"My constituency is the desperate, the damned, the disinherited, the disrespected and the despised."Jesse Jackson
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There's a virtual library full of well-meaning advice about how to make sure your next public speaking engagement is a successful one. Unfortunately, a good deal of it is wrong. Here's some pointers on avoiding the common pitfalls in your quest to become a better public speaker.
It's not as though the job isn't hard enough. Getting up in front of a roomful of people gathered to hear you speak can stymie even the most accomplished professional.
Making matters worse is the well-meaning but misguided advice on improving your public speaking performance. That bad advice is everywhere and it's deadly, especially for those speakers on shaky ground to begin with.
Here then are the top five pieces of advice you'll want to skip when you're preparing for your next public speaking opportunity--followed by some alternatives.
1.) Practice your speech in front of a mirror.
Come on now. Have you ever tried it? Anyone who has knows it's nearly impossible to focus on your performance and avoid being distracted by your own image.
Instead, try practicing in front of a colleague, friend or coach who can give honest feedback. A videotaped performance can also help (provided you play it enough times to be able to begin to "see" your performance the way others might).
2.) Start with a joke.
You may as well start with a dance number. What? Not good at dancing? Well, if you're not someone who is extraordinarily good at telling jokes, better leave this one alone as well. A joke that falls flat is difficult to recover from, especially if you're trying to establish credibility.
Instead, try a story, a true anecdote, or an attention-grabbing question to your audience. If you want to start off on a lighter note, try some self-effacing humor. Just leave the canned jokes to the professional comics.
3.) At all costs; move.
Sure we in the audience like to see some signs of life up there, but movement without purpose is called PACING. Walk pointlessly from one spot to another or indulge in other repetitive motions and your audience will begin WISHING for a podium to put you behind.
Instead, try looking for opportunities within the context of what you're saying to add movement. Got an
important point to make? Take a step toward the audience. Use your hands and arms, just not in the same way each time. Vary your physical performance the way you vary the content. Practice it the same way: purposefully.
4.) Wear bright, eye-catching clothes and accessories.
Your audience is sure to notice that huge broach, flashy jewelry or bright tie, but after they do, are they listening to anything you have to say?
Instead, make sure your clothes ENHANCE what you say by speaking subtly to your credibiity and authority. Don't let them speak louder than you do, lest they drown out your message.
5.) Memorize your speech.
This is as sure-fire a way to give a flat and uninteresting performance as reading your speech verbatim to your audience is. That's because in truth, most of us aren't going to memorize an entire speech or presentation well enough to actually ACT IT OUT with dramatic conviction. Either way, it won't appear as though the speech flows naturally from your thoughts. Further, if you lose your train of thought, finding it again in the context of a memorized speech, gets very difficult indeed.
Instead, commit your speech or presentation to memory. There's a difference. Commiting your information to memory means you will have practiced it enough times to know it thoroughly, in its essence. It means you know what's coming so well you can ad-lib or change it, summarize it or reword it on the spot, without losing your train of thought or relative meaning. This means your speech will sound different even if it's not the first time you gave it. Speaking more spontaneously, but within a disciplined context , will keep you engaged. That means your audience will stay engaged as well.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aileen Pincus is President of The Pincus Group, an executive communications training firm providing coaching in presentation and speech skills, media training and crisis communications for clients in the public and private sectors. She can be reached at www.thepincusgroup.com
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