Absorbing Public Speaking Skills from Everywhere: An Eclectic Approach with Martin Henson.

Welcome to Public Speaking with Peter George. Do you want to be calm, confident, and credible every time you speak in public? Then stay tuned as Peter and his guests discuss public speaking tips, techniques, and tactics that help you increase your impact, influence, and income. Here’s your host, the author of The Captivating Public Speaker, Peter George.

When it comes to public speaking, do you believe there’s only one way to do it? If so, does that put added pressure on you? What would it feel like if you could find inspiration and develop your skills from a multitude of sources — some not so conventional? Picasso once said, learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist. My guest Martin Henson believes this too — and he’s here to share several ideas for how you can develop your own public speaking skills. Martin is an advocate for change who has protested in the streets and organized in the community. He’s worked as a therapist and spoken at countless trainings, workshops, panels, and community events on issues of race, racism, activism, sexual harm, and moving through adversity. Here’s my conversation with Martin Henson.

A Winding Road to the Stage

Peter: Martin, how did you get into public speaking?

Martin: I had a winding road. My dad was a pastor. I grew up in a church doing Easter speeches, being part of plays, being in choir. I was just encouraged to speak from a young age. And you absorb it — you see how pastors move with a crowd, how they turn a message a certain way, how they rise in tension. All of that became part of me.

The Foundation: Preparation Behind the Flow

Peter: What are some of the strategies you use when you speak?

Martin: I prefer to be really fluid. But to speak with that kind of flow, I have to do a lot of preparation on the front end — I have to know my content well enough that I can go in any direction the conversation might go. Spontaneity isn’t natural in the sense of being unprepared. What’s natural for me might be my voice or my lower anxiety around speaking. But to do it well, you have to prep. You have to know what makes you comfortable.

And you have to go slow. You have to learn to pause and think about the next word before it comes — not speed up, which is what happens when anxiety kicks in. That rhythm I learned in church. Pastors flow with the crowd. They let the room fill in the space. They’re not rushing — they’re creating their own lane in people’s minds.

Unconventional Influences

Peter: Who are some of your influences beyond your father?

Martin: So many things. I love comedy. I’ll listen to Malcolm X speeches. My namesake is Martin Luther King, so I’ve heard his speeches a million times and I’ll still listen. And comedians — how do they work the crowd? How do they build tension? How do they come back to a point they made earlier? They make it look conversational, but they’ve rehearsed this. They do that set every day. And they make it look easy.

Jamie Foxx is one of the best storytellers I’ve heard. He can go anywhere — comedy, singing, deep seriousness — and flow between all of it. That’s what I pay attention to. And Oprah — the early Oprah — was a buzzsaw when she wanted to get to a point. She could challenge people on difficult topics and get right to it. That was something really important for me.

Peter: When you started naming those comedians — Richard Pryor, Jim Gaffigan, Eddie Murphy — you’re covering two completely opposite ends of the delivery spectrum. You’re not just pulling from one style.

Martin: Exactly. I have an eclectic style. I want a little bit from everything and I want to be able to use it. Whatever I do is going to become something — I don’t know exactly what — but I know all those little pieces are what make me do things the way I do them.

Keeping Skills Sharp

Peter: What do you do to keep your skills sharp?

Martin: Reading poetry — because I want to see how writers take an idea and expand it in unconventional ways. I also love hip-hop. I’ll put on a beat in the car and freestyle — can I get out a coherent idea to this music? If I can’t flow into it, I find another way to practice. And reading, always reading — to see how other people talk about things, to learn what relevant themes are present in the moment so you can meet your audience where they already are.

Peter: One definitive word for public speaking?

Martin: Captivate.

Peter: Where can listeners connect with you?

Martin: At martinhspeaks.com, on social media at Till We Free, and through my organization B-Men Foundation at bmenfoundation.org.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Public Speaking with Peter George. Are you ready to be calm, confident, and credible every time you speak in public? Then visit petergeorgepublicspeaking.com and let’s make it happen. I’ll see you next time.