Confident Public Speaking: The No No List

Confident public speaking does not necessarily mean the total elimination of nervousness. Many good public speakers still feel a little anxious before giving a speech but they have learned to focus this nervous energy in a way that actually enhances their presentation.

All the same, while confident public speaking doesn't necessarily mean a total absence of nerves, it does involve learning to speak and act in a certain way so as not to betray one's nervousness.

You can go through the list below and make a mental note. Then have a friend check your next presentation or even check yourself through a video playback and see if you give any indication of nervousness by watching for the signals in the list.

Mannerisms and Awkward Gestures

As well as destroying your professionalism, they can be very distracting for an audience. Ask a friend for a favor and get them to let you know if you start to do any of the following:

stand with one leg wrapped around the other

stand on the sides of one's shoes

keep touching the nose, mouth, ears, or any part of the face

lean on the speaker's stand using it as a prop

keep putting hands in and out of pockets

fiddling with one's wrist watch

repeatedly swallowing

buttoning and unbuttoning the jacket

standing with hands clasped behind the back

Visual Aid Dangers

If you use a flip chart, whiteboard, or projection screen, avoid constantly fiddling with the marker pen, mouse, or projector control as if they were worry beads. This can betray nerves and also be quite distracting.

Far better to have your hands free, only picking up the marker or control when you intend to use it and then put it back again on the table or speaker's stand.

Using your hands deliberately for descriptive or emphatic gestures will be far more effective than haphazardly waving a marker pen or projector control in the air.

What Do You Do With Your Hands?

Confident public speaking means you know what to do you with your hands.

Just be natural and let them hang loose by your side when you are not actually gesturing. They won't remain there for long if you are giving an animated presentation.

Your hands and arms will frequently be moving, gesturing, but in between times, just let them hang loose, ready and waiting.

Concentrate On Ideas

Confident public speaking involves the ability to concentrate on expressing your IDEAS rather than exact words. Doing this will help you considerably to avoid the traps and mannerisms listed above.

This will contribute to an easy listening style of delivery which is not stop-start and likely to irritate the audience.

While your first few sentences and last few sentences may require extra thought and specific word choice, generally, with good preparation, you will be able to speak extemporaneously once you are totally involved with your subject so your word choice will just flow without being micro-managed.

The latter can result in a speaker gazing into the air fumbling for the right word which in time will destroy the concentration of the audience.

Even if you don't feel you are confident in public speaking, you don't have to advertise the fact. Using the checklist you can identify any obvious signs of anxiety and lack of confidence and then do something to avoid them so your audience will feel relaxed with you, not on edge.


Copyright (c) 2009 Michael A Jones