How to Speak 

For more on the life and work of Professor Winston (1943-2019), visit www.memoriesofpatrickwinston.com/

"Your success in life will be determined largely by your ability to speak, your ability to write, and the quality of your ideas. In that order."

I am 27 and this is the first time I spoke thanks to this gentleman

they guy sounded like he could collapse at any moment and still delivered his speech in an intriguing way. what a master.

What's amazing about this lecture is that you can see Professor Winston implementing his own principles in real time. What an absolute masterpiece of a lecture.

We are lucky that we live in an age where we can watch/listen to something like this for free

"I always finish with a joke, and that way people think they've had fun the whole time!"

The use of the techniques he’s teaching while he’s teaching them in a thoughtful manner was amazing. Asking a question about what another good way for an audience to re-engage is (the answer to which was asking a question) was next level brilliant!

How to start a talk. 4:15 1. Never start with a joke, it always falls flat. 2. Start with an empowerment statement, i.e. what will the audience achieve after the talk. 3. Humans have only one language processor, so make sure they focus on what you're saying. ------------------------------------------ 4 Sample Heuristics 5:38 1. Cycle on the topic. Repeat what are talking about to reinforce it 2. Build a fence around your ideas, so audiences don't confuse them with the ideas from others. Tell them how your idea is different from others. 3. Use verbal punctuation to help audiences re-focus. State what you have covered so far and what is there to come. 4. Ask questions. Engage the audience with moderately difficult questions every now and then. But not very difficult ones. ------------------------------------------ The Tools Time & place 10:17 1. Choose an appropriate time for talks. 11 am is a good time for the 1st lecture of the day. 2. The place should be well lit. 3. Know the place before hand, it should be cased so that you can address challenges if any. 4. Make sure it's reasonably populated. Boards. Props, & Slides 13:24 1. Chalks and boards are good for informing and teaching. 2. Boards are well paced medium, people can absorb content while you write or draw graphics. 6. Using Boards and props helps in empathetic mirroring i.e. audiences think they are doing the writing and drawing 3. You can used hands to draw attention. 4. Slides are good for exposing. 6. Don't use laser pointers as they reduce the speakers' chance to engage with audiences, use a sign-post instead. 7. Slides should have minimum amount of words. You do the talking and explanation of the points. 8. Font size should be large enough for easy reading. 5. Props are useful to help audiences visualize things. 9. Practice your talk with people who don't know your work so that they don't hallucinate whats not in the presentation. ------------------------------------------ Informing, Inspire 36:30 1. Show your passion towards the subject 2. Promise a solution to a problem 3. Inspire by igniting passion 3. Teach people how to think by: - Providing stories that they need to know - Providing questions that they need to ask about these stories - Providing mechanism to analyse these stories - Providing ways to put together stories - Providing ways to evaluate reliability of the stories ------------------------------------------ Persuade 41:30 1. Job Talks: Vision - Tell them about a problem they'd be interested in and provide your approach to the solution. Achievement - Provide the steps you will take to solve the problem 2. Getting Famous: Why? - Because you want your work to be recognized. How? - Brand your work, have a slogan, have a salient idea and have a story to tell. ------------------------------------------ How to End a Talk 50:06 1. The last slide - It should enumerate what the audience have learnt or achieved after this talk, give them the time to read. 2. Final words: - Never thank the audience. - End with a call to action. - Alright, you can tell a joke now, people will think they've had fun all the while. 50:36

