Call to action at the end of the speech. Public speaking mistakes

Public speaking requires a certain skill. Only in this case can you win over the audience and interest them in your thoughts, views and judgments. But it happens that speakers make mistakes when communicating with listeners. As a result, the invisible connection with those present is disrupted, which leads to alienation and misunderstanding. Below are the most common public speaking mistakes that prevent speakers from achieving professionalism in such a complex matter as public speaking.

First mistake- lack of correspondence between the content of speech and the manner of its presentation. It all comes down to sincerity. When you talk about something, you need to believe in it yourself. If you talk about some things in an uncertain tone, stuttering, constantly looking at your notes, then the audience will instantly feel the falseness. Accordingly, the performance will fail at the very beginning. Therefore, confidence and conviction are necessary, even if you yourself doubt the reliability and veracity of the material presented.

Second mistake- monotonous speech, devoid of emotional component. The speaker gives out some information in a boring, faceless voice. The listeners begin to fidget in their chairs, yawn, covering their mouths with their palms out of decency, and some feel sleepy. Such a speech is especially dangerous at the end of the working day. The audience may simply fall asleep, which will be a complete disaster for the speaker.

The public needs to be kept in good shape. Therefore, during a speech it is necessary to change the tone and volume of your voice. He must be alive and play with all possible voice shades. This is significance, tension, drama, and joy. Only in this case can you interest people even after a hard day at work.

Third mistake- ignoring humor during a speech. It should be said that humor brings an element of animation to any conversation. It is of particular importance during a public speech. The point here is that people cannot remain in a concentrated state for a long time. They are able to listen carefully for no more than 20 minutes, after which a sharp decrease in concentration is observed. This is how the human brain works, which needs some kind of variety. Such diversity is precisely what constitutes a small humorous digression. This is a kind of relaxation, after which listeners can again focus on the main thing.

Fourth mistake- a state of fussiness. There is a common phrase: “Don’t fuss around the client.” It definitely needs to be remembered by those speakers who, during their speech, hastily walk from side to side, twirl a pen in their fingers, or perform some other nervous manipulation. With this manner of behavior, listeners very quickly begin to understand that the speaker is unsure of himself. Of course, you need to move, but only in a calm and leisurely manner. Movements and gestures should exude confidence. This will give additional weight and persuasiveness to the words.

Fifth mistake- self-confidence and know-it-all. It is, at the very least, ridiculous to consider yourself the smartest and most omniscient. Among the listeners there may be a much more erudite person. Therefore, show modesty, but in no case underestimate your knowledge. Tricky questions should be answered sincerely and openly. If you don't know something, admit it honestly. And in order not to lose your authority in the eyes of those present, you need to clearly and interestingly present the information that you know perfectly.

Seventh mistake- incorrect facial expressions. It is useful to know that the audience pays considerable attention to the speaker's facial expression and focuses mainly on the eyebrows and eyes. If the eyes are wide open, then this indicates fear and uncertainty. And raised eyebrows are associated with incompetence. During the speech, the look should be calm and slightly ironic. As for eyebrows, they should be kept in normal condition. Such a face looks quite adequate and evokes not only trust, but also sympathy.

Work on the above public speaking mistakes, try to avoid them, and then your oratory skills will noticeably improve. As a result, your authority will become unquestionable, and the number of grateful listeners will increase.

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Introduction

1. Public speaking mistakes

2. Rules for successful public speaking

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Public speaking is a process of transmitting information, the main goal of which is to convince listeners of the correctness of certain provisions.

The speaker is a master of public speaking with a brilliant command of language. The speaker influences listeners, first of all, with his eloquence, high speech culture, and verbal skill.

Both in ancient times and in modern times, oratory was one of the strongest levers of culture. It is inconceivable that a preacher of a new religion should not at the same time be a fascinating speaker. All the best people in the era of prosperity of states, the best philosophers, poets, reformers were at the same time the best orators. The path to any career was strewn with the “flowers” ​​of eloquence; the art of speaking was considered mandatory. Looking at the successful results of eloquence of that time, we set ourselves the goal of this essay - to study all possible mistakes of speakers, which will lead to mastering the skill of public speaking. After all, they learn from mistakes.

