Beware of the dreaded ‘Two-Worded Rhetorical Question” when presenting as this can detract from your message. Watch the video below for an example.
As speakers and presenters we want to be aware of our habits. Speech habits can distract your audience and detract from your message. Watch this video to get some tips on being aware of your habits.
by Dale Mercer
As I’ve said before, It was voice coach Roger Love, that said all speaking is public speaking. What did he mean by that? What he meant was, whether you are taking to one person or one hundred persons, you have a responsibility to your listener to convey the right message as well as how you deliver that message. And I couldn’t agree more.
You see, if a person’s speech in their everyday life is jerky, rough or lazy and just not a good all round communicator, then he or she is hardly going to create a presentation that is going to get a grand standing ovation. Now, I’m certainly not saying that fluency has to be absolutely perfect with no stumbling whatsoever, because I’m certainly not perfect, but you want to try some exercises that will minimise the faltering associated with fluency.
I’ll give you an example of this. Recently, I was listening to a colleague of mine give a presentation that went for only about 15mins. You can tell that he heart was really in it, he so much wanted to deliver the goods. However his deliver was jerky and jumpy, it wasn’t fluent and smooth. He’d use mannerisms such as ‘and uh’ and others non-essential fillers. As a result, the minds of his listeners began to wander and what he said started to lack persuasiveness.
This colleague is also a close friend and he has the reputation on joining his words together when talks and we joke with him about it from time to time. When we walks into a room, he’ll greet everyone by saying something like, “Hows-zit-goin’’?”
Now in case you didn’t understand what I just said, he’s asking “How are you going?” But he would say, “Hows-zit-goin’’?” slurring it all together rather than separating the words.
So, on stage he wasn’t as slurring but he didn’t have the fluency that he would have liked to have had. And he asked me for some tips how he can improve his presentations and particularly his delivery and fluency and I told him the thought from before… “The all speaking is public speaking…whether you are talking to one person or one hundred it’s all the same”
So, if you want to improve in fluency, or any other speech characteristic for that matter, the best time to practice is in your everyday life. Whenever you come into contact with people whether it be a sales call or even the people you chat with in your office at work, say to yourself that when you next speak to them, about whatever…(could be your cat or your dog or your family, or hobby…whatever) you are going to do it without regressing and with fluency.
Practice it and see how you go. Then try it with other speech qualities such as modulation, visual contact, gestures. And the best thing is they don’t even need to know that you are practicing on them. You can even try it when you are on the phone at work or at home.
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1. Lack of preparation can cause a lack of fluency.
2. Failure to organize your material in a logical way.
3. A limited vocabulary may inhibit a speaker because they find themselves groping for the right words to use.
4. Pausing in the wrong places may inhibit fluency.
So throughout Step Up and Speak you’ll discover way on how to do these things that will help you develop fluency.
1. Practise reading aloud for 5-10mins a day and circle the words that you don’t know and look them up.
With the age of entertainment, we don’t read as much as we used to, so our reading may be poor. But by reading aloud it can help your fluency.
2. As you learn new words, do your best to use them in your everyday speech with people you come into contact with. (You’ll sound so intelligent too)
3. When talking to people in everyday life, practise the art of thinking first before speaking, instead of thinking as you go.
As you practise by using these tips, you’ll also develop other speech qualities as a result that will make you more charismatic, compelling and interesting.
One important quality of effective presentations is developing the quality of poise. Poise is not something we mention in our everyday language…
When you meet someone for the first time, you don’t think to yourself, “Wow, this person is really nice…and they are so poised” No, we don’t do that do we?
So, what is poise?
We’ll let’s think of an example where a person tends to lack poise…
For Example:
Have you ever seem a live act like a magician (volunteers on stage…they look uncomfortable, they fidget with there watch, or buttons or collar, there hands are in and out of their pockets) etc. They are all physical symptoms of a person who lacks poise.
What about Vocal Symptoms?
Whenever you watch a football game. (Wherever you are in the world – gridiron or in my case in Australia…it’s Rugby League) At the end of a football match and the commentator is on the field interviewing a football player? (“AWW Yeah…passed in ball…yeah) They can barely string a sentence together.
Now, those a extreme examples, but when we deliver a presentation, a lack of poise can create a distraction…so much so that it’s take away from the message we are trying to impart to others.
See, if we are buttoning and unbuttoning our jacket, or slouching, or frequently moistening ones lips, clutching the speakers stand, playing with a ring or fidgeting through our notes or being so fidgety or swaying from side to side, so much so that people think you’ve being drinking, then the message gets a little distorted.
What can help us develop poise?
We’ll the first part is settle those nerves before walking onto the platform. Easy said than done? But in another lesson, I’ll teach you some effective techniques on how to do this.
Here’s 3 Steps to Acquiring Poise when you Speak
1. Prepare Well – In this program there is a host of ways to do this. Because you don’t prepare, your delivery will be jerky and jumping, rather then smooth and even.
2. Practice your Delivery Aloud – When you practice aloud it gives you confidence that you can put your thoughts into words. It also builds your memory patterns that can be activated when you deliver your presentation.
3. Identify Your Symptoms – If you have some of the symptoms we spoke about, such as clasping your hands or fidgeting or playing with your glasses. Sometimes you don’t even know your doing it, so have a close friend tell you what you do, and work hard to eradicate it.
If your symptom is vocal, then record your presentation using a digital recorder, such as an ipod and listen back…that takes courage to do, but it’s worth the effort. Remember to take a few deep breaths. Use that deep diaphragmic breathing.
So start now by using poise in your daily interactions with people. We can learn to control our speech with the appropriate feeling and this will help your present on a subject that you a passionate about.