*A summary of the whole talk. Save, read, use... Enjoy!* Someone should've done it, let me be your hero guys. I spent couple of hours doing it but believe it'll be usefull for many people out there! Start 1. Do not start a talk with a joke. 2. Promise - Tell them what they gonna learn at the end of your talk. 3. Cycle - make your idea repeated many times in order to be completely clear for everyone. 4. Make a “Fence” around your idea so that it can be distinguished from someone else’s idea. 5. Verbal punctuation - sum up information within your talk some times to make listeners get back on. 6. Ask a question - intriguing one Place and Time 7. Best time for having a lecture is 11 am. (not too early and not after lunch) 8. The place should be well lit. 9. The place should be seen and checked before the lecture. 10. The place should not be full less than a half, it must be chosen according to the amount of listeners. Tools For teaching. 1. Board - it’s got graphics, speed, target. Watch your hands! Don’t hold them behind your back, it’s better to keep them straight and use for pointing at the board. 2. Props - use them in order to make your ideas visual. Visual perception is the most effective way to interact with listeners. For Job Talk. Exposing, Slides 3. Don’t put too many words on a slide. Slides should just reflect what you’re saying, not the other way around. Pictures attracts attention and people start to wait for your explanation - use that tip. 4. Make slide as easy as you can - no title, no distracting pictures, frames, points and so on. 5. Do not use laser pointer - due to that you lose eye contact with the audience. Instead you can make the arrows just upon a slide. Informing Show to your listeners your stuff is cool and interesting. You have to be able to: -show your vision of that problem -show that you’ve done particular things (by steps) All of that should be done real quick in no more than 5 min. Persuade your listeners you’re not a rookie (Prof. Winston contrived to do that from the very first seconds of his talk) Getting Famous If you want to your ideas be remembered you’ve got to have "5 S" - Symbols associate with your ideas (visual perception is the best way to attract attention) - Slogan (describing your idea) - Surprise (common fallacy that is no longer true, for instance, just after you’ve told about it) - Salient Idea (not necessarily important but the one that sticks out) - Story (how you did it, how it works…) How to End - Don’t put collaborators at the end, do that at the beginning. - Question’s the worst way to end a talk. - It’s good to end with a Contribution slide - to sum up everything you’ve told with your OWN decision. - At the very end you could tell a joke since people then will leave the event feeling fun and thus keep a good memory of your talk. - "Thank you (for listening)" isn’t good ending, it’s trite at least. You can end with a quote of a prominent person (my own knowledge), with a salute to people (how much you valued the time being here, the people over here..., “I’d like to get back, it was fun!” That part actually I find the hardest one, since saying “Thanks” is a kind of a habit and it’s really difficult to make people clap if your talk wasn’t fascinating, so you’d better do this great and you won’t have to worry about how to end!

Once upon a time, I stayed up late at the MIT lab. On 6am , I saw professor Winston came to the lab and start drawing on the board. I asked professor "Hi Prof Winston, why are you here so early?" However, he ignored me, and keep drawing on the board... After an hour, he called my name. "Hey Ernie, what's up?" I looked at him and asked "Hi Prof, is this the drawing for the course later on this morning? Why did you practice the subject if you taught it so many times?" He looked at me and smiled "I'm like an athlete, got to rehearse and improve my performance before every game! I've done it for many decades, and this is my commitment for students! " At that moment, I have no word to describe my feeling, but having tears in my eyes and deepest respect from my heart. The man standing in front of me is the ford professor at MIT, he practiced before each course even he had taught it for over 30 years, he showed his commitment and dedication to his students not by his words, but his actions! He is Prof Patrick Henry Winston, a great spirit who inspired thousands and thousands of brilliant minds. Prof Winston, please rest in peace… Thank you for teaching and mentoring... your commitment and dedication for students always live deeply in our heart!

he is literally putting into to practice what he is teaching as he is teaching it. incredible.

We're so lucky that this gem of a lecture was captured before he died. Now he can deliver this talk every year, just like he did before.

Mark fans, this guy passed away in 2019, please be respectful to him in comments among the jokes from the stream.

Honestly, working retail for a few years set me up for life. I was so anxious about speaking to strangers when I was younger. Retail gave me the skills to go forward in life and now I’m one of the best speakers in my organisation. When I travel I can make friends easily and have regular nights out with new people in foreign lands. It’s a skill that makes life very well.

