ChatGPT is a marvel, there is no doubt about that. We can programme the type of information we seek and it will scan through squillions of pieces of content and spit out an answer in seconds. When I tried it the speech outline it came up with was quite standard and workable. We can continue and ask it to write our script for the talk and have it done instantly. Does this relieve us of having to spend valuable time in preparing our talks? It certainly does that and anything which can save us major time is a welcome gift. Okay so we get the script done, then what?
Whether we physically write out the script ourselves or the AI wonder does it for us, we don’t want to just stand there reading the content to our audience. We would make the script production process quicker, but we are still stuck at the delivery stage. We can have the machine help us with coming up with a gripper opening or a powerful close to make sure our message is getting through all of the competition for the attention of our audience. We would still have to remember it though or at least be able to deliver the gist of what the clever AI tool came up with.
Most talks are poorly constructed, so if the tool can improve that aspect of presentations then all power to the machine. A step in the direction of a higher professional standard is the goal and we should use all tools at our disposal. We used to use slide carousels to show photos and prepare content for overhead projectors and today we use our computers to create our presentation slide decks. Powerpoint has a design function which gives us ideas on how to fluff up our slides. All saving time, money and improving the quality of the output. ChapGPT is just the next round of the advance in presentation skills.
The content of the talk is a key aspect of it’s success and as more and more people use the tool the standard should go up. If two people choose the same topic, there is a strong chance that what gets produced will be very similar. This creates an issue with differentiation. If we take the ChatGPT script as the base, we are still free to play around with it or do another search from a different angle so that we can maintain our differences. The system is also rather formulistic at this point, so after a while you can spot which scripts were written by the machine and which were written by one of us.
Ghost writers have been helping authors and speakers for a very long time. We credit our famous politicians with brilliant speeches, but often they didn’t write them. The only difference today is we have outsourced the process to AI and the outputs are breathtakingly quick. The speaker though has to get up and deliver the talk and the machine won’t be taking on that role for a while. Not everyone is a good writer and so this modern tool helps to level the playing field.
Normally I don’t write out my talks. I have points I want to speak to and I create the talk not entirely on the fly, but after crafting the structure, I concentrate on the delivery piece, so that I am connecting with my audience and engaging their attention. I use the slide deck as my navigation and memory tool, but what comes out of my mouth is relatively spontaneous. Years ago I saw an ex-journo read out his talk to the audience. It was very well written and was very effective – as a written document. Having him read it to us was disaster though and he had no way of connecting what he was saying to his audience. The AI machine is in the same boat.
One exception to my own rule was my TED talk. I had to speak for just thirteen minutes and I had to remember what I was saying. I spent hours crafting that script which would be the memory bed from which I would draw on to speak spontaneously on stage. I didn’t want to look at the monitors in front of me, because I wanted to be looking at my audience. For the same reason, I didn’t want to look at the slide deck behind me on screen, so I chose to use mainly photos which I then spoke about, while engaging in eye contact with my audience.
There was a lot of tinkering with that script before I got into a shape I was happy with and that would have no doubt happened too even if ChatGPT had provided the base content for me. I think it would be a rare case that any of us would just grab the talk hot off the printer and go ahead verbatim and just use that content. The urge to tweak it would be overwhelming for most of us, not all of us, I grant you, but certainly for most of us.
ChatGPT - I am talking to you now buddy – if you can eliminate the mundane structures, the tortured prose, the detritus of talks, all power to you. By all means, let’s improve the base, but let’s also keep a clear view of our responsibility to take what we come up with and turn it into a triumph, because of our delivery skills, enthusiasm and passion.