1. Public speaking mistakes

Before we begin to understand the secrets of public speaking, we must learn to avoid common mistakes.

Error 1: Mismatch

When the content of your words diverges from your tone of speech, posture, and body language, the audience instantly notices. If you start saying “Hello, how glad I am to see you all...” in a trembling, uncertain voice, nervously fingering the buttons on your suit, rest assured that your listeners will instantly begin to mistrust both what you said and the speaker himself. Therefore, instead of “I am glad...” - actually rejoice! Do everything you can to truly experience joy when speaking in public. Consciously convey your positive mood to your listeners. People in a good mood perceive information more easily, they want to continue contact

Mistake 2: Making excuses

The public doesn't really care whether you're nervous or not, how long you've been preparing your report, or how much experience you have in public speaking. Therefore, there is no need to make excuses in front of her in the style of “I’m a bad speaker, I rarely speak in front of an audience, so I’m very worried and can give a bad performance...” This is how many begin their speech, trying to evoke sympathy and get an indulgence in advance for a bad performance. The message seems honest, but it leads to the opposite result. The listeners are perplexed: “Why did we come here if even the speaker himself admits that the performance will be bad?”

Mistake 3: Apologies

Beginning speakers love to apologize, offering to absolve them of blame for the poor quality of the report. “Please forgive me for... (my cold voice, my appearance, poor quality of slides, too (short) long speech, etc., etc.).” If there really is something you regret, simply say, “I'm sorry!” But best of all is the ability to turn a disadvantage into an advantage: “I have a cold in my voice today, so I ask you to move and sit closer to me. Thus, by uniting even more, we will demonstrate that we are all one team, working closely together.”

Mistake 4: Eyes and eyebrows

Most beginners only seem to be good at managing their facial expressions. In fact, controlling facial expressions is not easy for an untrained person. Facial muscles are difficult to control without training.

The public pays 10-15 times more attention to the speaker's eye area than to any other part of the face. Laughing eyes and straight eyebrows are just what you need.

Mistake 5: Choice of words

We hear and understand individual words before we understand the entire sentence. In this regard, negative particles are perceived later than other words, and often are not perceived at all. Therefore, the constant use of such constructions as “... will not bring losses”, “... not bad”, “... we are not afraid to make an effort”, “... I don’t want to bore you with long statistical calculations” cause the listener an effect opposite to the speaker's expectations.

Mistake 6: Lack of humor

Better than an informative speech is an interesting speech! Add a smile to your serious speech, dilute it with jokes, tell a funny story. People need to rest periodically. You can laugh at yourself if you made some mistake - listeners will perceive this as a sign of your self-confidence and self-esteem.

High-quality teachers know that humor and a good mood only increase the desire to learn and make the process more effective.

Mistake 7: Know-It-All

Even worse than insecure and unprepared speakers are speakers with an inflated self-esteem of their own importance. They always consider themselves smarter than the audience they are addressing. Even if you are knowledgeable about the topic of your speech, listeners may know much more than you in certain areas. Do not consider the audience stupider than you, they can repay you in the same coin. oratorical public speaking story

By openly admitting your knowledge or ignorance, you gain even more sympathy from the audience.

Mistake 8: Fussiness

Distracted from the fear of the public, a novice speaker can hastily walk from wall to wall back and forth, like a pendulum, and perform fussy manipulations with objects. As a result, the audience begins to follow his movements and stops following the topic of the speech. By the way the speaker moves, it is easy to understand how confident he is. Find a suitable place and take a position. You can sit or stand - it depends on the duration of the public speaking, the characteristics of the room, etc. factors. The main thing is that from your seat you can make eye contact with the entire audience. Or move mindfully, taking control of the space.

Mistake 9: Monotony

Nothing is more boring than a report on an interesting topic read in a boring, monotone voice. Drumming monotonously, they quickly cause irritation and fatigue in the audience; listeners can barely restrain themselves from starting to yawn. To keep the audience “in good shape” you need to constantly vary the volume and strength of your voice, giving it liveliness.

