At the 2016 Toastmasters International World Championships, Darren Tay delivered a dynamic and genuine speech titled Outsmart, Outlast. In less than 3 minutes, the public speaker shared a personal story that deconstructed the audience’s perception of dealing with conflict and hardship. Watch the speech below:
It’s no wonder why Tay earned his first place standing. But, he implemented 3 influential actions that presenters should learn more about. Let’s outline those now.
1. The Personal Story
To introduce his personal story, Tay spent the first 20 seconds of his speech in silence. During this time, he pulled a pair of Calvin Klein underwear from his pocket and pulled them over his pantsuit. By using a relevant prop, Tay effectively set the scene for his story.
“Hey loser. How do you like your new school uniform? I think it looks great on you.”
Source: 2016 World Champion of Public Speaking, Darren Tay Wen Jie
Tay adopted the point of view of his high school bully to reinforce the severity of the personal experience. The use of an intimate story, however, also built up his credibility in the eyes of his audience.
2. The One Liner
Shortly after divulging his traumatic experience with bullying, Tay made light of the situation through a couple of one liners.
“Now if you are all wondering if the underwear Greg was using was clean, I had the same question.”
Source: 2016 World Champion of Public Speaking, Darren Tay Wen Jie
“If you are looking at Calvin Klein here, stop staring. My eyes are up here.”
Source: 2016 World Champion of Public Speaking, Darren Tay Wen Jie
His humor shifted the overall tone of the presentation and of the room from grave and saddening to motivational and fun. This is a lesson for all presenters that a speech doesn’t have to stick to one general tone. Instead, each portion of your deck can relay different meaning and have varying feels to them.
3. The Inclusive Metaphor
Tay remains clad in his tidy whiteys for nearly the entirety of his speech. At its conclusion, he utilizes the prop as a metaphor for his whole talk. As he removed his underwear, he said this about coping with the bullies inside his head…
Source: 2016 World Champion of Public Speaking, Darren Tay Wen Jie
His comment at the end connected perfectly to his call to action, which inspired the audience to face their inner bullies head on and not run away from them.
Tay’s speech was a beautiful summary of how individuals can tackle those fears that are the greatest in their minds. His presentation is testament that a great message doesn’t have to be delivered in hours, but can take just minutes to multiply impact. For more public speaking tips and tricks, check out the resources below:
The Public Speaking Prowess of Hubert Humphrey
A Writer’s Guide to Preparing a Presentation
The Complete Guide to Diction in Public Speaking
Diagnosing a Distracted Audience
