The Art of Speaking: Essential Lessons from Patrick Winston’s Guide to Effective Communication¶

Good communication is not just a nice-to-have skill—it’s the key to unlocking opportunity and recognition in your career and life. In a compelling class, the late MIT professor Patrick Winston, renowned for his teaching and research in artificial intelligence, shares his hard-earned wisdom on how to give talks that inform, persuade, and inspire. Drawing from decades of experience, Winston offers practical heuristics, memorable stories, and actionable tips for anyone who wants their ideas to be heard and remembered.

Introduction: Communication as Your Ultimate Weapon¶

Patrick Winston opens with a powerful analogy:

“The Uniform Code of Military Justice specifies court martial for any officer who sends a soldier into battle without a weapon. There ought to be a similar protection for students because students shouldn't go out into life without the ability to communicate…”

He argues that your success depends more on your ability to speak and write than even the quality of your ideas. Talent, he insists, is only a small part of the equation—what matters most is knowledge and practice.

Rules of Engagement: The Importance of Focus¶

Before diving in, Winston insists on a simple rule: no laptops, no cell phones. Why? Because humans have only one language processor, and distractions—both for you and those around you—diminish the effectiveness of communication.

“If your language processor is engaged browsing the web or reading your email, you're distracted. And worse yet, you distract all of the people around you.”

How to Start: The Empowerment Promise¶

Forget about opening with a joke—at least at the start. Winston recommends beginning your talk with an “empowerment promise,” a clear statement of what your audience will gain by listening.

“You want to tell people what they're going to know at the end of the hour that they didn't know at the beginning... It's the reason for being here.”

This sets expectations and immediately gives your audience a reason to pay attention.

Four Sample Heuristics for Effective Speaking¶

Winston shares four simple but powerful heuristics that form the backbone of a strong presentation:

Cycle on the Subject: Repeat key points in different ways. People fog out—repetition ensures the message gets through.
Build a Fence Around Your Idea: Distinguish your idea from others. Use comparisons and contrasts so your audience knows exactly what you mean.
Verbal Punctuation: Use outlines, numbers, and transitions to help listeners “get back on the bus” if they lose track.
Ask Questions: Engage your audience directly. Well-chosen questions draw people in and encourage participation.

The Tools of the Trade: Time, Place, Boards, Props, and Slides¶

Time and Place¶

Choose a time when your audience is alert (late morning is best) and a well-lit, appropriately sized room. “Casing the joint”—checking out the venue in advance—helps avoid surprises.

Boards and Props¶

Winston is a strong advocate for using blackboards and props:

Boards allow for graphic explanations and keep your pace aligned with your audience’s ability to absorb information.
Props make abstract concepts tangible and memorable. For example, using a spinning bicycle wheel to illustrate physics principles or a steel ball pendulum to demonstrate conservation of energy.

He attributes the power of props to “empathetic mirroring”—when we watch someone interact with a physical object, our brains simulate the action, deepening understanding.

Slides: Less is More¶

Slides should be used for exposing ideas, not teaching them. The most common crimes:

Too many slides
Too many words per slide
Fonts that are too small
Reading slides aloud

“People in your audience know how to read, and reading will just annoy them.”

Winston’s rules for slides:

Minimize text
Use large fonts (minimum 35-40pt)
Eliminate clutter (backgrounds, logos, unnecessary bullets)
Use images and air (white space)
Never use a laser pointer—use built-in arrows or callouts instead

Informing: Promise, Inspiration, and Teaching People How to Think¶

When informing, start with a promise and inject inspiration by showing passion for your subject. Winston found that people are inspired by:

Teachers who believe in them
Seeing problems in a new way
Witnessing genuine enthusiasm

He emphasizes the importance of storytelling:

“We are storytelling animals… If we want to teach people how to think, you provide them with the stories they need to know, the questions they need to ask about those stories, mechanisms for analyzing those stories, ways of putting stories together, ways of evaluating how reliable a story is.”

Persuading: Oral Exams, Job Talks, and Getting Famous¶

Oral Exams¶

Success hinges on situating your research in context and practicing with people who don’t already know your work.

Job Talks¶

Within the first five minutes, you must establish your vision and demonstrate that you’ve accomplished something.

“If you haven't expressed your vision, if you haven't told people that you've done something in five minutes, you've already lost.”

Getting Famous¶

Why care about fame? Because your ideas are like your children—you don’t want them to go into the world in rags. Winston introduces “Winston’s Star,” a five-point checklist for memorable work:

Symbol: A visual or conceptual anchor (e.g., an arch)
Slogan: A catchy phrase (e.g., “one shot learning”)
Surprise: An unexpected insight
Salient Idea: The standout concept
Story: The narrative behind your work

How to Stop: The Final Slide and Final Words¶

Endings matter. Winston’s advice:

Don’t finish with a long list of collaborators (put that at the start).
Don’t end with “Thank you” or “Questions?”—these are wasted opportunities.
The final slide should highlight your contributions.
Final words should either be a well-timed joke, a salute to the audience, or a meaningful closing, not a perfunctory “thank you.”

“When you say thank you, even worse, thank you for listening, it suggests that everybody has stayed that long out of politeness and that they had a profound desire to be somewhere else.”

Conclusion: Packaging Your Ideas for the World¶

Winston’s talk is a masterclass in not just what to say, but how to say it. His core message is clear: the way you present your ideas determines whether they are heard, valued, and remembered. By following his practical heuristics—starting with a promise, repeating key points, using props, simplifying slides, telling stories, and ending with impact—you can ensure your ideas don’t just survive, but thrive.

“By being here, I think you have demonstrated an understanding that how you present and how you package your ideas is an important thing. And I salute you for that.”

Whether you’re a student, a teacher, a scientist, or a business leader, Winston’s advice is timeless: master the art of speaking, and you’ll give your ideas their best shot at changing the world.

Source: How to speak