Public speaking can be quite a task. Although, it looks pretty simple and effortless, there are quite a number of things to avoid during public speaking to help you deliver value successfully.
It is quite important to study the concept of public speaking because it can be tricky to assume that it doesn’t require much efforts since it deals with speaking with people. It is not business as usual. It is not like it is when you speak to the sales girl by the counter at the mall or your colleague over lunch. You don’t rehearse these things, right?. You don’t put in so much work to do it well. You just join or start a conversation and go with the flow.
It’s not the same with public speaking. it takes a lot of in-depth study and intentional observation. In this art you cannot afford to leave stones unturned. All the T’s are to be crossed and the I’s are to be dotted.
What should you avoid in public speaking?
1. Assumptions
This is one of the things to avoid in public speaking. Assumptions, they say, are the least form of knowledge. Assuming that you do not need to know your audience is one big mistake that you may want to avoid. Thinking that regardless of what you say, people would listen to you because you are a speaker who has been invited.
Also, remember that you are there not for yourself. Therefore, your attention should be on them and not you. People will listen to you if you say things that resonate with them and concerns them.
Another thing you don’t want to assume is that they wouldn’t mind hearing the story of your life from the beginning till the end. Talk about things that matter to them and they would be able to relate to even if you feel the need to talk about your experiences.
2. Avoid the use of filler words
Filler words are commonly noticed in conversations with people. You make remarks like er, ah, um, okay, and many other filler words. They make you feel less confident and make you sound like you don’t know what you’re talking about.
3. Don’t reuse your presentation
One of the other things to avoid during public speaking is reusing your presentations. In other words, putting to use a presentation you’ve used to engage an audience in the past. The worst thing to ever do to make yourself look incompetent is to use a presentation word for word. It will not resonate with your audience as it did with the former audience you used it for in the past.
You cannot treat two kinds of audiences the same way. Why is that? Because they are not the same.
Don’t do a former presentation word for word. Brian Tracy said in one of his materials that even if the audience appears similar no two audiences are the same. It could also water down the relevance of the presentation.
4. The use of cool colours and simple visual aids
Don’t use tacky ones that would put the audience off when they see your presentation. Use simple visual aids that your audience would be able to easily interact with. Visual aids in your presentation should not leave your audience confused. If your audience should get confused by what is supposed to give them clarity, then you’ll not make enough progress with your presentation.
5. Standing still without demonstrations
In all you do, another thing you should avoid during public speaking is standing in one spot while addressing your audience. Take a pause, and imagine that you had to sit in a hall to listen to a speaker who just stood still before you and others. What would you think? What will your disposition be? You’d be so pissed and ask what’s up with the speaker. Right? And you’d definitely be uninterested in what such a speaker has to say because there are no demonstrations, and zero attempts to engage the audience.
In fact, you might just assume that the speaker was initially not interested in showing up at the event, and is acting like he or she is doing you and others a favour.
6. Not rehearsing
This right here is one of the numerous things to avoid in public speaking. It is important for you to take rehearsals seriously. One big mistake or harm you’ll be causing yourself is not rehearsing and handling the whole process as business as usual.
You’d like to ask, ‘what do I rehearse?’ Rehearse the speech, pace at which you talk, how to engage the audience, the standing posture, body language, and questions you’d like to ask the audience. You might also want to get familiar with this – your right-hand side is their left-hand side, your right-hand side is your left-hand side.
7. Avoid the frequent use of slang
You’d also need to check your manner of speaking. Don’t speak pidgin where there are high-profile people and don’t speak top-notch English to people who only understand pidgin The way you speak is dependent on the audience. You can’t be speaking to elites and use slang 80% of the time. Use correct English that everyone in the room can relate to.
Finally, public speaking is an art that could be learnt and mastered.
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