Israel is going through a major political crisis now that has little to do with the traditional conflict here that usually makes headlines around the world. As a result, I have been attending a number of large rallies pretty much for the first time in my life, to try to prevent the current government from making the Supreme Court and legal system subordinate to the parliament with a simple 51% majority vote, effectively ending the separation of power that is crucial for a democracy to function properly.
Some lessons here when it comes to public speaking at these events with 100,000 attending:
Your script is basically a list of sound bites, paragraphs of tension / release. Build up tension one way with a problem, then provide release with a punch line. There is very little room for sophisticated story lines.
Don’t be afraid to put really, really long pauses in between, to get the crowd to calm down.
Make sure your punch line is short and does not get washed out by the noise of the crowd.
Balance your voice volume. If you are at the top of your voice all the time, you can no longer add extra drama to the punch line. (Yes, some people have a microphone voice with lots of lower frequencies, giving them an unfair advantage).
Use the crowd creatively. “Raise your hand if you…” “Turn on the flashlight of your mobile phone if you…”
Most of the people in these rallies follow the speaker on giant screens. In between speakers, video clips are shown with a mix of regular footage and “slides”, usually big text messages that come in and out with animations.
There is an opportunity here for a carefully crafted, synchronized slide show and speaker performance. But I guess it will be pretty difficult to get all the technology to work: managing slide transitions, and switching between speaker and slide on the giant monitors. It should be possible though for events that are planned long in advance. The ones in Israel now are created at the very last minute, as things are moving very fast.