The Aussie Speaking Guy

Let’s Talk about ‘Fluent Delivery’

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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Let’s briefly discuss some factors that may contribute to a lack of fluency and see if you need to give these areas some consideration.

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.

For now here some tips on how you can improve in the area of 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.

It has been said many times that, “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.” And this is so true. People will make up their mind about you in the first few seconds and make an even more solid conclusion in around 30 seconds. I’m sure you’ve seen hidden camera investigations on TV where they send into a retail shop someone who is dressed in a sloppy and unkempt manner to see how long it takes for that person to be served as well as the quality of service they receive.

They usually follow this experiment with someone who is dressed for success in a power suit and compare the level of service. Whether you agree with these sorts of tests or not, you can’t deny that you are treated better in life, when you look like somebody. In fact, personal appearance goes way beyond your clothes, but also your hair, how you smell as well as your posture.  When you are clean and well groomed, others will likely conclude that you have self-respect, and they will be more likely to listen to you.

So, it’s safe to say that when you step up and out in front of your audience, you must dress appropriate for your situation, your culture and your location. One great resource I highly recommend is a book called, “Dressed for Success” for men & “Dressed for Success” for women. Based on this research, you can find out what dress is the most appropriate for your industry.

For now, here are some basic guidelines.

If you’re a college or university student giving a presentation to your peers, it probably won’t be appropriate to wear a business suit and tie, or a pants suit for women. Just look clean, neat…never sloppy or untidy.

In the business world…
Wear clothes somewhere in the upper part of your industry. Stand out but don’t dress to attract major attention to yourself. For example, If you are in the Information Technology industry, you may find that a nice pear of slacks and a smart open collar shirt will be sufficient. Or a full suit with an open collar shirt may be suitable also. Also, if you are a man, be sure you are well shaven and be aware of those 5 O’Clock shadows.

For Women:
A business suit with a skirt or pants suit can work well but once again, dress according to your industry. If you have an accessed amount of jewellery, you’ll want to remove it as it can prove to be a distraction to your audience and you may even hear your bangles or bracelets through the sound system. Keep your makeup modest and not over the top. Your goal should be to be noticed; for your presentation and not your over-the-top-appearance.

Female presenters also want to be conscious of the length of their skirt. You may have great legs, but wearing a short skirt on a raise platform is a recipe for disaster. Once again, you want to be remembered for all the right reasons.

Also for men and women, if you decide to join the speaking circuit full-time, you may have a signature look just like Steve Jobs of Apple with his blue jeans and black turtle neck. Perhaps for you, it could be funny ties or glasses. There is no hard and fast rules, just dress neatly and appropriate to your industry. For me, it’s generally a suit and tie all the way, sometimes a suit with an open collar shirt, but the key is to take an active note of how people who speak in your industry dress and you may get some ideas.

I hope these quick tips have helped you and that you learn how to dress appropriately for your industry.

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.