Don’t let these bad habits destroy your command of a room. When it comes to public speaking, there is a fine line between capturing the attention of a group of people and letting those people fall asleep while you carry on about your topic. Avoid the pitfalls of a dreadful speech by cutting these five bad habits out of your speeches.
1) Not tailoring your message
Tailor your message to your audience. You must have your message ready-made and tailored to the people who are going to be listening. It does not work to use one general speech for various audiences. Every group you speak with will be different and you need to take those differences into account in order to be effective. Make people feel as if you are talking directly to them by tailoring your speech every time you stand up to talk to a group.
2) Darting your eyes
You do not have to look everywhere in a room to be effective. Don’t try to take in all of the different people in the room. Try looking at one at a time and maintaining that contact for a bit while you make a point. The people you lock eyes with will feel more compelled to listen to you and believe in what you are saying. You may be on a stage, but you are still speaking to individuals. Engage them, or lose them.
3) Not crafting a powerful opening
You have to capture the attention of your audience in the beginning of your speech or risk losing them for the duration of it. Start your speech off with a bang. Don’t give people the time to pull their phones out and text one another about how bored they are. Capture their attention in the beginning and you will be much more efficient at holding it.
4) Not rehearsing
Practice, practice, practice. Without practicing your speech, you are making an incredible mistake. Sure, you’re loquacious and you love talking and ad-libbing. However, a speech is not improv comedy. A speech is a conversation with a room of people and it has a point and you need to practice in order to effectively make that point to the people listening.
5) Talking about your nerves
Do not put yourself down in front of a group. Here’s a secret: most people do not realize that you are nervous. Most people also don’t realize when you mess up. Keep your composure and act like you’re completely unafraid, even if you are nervous, and people will believe you. If you tell people you’re nervous, they will start picking your speech apart. Prevent this by simply acting with confidence.
Do not put yourself down in front of a group. Here’s a secret: most people do not realize that you are nervous. Most people also don’t realize when you mess up. Keep your composure and act like you’re completely unafraid, even if you are nervous, and people will believe you. If you tell people you’re nervous, they will start picking your speech apart. Prevent this by simply acting with confidence.
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