Mistakes in Public Speaking

I’ve given hundreds of talks, from brief remarks to college commencement addresses. Truth is, the reactions have usually been good but not great, yet I believe I am aware of mistakes the public speaker should avoid.

Too much content. People have a hard time paying attention to any talk, let alone one that’s too dense with content. You need to make fewer points but provide an example, statistic, and/or anecdote for most of them.

Too unstructured. The old rule is valid: Tell them the few main points you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them. That provides guideposts to keep your audience with you.

Too prepped, even memorized. Especially if you’re poor at speaking off-the cuff, do prepare but don’t overprepare. You’ll sound scripted and that’s a turn-off. Trust that all you need is one index card that reminds you of your intro, main points, examples, inspiring conclusion, and call to action.

Tied to Powerpoint. If they’re staring at a screen, they’re not connecting with you, and connection is a key benefit of a talk as opposed to a handout. If you must, use a few Powerpoint slides but only for things that require a visual. After you’ve shown and explained it — and it must be a simple slide — turn off the screen until the next slide, which hopefully won’t be for quite a while.

Too fast. Some people when nervous or want to avoid boring the audience, talk fast. Mistake. It takes time for people to process what you’re saying. Slow is good.

Too monotonic. You don’t want to put them to sleep. On the other hand, if you’re too dynamic, it can come off as phony.

Too long. Even if you’re expected to speak for an hour, don’t. Even with a good speech, people fade after around 20 minutes. Talk for 15 or so, take questions, and end with an inspirational story and call to action.

I hope that one or more of those will be of value to you.

I read this aloud on YouTube.

This is an installment of my “Mistakes” series, available in text on this Medium.com channel, and on video on my YouTube channel.

Marty Nemko is a career and personal coach, and author of 34 books including Careers for Dummies. You can reach Marty at mnemko@comcast.net.