3 Worst Public Speaking Mannerisms - Are You Guilty?
OK, so your speech has been written and rehearsed. You know the demographic of the audience, you’ve studied their interests and understand their expectations. You have performed your voice warm-up exercises and have made sure that a glass of water has been placed within your reach and you are ready to deliver your presentation.
Surely there’s no room for error? Yet your audience appears distracted as you deliver your speech perfectly.
It could only be - your irritating mannerisms.
Surely not! After all, you don’t have any mannerisms! Do you?
So many speakers spoil their carefully prepared speeches by being totally unaware of their mannerisms - distracting habits that will divert an audiences’ attention away from your words and concentrate their focus on nothing else but your affectations.
Are you guilty of any of these? Be honest with yourself or better still, ask a trusted friend to truthfully outline your most annoying habits.
1. Are you a Leaner and Swayer? Many public speakers will constantly lean first one way, then another whilst delivering their speech. Others will sway forward and backwards from toe to heel as they shift their weight to and fro. And although these movements are always unconscious they will certainly make an audience feel truly giddy. You must make a point of becoming aware of your movement and balance when speaking and work hard to always remain still and upright when on stage.
2. Are you a Scratcher or Ear Puller? Perhaps on a sub-conscious level it may be comforting for a speaker to continually be touching or scratching their head and it may even help to calm taut nerves somewhat. It may be that some speakers believe that such actions convey the impression that they are giving deep consideration to their subject but unfortunately they are almost always wrong. Instead, always remember, scratching is catching and before long you’ll have the whole audience scratching too!
3. Are You an N.B. & C.? This is polite code for a Nose Blower and Cougher. These irritating mannerisms indicate that the speaker has developed a nervous habit which makes them appear to be suffering from a heavy cold. Their frequent clearing of the throat and wiping of the nose will annoy the audience and certainly frighten any hypochondriac who may be sitting in the front row!
You’ll find that by having a glass of room-temperature water on hand during your speech, it will enable you to train yourself to swallow a sip of water instead of having to constantly clearing your throat in order to feel comfortable.
We all display little mannerisms and in any other walk of life they won’t usually matter at all. However, if you are speaking publically in front of an audience, your mannerisms - or lack of them - could make the difference between being remembered as a particularly accomplished public speaker, or a very annoying one.
Which one would you prefer to be?
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