Confessions of a Public Speaker

Medium list of little things

These are definitely small things, but people are picky. If you do an annoyance often enough, and people notice it, it can distract from all the good things you’re doing. No one ever eliminates these issues completely, which is why I keep this list around. If everything else is good, don’t worry much about these. But if you want to seem polished and avoid people missing your message for superficial reasons, this list is for you.

There is no way to catch these annoyances unless you watch a videotape of yourself or have someone track these for you while you speak.

• Umms and uhhs. These are verbal placeholders. They make sense when talking casually, but when you’re speaking to an audience, they’re annoying. You can overcome the habit by learning to simply pause in silence. It’s unnerving at first to be at the lectern in a silent room, but it creates a new kind of power that is free and easy to get at any time. When the room is silent, all eyes return to you.

• Distractions and tics. Little gestures you repeat can be distracting. If you keep rubbing your nose or putting your hands into and out of your pockets, eventually this draws attention away from what you are saying. My nervous tic, as odd as it sounds, is itching the second rib on my right side. Watch enough presentations where I’m talking, and you’ll see it about 30% of the time. No idea why I do this (perhaps I still have some chimpanzee genes in me). I do it less now than I used to, but sometimes I still ...