They’re not the same, are they? Not quite.
For me, a Public Speaking engagement is a particular type of presentation. The main thing that differentiates public speaking from a (business) presentation, is that it’s given
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to a (general) public - rather to business associates etc. (who may even be an invited audience);
- to relatively undifferentiated audience - the range of a priori knowledge will vary within any given audience… but will often be quite low;
- with more time (that is a greater duration) than a ‘business presentation’ (often) - or at least more flexibility of timing;
- without much in the way of visual-aids - or at least using them in a different way;
- in a relatively formal, one-way process with few chances for questions;
- with a less focussed subject matter (typically).
Anyone want to pick me up on these?
Let’s unpack an example. I was at a speech recently by the Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP (now Prime Minister) in which he was talking, specifically, about the issues of debt in the developing world. It was introduced to the audience as a speech and it was the typical political speech - no visual aids, addressing a number of (related) issues, not at all interactive and not driving to any decision. It was simply about him telling us (the audience) about what he believes, what he’d done and what he wanted to do in the future.
For me that was an example of public speaking.
On the other hand, watching him talking about the same issues to a smaller, more select audience was clearly a presentation. What was the difference?
Well, the presentation was designed to “define, discuss and decide” (so it was more interactive); the Chancellor (as he was at the time) used a number of visual aids to provide backup information; and there was a clear time-limit on the whole thing. What’s more, while the level of technical information and detail in what he said was much higher than at the public meeting (I don’t believe this is an indicator of the difference between public speaking and presenting per se) it was at least possible for Gordon Brown to speak in this way because his audience was less diverse (and more informed prior to the event).
It’s important that - when you stand up (or sit down!) to speak - it’s pretty important to know whether you’re doing a presentation or doing some public speaking……..
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