Summary: 00:00 🎖 Communication skills are vital for success in life; speaking, writing, and idea quality matter. 01:25 🏆 Knowledge, practice, and inherent talent influence effective communication; knowledge matters most. 02:20 📢 Learning various speaking techniques can significantly impact your success; a non-linear process. 03:17 📵 Avoid distractions during learning; laptops and cell phones off to engage fully. 04:39 🚀 Start with an empowerment promise, outlining what listeners will gain from the talk. 06:01 🔄 Repetition and cycling ideas can help ensure better understanding among the audience. 06:58 🧱 Build a fence around your idea to differentiate it from others and avoid confusion. 08:24 ❓ Use verbal punctuation and ask questions to keep the audience engaged and help them stay on track. 09:52 💼 Develop your personal speaking style by observing effective speakers and adapting their techniques. 10:20 ⏰ Choose an optimal time and well-lit environment for effective communication. 13:38 🖼 Use props, such as boards, to engage the audience and make concepts more tangible. 16:53 🎭 Effective use of props can enhance audience engagement through empathetic mirroring. 24:08 📊 Slides are effective for exposing ideas, but avoid reading them or overcrowding with text. 27:52 📊 Experiment: Slides with too much text make the audience focus on reading rather than listening to the speaker. Students remembered slide content over spoken information. 28:49 🚫 Eliminate Clutter: Excessive words on slides due to small fonts reduce audience engagement. Use easily legible fonts (around 40-50 size) to avoid cramming. 29:46 🖐 Avoid Laser Pointer: Laser pointers disconnect you from the audience, leading to lack of eye contact and engagement. Use arrows or other methods to guide attention. 32:08 📜 Too-Heavy Slides: Presentations with heavy text lack white space and visuals. Aim for balanced text and imagery to maintain audience interest. 38:39 🌟 Inspiration: Inspire by sharing passion about your topic. Express enthusiasm and excitement to engage your audience effectively. 41:31 💡 Teaching People How to Think: Educate by providing stories, questions, mechanisms, and ways to evaluate reliability of information, focusing on thinking skills. 43:28 💼 Job Talks: In job talks, establish your vision and show steps taken to solve a problem in the first five minutes. Practice with friends to refine your presentation. 48:38 🌟 Becoming Memorable: Create "Winston's star" for your work: symbol, slogan, surprise, salient idea, and story. Make sure your work stands out and is recognized. 53:17 🏁 Ending a Talk: Avoid ending with a list of collaborators; introduce them at the beginning. Avoid concluding with negative statements or questions. 54:34 🗣 Slides should effectively communicate your identity and message, avoiding wasted opportunities. 55:31 🧠 Conclude with a "Contributions" slide to highlight what you've achieved, not just conclusions. 56:56 😄 End with a joke to engage the audience and create a positive closing impression. 57:54 🙌 Avoid weak endings like just saying "thank you," which may imply politeness over engagement. 59:18 🎤 Observe how political speeches end to learn diverse ways to conclude effectively. 01:01:13 🎶 Learn from established conventions, like the Latin mass or concert clapping signals. 01:02:09 🙏 Salute the audience by expressing gratitude, valuing their time, and leaving a positive impression.

title: "How to speak" the guy in the video: **starts speaking** me: damn, he's good

