As a speech coach for the past 20 years, I've gathered some of the best public speaking advice for executives not from the boardroom, but from speeches at award ceremonies like the Oscars or Grammys.  

Most of the time, these are painfully forgettable, filled with clichés and excessive thank yous. (How much do I really care about an artist's cascade of producers?) Or even worse, they brim with self-reverence. 

But occasionally, I witness an acceptance speech that takes my breath away.

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What exactly makes some speeches so compelling and others cringeworthy? Here are five lessons from some of my favorite acceptance speeches that you can adopt to become a riveting public speaker. 

Lesson 1: Surprise us like Sheryl Lee Ralph

There's an old public speaking adage: "Tell them what you are going to tell them. Then tell them. Then tell them what you told them." 

Unfortunately, this formula leads to boring presentations. It's predictable. Audiences are most attentive when they hear something unexpected. 

Watch Sheryl Lee Ralph deliver her 2022 Emmys acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress in "Abbott Elementary." She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and belts out Dianne Reeves' 1994 song "Endangered Species." The surprised crowd erupts in a raucous standing ovation.

While you don't need to sing a presentation, look for opportunities to bring in the unexpected. 

One simple way to do this is to use the language of surprise. For example, to draw in their audience, an executive might exclaim, "I knew the product would sell. What I didn't expect is that it would dominate the market." 

Lesson 2: Build the energy like Lizzo

A great speaker doesn't merely transmit information — they take the audience on a journey. 

Watch Lizzo's acceptance speech for Record of the Year at the 2023 Grammy Awards. She begins her speech with a soft, reflective tone and gradually builds her volume and pace. By the time she concludes, the audience is on their feet, sharing in her joy and passion. 

Even the most technical business presentation should vary in energy and take the audience on a journey — whether from problem to solution, from confusion to clarity, or from the fear of the unknown to the courage to take a risk.  

When you do that, the audiences becomes much more likely to take your message to heart. Consider using phrases such as:

• "I struggled with … " 
• "One thing that was especially hard was … "
• "We started off … and wound up … "   

Lesson 3: Use silence like Michelle Yeoh

As speakers, we dread silence. We fear an awkward pause and imagine the blank stares of the audience. And so we try to fill the space with noise.

We forget that the audience needs a little silence. 

Watch how Michelle Yeoh uses silence in her 2023 Oscar acceptance speech for Best Actress in "Everything Everywhere All At Once." Her pauses bring us in and allow us to more fully appreciate the power of her words. 

Remember that your audience needs a break from the noise. They need a moment to stop and digest what they're hearing.

A purposeful pause breaks the monotony of speech and grabs the audience's attention.

Lesson 4: Be brief like Alfred Hitchcock

In his acceptance speech for the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award at the Oscars ceremony in 1968, Alfred Hitchcock walked onto the stage, leaned into the microphone, and proclaimed simply, "Thank you."  

We often make the mistake of giving the audience too much information, because we want to demonstrate our expertise, competence and effort.

Unfortunately, this can backfire. When we overload our presentations with information, we make it harder for the listener to hear what's most important.  

Lesson 5: Focus on the audience like all of these celebrity speakers

What all of these speeches have in common is the speaker's deep focus on the audience. Each of these speakers is fully present with the people in the room. 

They turn the spotlight away from themselves and their moment of glory and instead concentrate on sharing their message with us. 

When you focus your attention on helping your audience — and not your own knowledge or need to impress — you naturally build "presence." 

So ask yourself before a presentation, "What gift am I giving to this audience? What do they need to feel, to know and to do?" Then, like a Hollywood star, let the cameras roll.

Sarah Gershman is CEO of Green Room Speakers, a communications firm based in Washington, D.C. Sarah has coached and trained executives and staff at a variety of national organizations and agencies, including Microsoft, Marriott and Grant Thornton. Sarah is an adjunct professor of communications at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

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