How to Avoid Irritatingย Your Audience Withย Your Speech
In the last two blog posts, you discoveredย How to Deliver a Memorable Presentationย and How to Inject Power Into Your Presentation. Now, you’ll uncover the third foundation of public speaking – the Mechanics of your speech.
The Negative Impact of Poor Mechanics
Imagine that youโre listening to a well-known speaker. During his speech, you notice that every 30 seconds, he runs his right hand through his hair. Within 5 minutes, youโre fixated on his hand, waiting for him to run it through his hair again. You donโt hear a single word he says for the rest of his talk!
These are the most difficult parts of the speech to evaluate. Poor mechanics usually stand out more than good mechanics. ย Excellent speech deliveryย (ie. vocal variety, facial expressions, or body language) are like the seasoning on a good meal… the finishing touch on a great experience. Poorly seasoned food can ruin that experience.
Of the three parts of a presentation, mechanics are typically the most over-emphasized during speech evaluations. You’ve probably heardย a speechย delivered with pizzazz, but with no main message or a lousy structure. That speech didn’tย have a lasting impact on you.
Message First, Mechanics Second
Many speakers focus too much attention on the deliveryย of their presentation. They don’t investย enough time on the message or the material. Lance Miller, Toastmasters 2005 World Champion of Public Speaking, has said that the “message drives the mechanics of your speech.”
As you create your presentation, remember that phrase. If you are sharingย a message for which you feel genuine enthusiasm, your hands, your voice and your face will โfall into place.โ They’llย serve as an extension of that message.
If you want to see masters whose gestures naturally follow their emotions, watch babies. ย There is no planning to theirย delivery. ย They just do it.
How to Improv Your Mechanics
Because some speakers struggle with gestures, here are some other suggestions to help improve the most common mechanics issues:
Hands โ one of the most common phrases I hear from new speakers is โI donโt know what to do with my hands!โย Drop them to your side, and forget about them. Your hands will follow the action of the speech, especially when you have enthusiasm for your material.
Face โ Toastmaster Gary Reece said that โyou canโt smile too much when you are presenting.” ย I wholeheartedly agree. Your face is the first part of you the audience sees. They see your face before you walk on stage. ย A genuine smile will warm the audience to you, and make them anticipate your message even more.
THE Fastest Way to Improve Your Mechanics
If your mechanics are distracting from your message, the quickest way to improve is to video tape your speeches. ย I know what youย may beย thinkingโฆ โWhat?? Video tape myself? I canโt stand to watch myself on video!โย If youโre not thinking that, consider yourself lucky, because thatโs how most people feel.
Itย isย uncomfortable to watch yourself. ย Combine the evaluations you receive with a video of your speech. You’ll quicklyย quickly see the areas ย that need improvement. You’ll understand what your evaluators are seeing. Video is the quickest way to improve the mechanics of your speech.
Remember, the mechanics of your speech can put the โfinishing touchโ on a positive experience for the audience. Your enthusiasm will have the most impact on your facial and body gestures. If you find that you have distracting mannerisms, watch video of yourself. ย Make adjustments. Get up and speak again.
Youโll find that those distractions quickly disappear, whileย your impact on your audience increases!
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Michaelโs mission is to help leaders, managers and sales professionals communicate with more confidence, impact, and influence. This passion is born from his own communication difficulties early in his career.
Fortunately, he discovered that public speaking is like riding a bike, swimming or driving a car - itโs a learnable skill. Once he discovered this โsecretโ he became a voracious student of the craft. He took courses, studied some of the worldโs best speakers and storytellers and continues to study presentation and business storytelling skills.
He is hired by companies and organizations, leaders, managers and sales professionals, and TEDx speakers to help them become more confident, impactful and influential communicators.
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