1. The expert will listen to me because I’m an expert
Be entertaining, informative and keep them from falling asleep. They should leave with a ‘takeaway’ they have learnt – and remembered – from listening to you.
Public speaking is about transferring information that people later remember. If you don’t do that you have failed.
2 Speaking too fast
You want people to understand, absorb, think about and act on what you are saying. Stop babbling. Stop rushing to get to the end. Stop sprinting.
3. Saying too much
There is not an audience in the world ho will remember more than 3 things that you say – so why go on and on? You are speaking in public. Say what you have to say – keep it to three main points, arguments or case studies – then stop. REMEMBER Keep it short. keep it simple and shut up before they start praying you do.
4. Not maintaining eye contact with your audience
Turning your back to the audience, pacing the stage and looking at the floor, reading the presentation or speech instead of delivering it. No eye contact is rude, don’t do it.
5 Speaking in a dull and monotonous voice.
Speeches should have pauses and changes in tempo – verbal paragraphs, capital letters and exclamation marks. You do not operate in a vacuum – people get bored easily.
Everyone has a mobile phone that they can and will use to start checking emails or Facebook if you are boring.