How to start a talk. 1. Never start with a joke, it always falls flat. 2. Start with an empowerment statement, i.e. what will the audience achieve after the talk. 3. Humans have only one language processor, so make sure they focus on what you're saying. ------------------------------------------ Sample Heuristics: 1. Cycle on the topic. Repeat what are talking about to reinforce it 2. Build a fence around your ideas, so audiences don't confuse them with the ideas from others. Tell them how your idea is different from others. 3. Use verbal punctuation to help audiences re-focus. State what you have covered so far and what is there to come. 4. Ask questions. Engage the audience with moderately difficult questions every now and then. But not very difficult ones. ------------------------------------------ The Tools Time & place: 1. Choose an appropriate time for talks. 11 am is a good time for the 1st lecture of the day. 2. The place should be well lit. 3. Know the place before hand, it should be cased so that you can address challenges if any. 4. Make sure it's reasonably populated. Boards & Props: 1. Chalks and boards are good for informing and teaching. 2. Boards are well paced medium, people can absorb content while you write or draw graphics. 6. Using Boards and props helps in empathetic mirroring i.e. audiences think they are doing the writing and drawing 3. You can used hands to draw attention. 4. Slides are good for exposing. 6. Don't use laser pointers as they reduce the speakers' chance to engage with audiences, use a sign-post instead. 7. Slides should have minimum amount of words. You do the talking and explanation of the points. 8. Font size should be large enough for easy reading. 5. Props are useful to help audiences visualize things. 9. Practice your talk with people who don't know your work so that they don't hallucinate whats not in the presentation. ------------------------------------------ Inspire 1. Show your passion towards the subject 2. Promise a solution to a problem 3. Inspire by igniting passion 3. Teach people how to think by: - Providing stories that they need to know - Providing questions that they need to ask about these stories - Providing mechanism to analyse these stories - Providing ways to put together stories - Providing ways to evaluate reliability of the stories ------------------------------------------ Persuade 1. Job Talks: Vision - Tell them about a problem they'd be interested in and provide your approach to the solution. Achievement - Provide the steps you will take to solve the problem 2. Getting Famous: Why? - Because you want your work to be recognized. How? - Brand your work, have a slogan, have a salient idea and have a story to tell. ------------------------------------------ How to End a Talk 1. The last slide - It should enumerate what the audience have learnt or achieved after this talk, give them the time to read. 2. Final words: - Never thank the audience. - End with a call to action. - Alright, you can tell a joke now, people will think they've had fun all the while.

I wish I had seen this during my military career, everything he said about PP, mannerisms, etc was something I instinctively knew was wrong, but it was exactly how we were taught to teach as instructors/mentors. Fantastic information and an excellent educator. I understand he has sadly passed, but he is still educating a 52-year-old man, which is appreciated. This presentation is a very valuable gift he has left.

This is one of the reasons I so much love using RU-vid, the algorithm serves me better by suggesting premium courses. It's really a pleasure coming across this video. Thank you for this lecture sir.

Professor Winston passed away on July 19, 2019.We mostly know him by Artificial Intelligence Course at MIT OCW.

*My takeaways:* *RIP Professor Winston. I have learnt a lot today, thank you!* 1. We humans only have one language processor, so focus 3:00 *How to start a talk?* 2. Don't start with a joke, start with a promise 4:15 *Some techniques* 3. Cycle on the topic to reinforce it 5:38 4. Build a fence around our ideas, so audiences don't confuse them with the ideas from others 6:32 5. Use verbal punctuation to help audiences re-focus 7:25 6. Ask questions to audiences 8:36 *Time & place* 7. 11am is a good time for the 1st lecture of the day 10:20 8. The place should have good lighting condition, should be cased and reasonably populated 10:55 *Tools: boards, props and slides* 9. Chalks and boards are good for informing and teaching, slides are good for exposing 13:40 10. Chalks and boards are good for showing graphics. You can control the speed of talk to help audiences absorb contents, and use your hand to point a target on board 13:55 11. Props are useful to help audiences think about abstract things 16:50 12. Boards and props are great because empathic mirroring 22:55, i.e. audiences can feel they are doing the writing and demonstration 13. Bad slides contain too many pages and too many words 23:50 14. Audiences can be tired to switch between slides and speaker if they far away from each other 26:11 15. How to create good slides: simplification. Audiences will pay less attention to the speaker if their slides contain too many words 26:30 16. Font size shouldn't be large enough for easy reading 28:49 17. Lazer pointer reduces the speakers' chance to engage (e.g. eye contact) with audiences 29:35, using sign-post in the slides instead 18. Examples: Bad slides vs good slides 31:45 *More techniques* 19. How to inspire your audiences? 36:20 Show your passion for the topic 20. An example of making a promise and showing passion 38:40 21. How to teach people how to think 40:10, Provide them with: - The stories that they need to know - The questions that they need to ask about these stories - The mechanism to analyse these stories - The ways to put together stories - The ways to evaluate reliable stories *Oral exams* 22. People usually fail them because they fail to situate the context and fail to practice 41:47 23. Practice your talk with people who don't know you work 42:38 24. *Job talks* 44:02 *Getting famous* 25. Why should you care about getting famous 48:30, because we want our work to be recognised and we need good communication skills to do that 26. How to get your presentation ideas to be remembered 50:07, we need to have: symbol, slogan, surprise, salient (ideas) and (tell a) story *How to end a talk* 27. Some examples on final slides 53:10, show what you have done (i.e. contributions) and give audiences the time to read them! 28. Final words 56:31: - A joke, his colleagues always end a talk with a joke, so people think they have had fun all the time :) - The phrase "thank you" is a weak move, "thank you for listening" is even worse, it suggests that people listen to your talk because their politeness - Some great endings without saying "thank you" 58:37 - Salute the audiences *His final salute **1:02:40*

