| Whenever
you open your mouth, whether your audience is one person
or a thousand, you usually want to get a specific message
across. Maybe you want your opinions heard at meetings,
or you're giving a formal talk. Or perhaps you're in a
position to advise your sales team or CEO on an important
presentation. Anyone who sets out to present, persuade,
and propel with the spoken word faces 10 major pitfalls.
1.
UNCLEAR THINKING. If you can't describe what you
are talking about in one sentence, you may be guilty
of fuzzy focus or trying to cover too many topics. Your
listeners won't understand either.
2.
NO CLEAR STRUCTURE. Make it easy for people to follow
what you are saying. They'll remember it better--and
you will too as you present your information and ideas.
If you waffle, ramble, or never get to the point, you
lose your listeners.
3.
NO MEMORABLE STORIES. People rarely remember your
exact words. Instead, they remember the mental images
that your words inspire. Support your key points with
vivid, relevant stories. Help them "make the movie"
in their heads by using memorable characters, exciting
situations, dialogue, suspense, and humor.
4.
NO EMOTIONAL CONNECTION. The most powerful communication
combines both intellectual and emotional connections.
Intellectual means appealing to educated self-interest
with data and reasoned arguments. Emotion comes from
engaging the listeners' imaginations, involving them
in your illustrative stories by frequent use of the
word "you" and from answering their unspoken question,
"What's in this for me?"
5.
WRONG LEVEL OF ABSTRACTION. Are you providing the
big picture and generalities when your listeners are
hungry for details, facts, and specific how-to's? Or
are you drowning them in data when they need to position
themselves with an overview and find out why they should
care? Get on the same wave length with your listeners.
6.
NO PAUSES. Good music and good communication both
contain changes of pace, pauses, and full rests.
This is when listeners think about important points
you've just made. If you rush on at full speed to crowd
in as much information as possible, chances are you've
left your listeners back at the station.
7.
IRRITATING NON-WORDS. Hmm--ah--er--you know what
I mean--. One speaker I heard began each new thought
with "Now!" as he scanned his notes to figure out what
came next. This might be okay occasionally, but not
every 30 seconds. Tape record yourself to check for
similar bad verbal habits.
8.
STEPPING ON THE PUNCH-WORD. The most important word
in a sentence is the punch-word. Usually, this is the
final word: "Take my wife--PLEASE." But if you drop
your voice or add, "Right?" or "See?" or "You know?"
or "Okay?" you've killed the impact of your message.
9.
NOT HAVING A STRONG OPENING AND CLOSING. Engage
your audience immediately with a powerful, relevant
opening that includes the word "you." Don't close with
questions. Ask for them, if appropriate, then deliver
a dynamic closing. Last words linger.
10.
MISUSING TECHNOLOGY. Timid speakers who simply narrate
flip chart images, slides, videos, overheads, or view-graphs
can rarely be passionate and effective. Make technology
a support to your message, not a crutch. Keep the focus
on you!
Avoiding
these 10 common traps is the first step to changing
dull-and-boring speaking into dynamic, powerful, and
persuasive communication.
Patricia
Fripp CSP, CPAE is a San Francisco-based professional
speaker on Change, Teamwork, Customer Service, Promoting
Business, and Communication Skills. To learn more about Patricia, as
well as save 20% when you order her audio/video programs
Million Dollar Words: Speaking for Results, Preparing
and Presenting Powerful Programs and/or Confessions
of an Unashamed, Relentless Self-Promoter, go to YourSuccessStore.com. |