpful to figure out where your issues are. I think the biggest thing for me honestly, is that the unfair advantage I have is if you really give a shit about what you're talking about, you are going to be such a better presenter because people are going to be able to tell that you care. And so I think even at a larger Spotify event where it's like I'm reading off a teleprompter and I'm reading, I'm marketing, but I'm helping write those words and then the way that I'm saying them matters because I'm talking to podcasters and I'm like, my mission in life is to make things better for you, not everyone gets that benefit, I guess. Sometimes you have to do public speaking about things that you're not very passionate about, but I certainly think that helps. And I think leaning into that, so when you can, telling personal stories, letting the audience get to know you, I like to work some humor into my presentations. I think that can really help as well.…

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