I remember seeing this in high school and thereafter internally critiquing every presentation I saw from my classmates and even teachers of twenty years! The way I make my PowerPoints and deliver information in front of a room, on those rare occasions throughout each school year and now semester, has forever been positively altered by Dr. Winston. Not everyone understands the difference but I can feel it! Thank you, professor ...

I watch this video from time to time to remind myself of how core competency works. Why I should keep practicing. Thank you professor Winston I never met you but you have changed my life. Bless your soul. Rest in peace.

"I don't recommend starting your talk with a joke." *Everyone laughs*

Being an only child, and living without parents alone for years has definitely degraded my ability to speak effectively to crowds especially in a teaching scenario. My job has kept me away from people for years and now I’m going to be training people! I said lord help me and here we are. Best of the best, thank you professor Winston.

Serious I wouldn’t have ever imagined we can be as if we are attending an actual MIT lecture back in the 2000s. This is a gift and I think others who are interested in higher education and couldn’t attend due to, let’s say financial reasons can see and learn and even feel what it would feel like to be in class.

By FAR the best part of this talk is Professor Winston pursing his lips after his masterful conclusion so as not to say “thank you.” A true man of his craft. Thank you MIT for providing such an awesome lecture for free and thank you Professor Winston for your contributions to our planet. I will definitely be reading more of your works! RIP

Prof Winston had a profound effect on my life. I was an Electrical Engineering major when I took Prof Winston's Introduction to AI class in the early 80s. I still remember the excitement I had in his class over almost 40 years later. That course led me to do my Master thesis using AI and EE together and then go on to get a Ph.D. in Computer Science with an emphasis in AI at CMU. That one course changed my trajectory in life. Thank you, Prof Winston, so sorry to see you go. To his family, he made a difference in mine and so many other's lives.

For the ordinary people, who are on the side of the planet and had never thought that can access and see how MIT's student learn, this OpenCourse, with ready technology, open the opprtunities for people around the world learn and develop from the world class eductional institute like MIT, Thank you.

I was blessed to see this lecture in person and I always come back to watch online before any important presentation. Thank you Prof. Winston. Your impact lives on.

I served with Patrick on the Navy Research Advisory Board (sic "Navy Science Board"). Few, very few, would ever tell you that there was anyone in our group with tighter reasoning, more humor, and better presentations. He could engage people on any subject, anytime, anywhere. I am honored to have known him and served with him. Rob Carnes

"please put the laptop away" me watching him on a laptop not knowing what i should do.

What's amazing about this lesson is that Professor Winston effortlessly followed his own presentation principles

I respect this educator, politely and with humor, but firmly called for attention. Very classy.

Summary: Opening, Samples, Tools Start: Don't start with a joke. Try an "empowerment promise". 4 Sample heuristics: 1. Cycling 2. Fencing 3. Verbal punctuation 4. Asking a question The Tools: + Time and place 11am is a good time for a lecture. "Well-lit" room is the most important factor. It's also important the lecture room is relatively well-populated and easy to reach. + Boards and props -Try use boards. They give something to do with hands and directs attention. -Use props. They can make ideas much easier to engage with, and to "grasp" easily. Projections: +Slides: Slides should be supplementary, by having few words, simple images and no clutter. +Crimes: Don't use laser pointers or stick pointers. Just talk through the topic. - The "too heavy" crime - Hands-in-pockets crime Information: - Promises - Make it inspirational/astonishing - Show the audience "how to think" by providing them the stories they need to know, the questions they must ask about those stories, mechanisms for analysing those stories, ways of putting stories together, ways of evaluating the reliability of stories. - Structure using vision, steps, contribution framework. - Use symbols, slogans, surprise, salient idea, the story The End: Contribution slide. What you argued, how you argued it, and why it matters. A little joke to sweeten the ending.

