When I started my business, I added speaking to my marketing mix. It seemed like a natural extension of the training I had done for decades.
At first, it didn’t go well. By not going well, I spent a lot of energy but not results to show for it.
There were annoying things I was doing, too. Quite frankly, I was completely unconscious of these annoyances until one person brought it to my attention in an evaluation. Nobody likes to hear negative feedback, but, in retrospect, his feedback was a gift.
What was so annoying? I paced.
Have you ever watched a speaker pace back and forth and back and forth? It’s distracting. Rather than focusing on the message, they were preoccupied with an easily-controlled quirk.
Recently, I had a client share her experience listening to a speaker. Rather than learning the training points, she started counting how many times the speaker said, “you know what I mean?” Apparently, the speaker said “you know what I mean” 45 times in 45 minutes. While the teaching points might have been good, they were lost in that speaker’s unconscious habit.
Let’s face it, we all have mannerisms or things that are missing in our speaking process that could be shifted. We’re human after all.
The first step to becoming a better speaker is awareness. Grow your awareness to elevate your effectiveness.
Invitation
If you’re inspired to elevate your speaking, join us for Speaker Lab Master Class on June 18 with online feedback sessions on June 25 and July 16. In this experiential class, you’ll walk out with your Signature Story, Signature Talk, and a strategy for getting in front of your ideal audience. You’ll be professionally coached through your presentation, so you deliver it with grace, peace, and ease. You will also get experience delivering it onsite and online.
For more information and registration, please visit: http://excellerateassociates.com/speaker-lab/
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