I remembered the first time I approached a microphone — it was late 1996. There were about 200 seated in front of us (me and a fellow student reciting un poéme en Français — that’s it, something in French). It was like — okkie: mess up, and not only will the guy (girl, rather) next to you catch that, but the whole 200 will. Oops!

I think it was in about the same year — at around the start of the year — that I told myself I’d never speak in public. Well, OK… I was a (shy) 14-year-old, unaware of what sharing your thoughts with others might bring you — especially in what good you might get. Thing is, after that first premiere, I felt a fair bit of magic after the poem was read. Oddly enough, I felt good.

The good feelings continued to this day. I’ve been into the speaking biz for a fair bit — my first real co-hosting of an English contest with a person that went on to claim major awards in a national speaking contest meant that my lingo (language and content) had what it took to entertain the audience. I wasn’t scared of entertaining thousands in an early 2004 fashion contest, and I shared the TEDx stage twice — first as a speaker, then as an emcee.

I’ve spoken on a whole variety of topics — from user interfaces through to social media and high speed rail in China, I’ve done it all. If you want someone who was born not to bore audiences, think of me next time. Note: I am at my best when I am able to speak in English.

我第一次接近麥克風時，已經是我馬上要 15 歲那時候了。1996 年末，我和一名女性學生在瑞士的國際學校「聖誕前」晚會上朗誦了一首法語詩。嘴巴前的麥克風令我稍微有點「新，生」：透過它傳播的每一個錯誤發音，不僅旁邊的人能聽得到，整個大堂兩百多人都能同時聽到。最好不要犯錯誤了喔!

同（1996）年年初我曾經對自己「發誓」，以後不要搞什麼公開演講，貌似當時有點「害羞」吧! 不過，當時根本想像到以後和大家會分享出什麼樂趣。幸好我 1996 年年底「覺醒」起來了。的確如此，自己做了朗誦、演講後，感覺截然不同。直到今天，依然是喜歡在大家面前說話。傳媒大學有一個播音員齊越先生的雕塑，上面有句話我比較讚同:「在話筒前播音，我感到無比的幸福和自豪」。真的如此：我覺得無論是在 2006 年做有關電腦用戶介面的主題演講，還是 2009 年、2010 年兩次參加 TEDx 活動，無論作為主持人還是演講人，和大家說說話感覺還是蠻好的。

我自己做演講時涉及到的話題也不少，無論是資訊科技、社會媒體還是中國高速鐵路，都喜歡把自己知道的和大家分享。當然，交流是條雙向路，所以在此也喜歡從別人學點新的東西。

註: 我發言時使用「最佳語言」依然為英語，這與我在國外受外語語言環境有關。

Speaking Experiences

• 16 November 2008: Chinese Blogger Conference, Guangzhou, China. Topic: “International Chinese 2.0.” Talked about the difference between China, the West, and what those who understand both cultures do to bridge the gap. Spoke in front of about 100 – 200 people.
• 17 May 2007: Beijing Higher Education DV Contest, Beijing, China. Spoke in front of about 500 people about how a DV movie was made, including details such as typography, visual effects, and more.
• 29 November 2006: Foreign Languages Lesson (English, Chinese, German, French and Italian), Shenzhen, China. Spoke to 100 people participating in a fashion contest; taught the audience English, German, French and Italian.
• August 2006: MACitizen Hong Kong: Spoke to the MACitizen user group in Chinese (Mandarin).
• 21 May 2006: Delivered Mac-related speech to Beijing Forestry Institute.
• January 2006: Macworld and East Bay Macintosh User Group, San Francisco, United States. Spoke in the User Group Lounge and to the East Bay Mac User Group.
• 3 November 2005: World Usability Day, Beijing, China. Featured speaker for World Usability Day.
• 4 Dec 2002: Delivered speech to a Culture and Economics class at the University of International Business and Economics on Starbucks and the Chinese market. Received top score thanks to the engaging manner in which the speech was delivered.
• 13 September 2002: First speech ever, delivered to an audience of 100 at UIBE, Beijing, on European continental law. (I was a student of that class — International Trade Law — and people were remarkably reluctant to talk in front of others.)

My views on a speech…

• If someone falls asleep during your speech, you’re in trouble. (I have had too many otherwise interesting university lessons ruined by that kind of people.)
• Keep these guys asking for more. I was at a pop concert and everyone wanted the guy back on stage (this was after the Encore). Make your speech the same.
• Personalize it! If you’re giving a speech to a charitable organization, don’t make it the same one as you’re giving to a board meeting. The Chinese know this all to well: Sun Zi’s The Art of War dictates: Know yourself, know your enemy (or your audience), and win a hundred battles.
• Bullets are too harsh. And so are slides with nothing but bullets. Break them down into individual slides — even go out of your way to use honkin’-big, 96-point type.
• Zip it up after 25 minutes (for a half-hour speech). Or at least give people a break.