Its amazing how while explaining each idea he is also provinding an example with his actions and you only realise this until he explains it, fantastic

Every single word and sentence had meanings. The ending, also, was like a movie ending. What a great lecture.

A wonderful talk and a great decision by MIT to have so many lessons available to the public. Rest in peace, Professor Winston.

00:16 Introduction 03:11 Rules of Engagement 04:15 How to Start 05:38 Four Sample Heuristics 10:17 The Tools: Time and Place 13:24 The Tools: Boards, Props, and Slides 36:30 Informing: Promise, Inspiration, How to Think 41:30 Persuading: Oral Exams, Job Talks, Getting Famous 53:06 How to Stop: Final Slide, Final Words 56:35 Final Words: Joke, Thank You, Examples

I've watched this lecture 3x on the past 2 years. The most awesome part of the lecture is the fact that he does exactly what he's explaining about. Like the "cycle thru it", he said that while cycle thru lol. Genius.

Rest in Peace Professor, Thanks a lot for this wonderful gem of a lecture!

To think this guy is an AI teacher but he so eloquently broke down how to communicate is truly impressive. What a great watch.

Me at the start of the lecture : This grumpy looking old man is going to teach me how to speak? Me at the end of the lecture : This is one of the greatest speakers of all time...

Coincidentally found this video looked into this guy and was impressed by how much he did amazing and inspirational man i hope he rest well

Even if it's in amusement points. The whole lecture is gold. He's doing exactly what he's explaining. You have the knowledge, the visuals and an example all in one. I'm in awe.

Sitting here alone watching this recorded presentation on my desktop computer, without thinking I automatically began to applaud along with the audience. He made what could have been a mundane topic very educational. I'm not a student -- I'm 74 years old.

We are grateful that MIT is making lectures like this available to the general public. Allowing Professor Patrick Winston's teaching to reach people beyond the institution, in essence transferring his knowledge to our world beyond his lifetime.

He proved that knowledge and practice is much much more effective than talent alone!

I'm very grateful for all of these MIT Open Course Ware videos. I'm from the Netherlands and have studied at three different colleges here, without graduating once because I could not drag myself through the motions. I wanted to become an educator but the courses here are very blinkered and unimaginative. I started my own business instead in hopes of having a positive, fresh and creative influence on education in the Netherlands as a whole. We provide educational material that teachers and professors can use in their own classes and lectures as they see fit. This, these online lectures and hours of free, easily accessible and diverse knowledge are a true gift! Eventhough I never graduated from college or university, I am still able to broaden my horizons by watching these videos and studying their contents in my spare time! This lecture in particular helped me with the many pitches I get to give at schools. Thank you for this.

Rest in peace, Sir.

I read "On to C" back in college in 1999. It was a super coherent introduction to the C programming language. I remember being really impressed with how the author packaged the information up so effectively. Here I am 22 years later watching this video, and lo and behold, it's the same Professor Winston that wrote that book. What a mind! We're so lucky to have access to the knowledge he left behind.

How to speak well? - Start with a promise - tell audience what they will get from the talk - Repeat important ideas over and over

A lot of this is basically a tutorial on how to teach. Many high school teachers need to watch this.

I've learnt from Patrick over the internet for a long time. I just wanted to comment: "Patrick I want you to live forever!" And than I read a comment: "Rest In Peace.". God damnit! PATRICK WAS SO GOOD!!!!!!!! I wish I could have been his student..

