Get Rid of Distracting Body Movements

Your body movement during your presentation has the ability to strengthen the impact of your message or it can seriously be a distraction. One of your goals as a speaker is to look so natural with your movements and with what you say that no one even notices that you are using intonation and inflection or body movement as a means of emphasizing the points of your speech.

What kinds of mannerisms are distracting?

- Swaying to and fro in front of the audience
- Hanging on to the podium
- Finger tapping
- Licking your lips or biting your lips
- Fidgeting with clothes, pockets or jewelry
- Frowning
- Fussing with hair
- Bobbing your head
- Flailing arms at inappropriate times

The movements you make in your speech should be planned or at least controlled by you. Any movement that is not planned could potentially be distracting. Many of the above mentioned mannerisms stem from being nervous about being on stage. Additionally, they could also come just because you don’t know you are doing them. Either way, you’ll need to minimize and eliminate as many of these movements as possible.

1. Make a video tape of yourself. Do you even know that you are making these movements? Probably not. A video will help you identify which distracting movements you’ll need to work on eliminating.

2. Review your video tape for places where you make distracting mannerisms. Make a list of the mannerisms you have and thoughtfully practice your speech without those mannerisms. Rerecord yourself and keep reviewing your tapes until you a satisfied that all the mannerisms are gone.

3. Work on feeling comfortable with delivering your speech. You should feel natural as you speak about your topic. You should feel like you are sharing information with a long time friend. This will come when you’ve spent many hours practicing, reworking and revising your speech. This will also come because you speak from your heart and let others know the way you feel about your subject.

4. Work on eliminating nervousness when delivering your speech. This will come as you get more familiar with your material. This will also come as you take the time to focus on delivering your message instead of focusing on the feelings of fear and anxiety.

5. You can also review your video tapes for place in your speech that you need to add body movements into your presentation that will make it more interesting. Let your movements show the way you feel. These movements should be natural and can work in your favor as you emphasize specific points in your presentation.

6. Consider this when deciding which body movements to incorporate into your presentation. Body movements should look natural. You can use facial expressions and make eye contact with your audience for maximum effects.

Every movement should be planned during your presentation. You can easily lose your audience with distracting movements because your audience’s focus and attention will be turned to these movements instead of what you have to say!

The Real Message that Professional Speakers Send

Are you really communicating what you think you are? There are two basic messages that are included in any speaking engagement – the verbal message and the visual message. As a professional speaker, your message should be effectively communicated in all aspects of both these areas. Whether you are a novice speaker or have years of experience, you’ll want to find out about what you’re actually saying and adjust your delivery for best results. In doing so, you’ll deliver winning presentations every time!

The first message type is the verbal message. First off, your verbal message should be clear and concise. Your discussion points should be detailed and well supported by data, testimonials and perhaps even visual aids. Discussion and transition points should flow and lead your audience from point A to point B.

Supporting this verbal message is the message you send with using the tone of voice. The tone of voice has the ability to liven up your topic. Emphasize highlighted points with excitement and enthusiasm. A quiet, somber tone of voice can bring seriousness to identifying problems you present when you present your solution. A loud, booming voice can emphasize definitive statements.

The second type of message is the visual message. These messages (along with the message you send using your tone of voice) are often inferred messages that aren’t directly spoken but they still have lots to say about you as a leader and the message you bring.

The environment that you hold your presentation in impacts your message as well. The room itself can be a distraction and you can lose your focus and worse yet, you can lose the attention of your audience. Details like the room temperature (too cold, too warm) or noisy traffic (beeping horns and emergency vehicle sirens) may seem like they are out of your control, but you do have some control. Other environmental considerations include the appearance of the room. Is it professional? Is it warm and cozy? Does it enhance the message you want to convey or does it take away from it? It behooves you to minimize as much as possible all of these types of distractions from your presentation.

Another visual presentation you make is the one with your personal appearance and attire. Your audience doesn’t know you. If you say that you are a professional, do you look like it? You don’t have to have the Armani suits or the Dolce & Gabbana dress, but you should at least look like the professional you claim to be. Men speaker should avoid loud colored shirts. Leave those shirts at home for the night out. Women should dress conservatively. You don’t have to be wearing a burlap sack, but low-cut blouses and high skirts don’t belong here. Your goal is to create credibility as a professional.

There are many other messages that your audience picks up during the course of your presentation. They know exactly how you’re feeling about the topic you present by the enthusiasm in your voice. They already make assumptions regarding your credibility as a true professional. Don’t take chances and send the wrong message!

Professional Speakers Polish their Message

One key to delivering a successful message is polishing the message you already have. You will find that your audience can better understand what you have to say when you message targets specific key points rather than vague generalities. Since your audience is looking for information that will benefit them, they will need the specifics on how your topic can be used in their lives! Here are some ways to polish the great message you already have!

1. Make it interesting. As simple as this sounds many beginning professional speakers fail to engage their audiences simply because their message is not interesting. This doesn’t mean that what they had to say had no value, but rather the message did not inspire anyone to take a sincere interest.

2. Stay on track. Even the best professional speakers can get off track in their delivery. This adds confusion to the basic message they were trying to communicate and could hinder anyone receiving the message at all.

3. Make your message clear and concise. You can overload your audience with detailed facts. While you do want to be precise and give accurate information, too much information will literally boggle their minds! If you have a lot of details that you want them to have, use a separate handout and refer to that. Doing so will make it easier on your audience to digest the wonderful news you have to share.

4. Make your message effective. Do you have a goal with your presentation? What actions do you want your audience members to take once they are done hearing you? Your presentation should lead your audience down a path to take action on the things you want them to do. Consider yourself to be a tour guide leading them to key highlights of information within your presentation. Your presentation should always conclude with an action step whether it means taking a test or buying reference products and materials.

5. Make your message personal. While you speak to a group of people, your message is tailored to each and every single person in your audience. You can connect with them individually by relaying personal situations they might find themselves in. You can connect with them by bringing in the emotional aspect (i.e. – fear, inspiration, dreams) into your presentation. The bottom line of your presentation is to connect with your audience one on one while addressing the entire group.

6. Check the “political correctness” of your message. You can lose or offend your audience if you don’t pay attention to the political correctness of your message. Talking about sensitive subjects like money, culture, and even type of language used requires you to exert sensitivity concerning your audience.

Delivering the best message comes with the diligent attention and care to the details of your presentation. Take time to refine and hone your message so that you can have confidence that you’ve presented your information well and on target. Be specific about what you say and engage your audience to ensure that you are the answer to their problems! Professional speakers take the time to polish their message!

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