# winston-how-to-speak-mit-communication-2019-01-04

## Veille

Oral communication techniques, academic presentation, effective speaking heuristics

## Titre Article

How To Speak

## Date

2019-01-04

## URL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unzc731iCUY

## Keywords

oral communication, oratory, presentation, public speaking, heuristics, slides, blackboard, stage props, empowerment promise, cycling, verbal closing, job talk, contributions, teaching, inspiration, Winston's star, MIT

## Authors

Patrick Winston

## Ton

**Profile**: Interactive lecture, informal-academic register, accessible conceptual level.

**Description**: Winston adopts a warm, relaxed professorial tone, punctuated with delightful personal anecdotes (Julia Child, skiing in Sun Valley, a convent in Serbia, a bar in San Diego). The style is that of a seasoned teacher who practices exactly what he teaches — the lecture itself is a real-time demonstration of the techniques presented. The humor is constant but never gratuitous: every anecdote illustrates a principle. Winston speaks with the authority of decades of experience at MIT, but without condescension. He regularly addresses the audience, asks questions, and uses physical props (a bicycle wheel, a broken pointer). The target audience is broad: students, researchers, teachers, professionals — anyone who needs to present ideas.

## Pense-betes

- Central formula: Quality = f(K, P, t) — Knowledge × Practice × talent (t very small). Knowledge and practice matter far more than innate talent
- Founding anecdote: Winston was a better skier than Mary Lou Retton (Olympic gymnast) because he had K and P, while she only had T
- **Opening**: never a joke at the start (audience not yet adjusted). Start with an "empowerment promise" — what the audience will know by the end that they didn't know at the start
- **4 key heuristics**: cycling (repeat 3×, 20% fogged out), building a fence (distinguishing one's idea), verbal punctuation (landmarks to reconnect), asking questions (7 seconds of silence max)
- **Timing and venue**: 11 a.m. is ideal (alert, not after a meal). A well-lit venue is essential (dim lighting signals sleep). Scout the venue in advance ("case the venue"). At least half-full room
- **Tools**: blackboard > slides for teaching (writing speed ≈ absorption speed, graphical quality, gives something to do with the hands). Slides for presenting ideas, not for teaching them
- **Props**: memorable. Examples: bicycle wheel + tape (Papert), Lazarus's pendulum (energy conservation). Props are always what people remember
- **Empathetic mirroring**: mirror neurons activate when watching someone write or handle a physical object — impossible with a slide
- **Slide crimes**: too many words, too many slides, font too small (minimum 40pt), cluttered background, unnecessary logos, redundant title, laser pointer (loss of eye contact), excessive density. Microsoft complicit (allows fonts that are too small)
- **Single linguistic processor rule**: humans cannot read and listen simultaneously. Too much text on a slide = audience reads instead of listening
- **Experiment**: students retain what's on the slide better than what the speaker says → reduce slide text
- **Hapax legomenon**: a deliberately unreadable slide (Afghanistan complexity chart) — allowed only once per presentation
- **Inspire**: freshmen are inspired by "you can do it," seniors by "seeing a problem differently," everyone by passion. Show that the subject is cool
- **Job talk**: 5 minutes to establish a vision + show you've accomplished something. Contributions, not conclusions, on the final slide
- **Winston's star** (5 S's): Symbol, Slogan, Surprise, Salient idea, Story. Example: thesis on arches — symbol (arch), slogan (one shot learning), surprise (no need for millions of examples), salient idea (near miss), story
- **Ending the presentation**: never say "thank you" (a weak move, suggests the audience stayed out of politeness). Alternatives: a blessing, greeting the audience, a joke (OK at the end). Final slide = contributions, not collaborators (those go on the first slide)
- Political examples: Christie and Clinton end with "God bless you and God bless America" — a closing convention without "thank you"
- Catholic convention: "ite missa est"; concert: the conductor shaking the first violinist's hand = end signal

## RésuméDe400mots

Patrick Winston, a professor at MIT who died in 2019, delivers in this legendary lecture his synthesis of decades of teaching on the art of oral communication. His central thesis is that success in life depends on three abilities — speaking, writing, and the quality of one's ideas — in that order. The quality of communication follows a simple formula: Knowledge × Practice × talent, where talent is a minor factor compared to knowledge and practice.

Winston structures his lecture around several blocks. First, the opening: never start with a joke (the audience is not yet ready), but with an "empowerment promise" stating what the audience will know by the end. Next, four fundamental heuristics: cycling (repeating three times, since 20% of the audience tunes out at any given moment), building a fence to distinguish one's idea from others, verbal punctuation (landmarks allowing listeners to reconnect), and asking the audience questions (with up to seven seconds of silence).

On timing and venue, Winston recommends 11 a.m., maximum lighting, and scouting the room in advance. On tools, he firmly advocates the blackboard for teaching — writing speed matches absorption speed, and the audience's mirror neurons activate upon seeing someone write. Physical props are the most memorable elements of a presentation, as illustrated by Seymour Papert's bicycle wheel and Alan Lazarus's pendulum.

Regarding slides, Winston denounces a series of "crimes": too many words, fonts too small, unnecessary logos, laser pointers (which break eye contact). The human brain has only one linguistic processor: if the slide's text is dense, the audience reads instead of listening.

For job talks, Winston states that a candidate has five minutes to establish their vision and show they have accomplished something. He introduces "Winston's star" — five elements starting with S for memorability: Symbol, Slogan, Surprise, Salient idea, Story.

The closing is crucial: never say "thank you" (a weak move suggesting the audience stayed out of politeness). The final slide should list contributions, not collaborators. Winston illustrates this with excerpts from political speeches by Christie and Clinton, both ending with a blessing rather than a thank-you. The lecture itself is a masterful demonstration of every principle it teaches.

## GrapheDeConnaissance

- Patrick Winston —recommande→ techniques de communication orale (METHODOLOGIE, 0.99)
- Patrick Winston —a_créé→ formule K×P×t (CONCEPT, 0.95)
- Patrick Winston —recommande→ Empowerment promise (METHODOLOGIE, 0.97)
- Patrick Winston —a_créé→ Étoile de Winston (CONCEPT, 0.95)
- Tableau noir —surpasse→ slides pour enseigner (TECHNOLOGIE, 0.92)
- Neurones miroirs —permet→ efficacité tableau noir et props (CONCEPT, 0.8)
- Processeur linguistique unique —réduit→ lecture et écoute simultanées (CONCEPT, 0.95)
- Job talk —utilise→ vision + accomplissement en 5 minutes (CONCEPT, 0.93)
- Patrick Winston —s_oppose_à→ dire merci en fin de présentation (METHODOLOGIE, 0.95)
- Seymour Papert —utilise→ accessoires physiques (props) (TECHNOLOGIE, 0.88)
- Accessoires physiques —surpasse→ slides (TECHNOLOGIE, 0.9)
- Passion —permet→ inspirer une audience (CONCEPT, 0.92)

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Canonical: https://www.thekb.eu/en/fiches/winston-how-to-speak-mit-communication-2019-01-04/