Lectures I watch in my teens and 20's: How to do Multiphasic Interdimensional Quantum Calculus Lectures I watch in my 30's: How to Speak

I always wondered if I have problems focusing, but after watching this whole thing and not having to keep repeating and not even having to put it on double speed, I realized that I have never listened to such a smart engaging down to earth lecturer! grateful, Salam.

Rest in peace Patrick. What an amazing course, I'm glad I could spend an hour learning about this from you, along with now over 10 million other viewers. Amazing.

Been telling my students for years to never finish a talk with “thank you for your attention”. He explains why. And so much more. What an amazing lecture.

This helped me land a job that I don’t qualify for and have no business doing. Thanks man

WOW!! That's so amazing lecture I've seen by now. Not boring, catchable, simplified, in short great! Appreciate it and thanks for Professor Patrick Winston! (RIP). GOD BLESS YOU ALL! From UZBEKISTAN Otabek.

He was the first professor I took a class with at MIT. He would tell amazing stories of the days AI was in it infancy, stories of people like Gerry Sussman, Sam Papert and Marvin Minsky. In the last class he said something which I have taken on along as his greatest teaching - "You can do it. Only you can do it. But you can't do it alone" :) Rest in peace Professor Winston, and thanks for all your teachings through your life :)

RIP Professor Winston. Thank you for making this I have learned so much from everyone at MIT including Professor Winston, you will forever be missed.

Graduated from MIT 10 years ago, I still watch his lecture today to remind myself how to avoid giving a bad presentation, as there are many ways to.

Thank you so much I had never spoken a single word in my life until this video

I have pretty severe ADHD and watched this entire lecture. And was really shocked that I did. What was especially interesting was how my perception of him changed from the beginning to the end. I started off with my head in the clouds as I usually do, and when he mentioned the importance of repetition because most people will be in a fog at multiple points during a presentation, my ears perked up. Suddenly I felt like this went from a normal lecture to something a lot deeper. And by the end, it was a complete transformation. Including the joke about "I tell a joke at the end so people will think they've been having fun the whole time." That hit right on the nose. I was listening intently from the beginning, but it transformed from this air of seriousness to something more personal by the end, where he really made an impression about the kind of person he was. I went into this knowing absolutely nothing about this guy, and I'm also a college dropout so it's not like I'm well seasoned in these things. Just absolutely blew my mind how he tied everything together by the end and how absolutely and brilliantly self-contained this entire presentation was. For someone like me to be enthralled by something like this, and to have paid attention for the entire duration of it without shifting my attention to anything else, really speaks volumes about what happens when you develop your communication skills to such a high level.

Mark learned to speak so we could bust a move. Truly one is the people is all time.

Salvei essa palestra há um tempo e so vim ver agora(grande ultraje). Ela me mudou significativamente e melhorou meu dia. Agradeço ao professor,ele com certeza é eterno,mesmo nao estando mais por aqui(quando soube, após terminar de assistir,senti como se tivesse perdido um amigo).Gostaria de ter tido professores mais inspiradores na escola. Agradeço pelo aprendizado!

Loved this video, I usually skip videos longer than a minute or two but this one I watched this for 4 hours took notes from it, and saved them for the rest of my life. Love Prof. Patrick Winston ❤.

5:52 I’ve always heard: First, tell them what you’re going to tell them. And then tell them. And then tell them what you told them.

The final part "how to stop" is really fantastic. I didn't see anyone talk about this. He really inspires me a lot.

Thanks for this! Learned a lot from it. The fact that it's kinda meta because he's utilizing what he's presenting in real time is really cool.

RU-vid is the greatest tool on the planet. MIT lectures for free. So much information at our fingertips all we have to do is seek it out. Amazing.

This is the most meta presentation, of any content, that my mind has ever encountered. At any and probably all points of this presentation, he had done, was doing or was going to do what he already said, was saying or was going to say.

My friend was mute but after watching this video he actually talked , very happy.

I like how we can relate to the professor and his form of explanation was magnificent..

I'm glad modern technology was able to preserve this man's wisdom, so I can still have the pleasure of learning from him. Rest in peace.

All my profs need to watch this

Thank you for having recorded and shared this talk. I learned a lot.

