August 20, 2024
Are you making these 6 public-speaking mistakes?
We’ve all sat through awkward and boring presentations. The speaker probably was making at least one of these common mistakes.
Whether you’re giving a speech to an audience, making a presentation to a client, or heading up a meeting, chances are you’ll have some nerves. Public speaking opens the door to public mistakes, which put your status at risk. Humans are hardwired to want to be accepted—it’s an ancient survival mechanism—and that makes speaking up a stressful exercise.
“We like to say speaker anxiety affects 90% of the population, and the other 10% are lying,” says Deborah Shames, who, along with and David Booth, is cofounder of the communication training firm Eloqui and coauthor of Briefly Speaking: Prepare, Present, and Communicate.
One way to manage your anxiety is to improve your skills. Before you take the podium or floor, make sure you aren’t making one of these six common public-speaking mistakes:
1. Winding Up
If you’re making a presentation to a big group, it’s natural to thank the person who introduces you and thank the audience for attending. You may also give a brief preview of what you’re going to talk about as well as share your background, so listeners know you’re qualified.
While this seems polite, Shames and Booth call this type of communication “wind ups” and say it’s much better to dive right into your presentation than waste time on things that aren’t important.
“People remember most what they hear first and last,” says Shames. “You have to grab the attention of a client, customer or audience within the first 30 seconds, or it’s really hard to get them back.”
2. Not Having a Hook
Since the opening of your speech is critical, it needs to hook your audience and set the tone for what’s ahead. Booth recommends starting with one key message you can embed in your opening—something you can cover in under two minutes. For example, take a news item from the headlines, but stay away from politics. You can also pull a story from your life. Novelty and surprise are also good tools.
“You could start off by saying, ‘Simone Biles fell off the balance beam today,’” says Booth. “That’s something nobody expected. Then link it to whatever you’re trying to deliver, such as making a mistake or having to get up again.”
Whatever you choose must be visual. “If you make the listeners see what you’re talking about in their imagination, they will be engaged with you right away and much more likely to be persuaded to your point of view,” says Booth.
3. Talking in Generalities
When making a presentation to a potential client, a lot of people start by sharing their company’s history with a broad overview of what you offer. That’s because we’ve been taught to speak in generalities to be polite and inclusive. That approach will make you forgettable, says Shames. Instead, get very specific.
For example, kick off the meeting by saying something like, “If you’re like our other clients in like manufacturing space in Southern California, we assume that you’re facing these three major challenges. Correct me if I’m wrong.”
“Then provide your solution,” says Booth. “Suddenly you’re set apart, rather than thrown into the bin of everybody else.”
Shames also recommends using “I” statements. “Say why a topic is important to you,” she says. “That’s not self-aggrandizing; it’s your perspective based on experience.”
4. Sharing Details First
When making a presentation, it’s natural to want to set the stage before unveiling your big idea. As a result, a common presentation flow is “Fact. Fact. Fact. Big idea.”
Unfortunately, this approach doesn’t work because the brain is hardwired to process an idea first then follow it up with details, says Booth. “You want to say, ‘Here’s the gist and here are the facts that back it up,’” he says.
Also, limit your talking points to three or less, adds Shames. “The brain can only process three main talking points or details,” she says. “It’s memory science. Three becomes one, collected as a unit. The same applies to giving presentations.”
5. Relying on Memorization
The old-fashioned way of delivering a presentation is to memorize your content or to read it from index cards. Instead, Shames and Booth recommend creating an outline, which helps your presentation become more conversational and personal.
“An outline is like having a GPS system,” says Shames. “It keeps you on track. It also allows you to connect with an audience or client because if you’re not resonating, you can shift gears. You cannot do that if you memorize or read.”
6. Not Being Authentic
Finally, many of us have speakers we admire, and a common public-speaking mistake is to mimic their delivery. For example, you may decide you should be a little peppier or use your hands more often because they do those things.
“What happens when you do that is that you feel like a phony,” says Booth. “Speaker anxiety is a fear of being found out for something you are not.”
Shames recommends being genuine and authentic. “If you’re an introvert, don’t suddenly try to sound like an outgoing motivational speaker,” she says. “An audience can always tell who’s phoning it in, who’s memorized it, and who is not being themselves.”
Becoming more comfortable as a public speaker means staying true to yourself and your message. It also means embracing your nerves, says Shames.
“Getting rid of all of your anxiety puts you at risk of being boring,” she says. “When you manage your anxiety, you can think on your feet, make good connections, and pivot in the moment.”
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