Wow, I am astonished. Thank you professor Winston for sharing your wisdom and knowledge with us.

He's wonderful. He started by giving everyone confidence that they can succeed at communicating.

I miss Patrick, he was an exceptional human, husband, parent, professor and good guy.

One of best lectures I've ever heard. This dude is a good teacher.

"You never get used to being ignored. Your ideas are like your children and you don't want them to go into the world in rags".

“It can’t be too easy because then people will be embarrassed to say what the answer is” perfect explanation!

"Don't end on 'Thank you'." I'd temper that by saying, use it sparingly. I taught IT in high school and, of my many groups, one was consistently a pleasure to teach: well behaved, motivated, interested in the work and just the sort of class that makes teaching easy rather than a challenge. After two years I felt confident that, so long as they were able to reproduce in the exams what they had shown in class, all would have the ability to gain good final grades. In our final session before they left the school on study leave, after a few last tips on examination techniques and expressing my confidence in them, I concluded with "It has been a real pleasure to teach you over the last two years and I'd just like to close by saying... Good luck and thank you!" This was greeted with a momentary silence then applause from all corners. I was never a teacher who would be listed in the 'inspirational' section by students; workmanlike and methodical was more my style so this came as something of a surprise. I was more surprised some years later to be approached by a young man who introduced himself as one of that group. I didn't recognise him or remember him by name (to be honest, I've always had a terrible memory for names and faces--which was always something of a handicap in my teaching days) but what he said made a lasting impression. He told me that he and his classmates left that last lesson boosted and confident and feeling that my expression of thanks was sincere because it was so unexpected. He said, "A lot of teachers thank you or praise you every time even if you've not done anything special. When you looked over our shoulders at our screens and said 'Good' we were happy. If you said 'Excellent' we thought we'd won a prize--even if it was just for getting the format right for a business letter! When you thanked us for our work and wished us good luck it meant a lot because it was real." 'Thank you' has a place when it is meant sincerely, otherwise it is just hot air and a weak closing.

Very interesting lecture, I got a presentation at my internship coming up and will use your knowledge for sure. Thank you.

I love his quiet smile of satisfaction after he shakes the hand and receives the applause - mission accomplished.

When I was young, my father passed on the wisdom about presentations he'd been taught in business in the 80s. One slide should contain the prompts and diagrams for at least five minutes of talking. In other words if you are giving a 20 min business presentation, you should, at most, have four fairly basic slides. You are there to talk and be listened to, if you would prefer people be reading then write and distribute a report

The fact that this lecture is free is amazing. Love the internet❤. Thanks to all bodies that allow it to be uploaded on the net

Honestly one of the most perfect informative lectures I've taken part of. I think I misclicked on this video, at the beginning I thought there was no way I would watch all of it, but after 5 minutes I could not stop watching.

It is interesting that his subject of "heaviness" or "not enough air" can be applied to jazz music. When soloing/improvising you don't want to fill every space you possibly can. You need to allow the listener time and space to digest. Same with his "cycling ideas" idea. During soloing you want to repeat themes to draw the listener back in. Great talk.

Thank you MIT for putting these lectures on RU-vid!

Thank You for your great contributions to our society, Professor Winston. We will miss you.

“Not a dynamic speaker” I thought but I watched for over an hour because the thoughts presented were so compelling.

This was a surprisingly easy and stimulating watch, which is evidence enough of Winston's skill at effective communication.

This is such an interesting lecture that is packed full of rich lessons. Professor Winston was a gem.

By FAR the best part of this talk is Professor Winston pursing his lips after his masterful conclusion so as not to say “thank you.” A true man of his craft. Thank you MIT for providing such an awesome lecture for free and thank you Professor Winston for your contributions to our planet. I will definitely be reading more of your works! RIP❤

The fact I watched this entire talk, was not bored, laughed and remember what I watched tells you everything you need to know.

Amazing Lecture by Mr.Winston. The way he seperated each piece of the communication process and explained the thought process behind it is just amazing. Thanks to MIT for making this courseware avaialable.