Pay attention to the sound of your speech. Do you use your voice to highlight key points of public speaking, quotes, statements? Do you raise the pitch at the end of a question? Does the pace of speech change depending on its content? Express your feelings with your voice and you will win over the audience!

Mistake 10: Missing pauses

When you have nothing to say, it’s better to remain silent until the right words come. Usually the audience perceives the duration of pauses to be much shorter than it seems to the speaker himself.

2. Rules for successful public speaking

1. Speech preparation

As you know, all good improvisations are carefully prepared in advance. A speech without preliminary preparation, especially for a novice speaker, will almost certainly be a failure.

First, make the basis of your future public speaking:

· Determine the motivation for people to listen to your speech. Why do they need this? What useful or interesting things will they learn for themselves?

· Highlight the main idea of ​​your speech.

· Highlight subheadings by dividing your idea into several component parts.

· Think carefully about the plan and structure of your future speech. It should include an introduction, main part and conclusions (ending)

Having prepared the base, begin to build “muscles” on it.

· Find vivid examples “from life”, from history, literature, which you use during the presentation.

Determine the moment during the speech when you address the audience with some question, with a request to name something, count something - this will help those present to concentrate their attention on discussing the topic and will significantly increase the effectiveness of perception of your material.

· Write the full text. Pay special attention to its beginning and ending.

The peculiarity of the introduction is that the audience will very quickly form an impression of you, and this impression will dominate throughout the entire speech.

The final part of the public speech involves summing up the results. At the end, you need to recall the key issues raised in the speech and be sure to repeat all the main ideas.

The main thing is time. The public can listen carefully and perceive your ideas only for a limited period of time, due to psychophysiological reasons (usually no more than 15-20 minutes, then the audience’s attention begins to weaken). You are expected to use short, clear, understandable, persuasive and accessible sentences. You need to be on the same cultural level with the audience, communicate in their language, only in this case can you count on establishing psychological contact between the speaker and the audience. You should not touch on topics that are beyond the understanding of the audience.

2. Place of performance.

Before performing, it is very important to study the room to determine from which side the audience will be looking at you. When choosing a location, consider your height. You need to check that everyone can see you. You need to make sure that the speaker is visible from the chest up.

3. Clothes

Wear things that you feel comfortable in and that do not distract you with their discomfort. You should never once have the thought: “How does this fit on me?” It’s better not to use completely new things that you are wearing for the first time. Clothes and shoes should not cause you internal discomfort or distract your attention.

4. Successful public speaking - a few secrets.

When you enter the classroom, move confidently, do not mince or make fidgety movements. Walk with your usual gait, this will convince those present that you are not worried and are not in a hurry. When you are introduced, stand up, be sure to give the audience a slight smile and make direct eye contact with the audience.

Be sure to take a place in the center, straighten your shoulders, raise your head and lean forward a little, showing something like a bow in front of the audience and start speaking.

Your facial expressions and gestures give a person much more impressions than anything you say. Gestures will focus your attention on the importance of the information. Do not put your hands in your pockets, do not hide them behind your back, or occupy them with foreign objects. You cannot cross your arms over your chest or put them behind your back. Constantly control your posture, keep your back straight, head raised, move naturally. When you want to emphasize something, move your body towards the audience or use the gesture of bringing your body closer to those present.

If you use notes, do it very carefully: look down quickly and briefly at the text and look up again, turning all your attention back to the audience.

If your speech is interrupted by applause, you need to wait until it ends and only then continue - so that the beginning of your next phrase can be heard by everyone. When concluding your speech, you need to look your audience in the eyes and say something pleasant, demonstrating your satisfaction from communicating with the audience. Such a positive informational impulse at the end will remain in people’s memory and in their perception of your public speech.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to note that the skill of public speaking lies in the ability to use both forms of human thinking: logical and figurative. Having mastered the skill of public speaking, people will understand all the charm and beauty of our language.

Becoming a master of public speaking is a great achievement for someone who desires it and will not stand at anything, since what he has achieved will open doors for him in all areas of our lives. And perhaps it will help change some of the negative aspects of this most complex endless process, which we have now successfully studied. Our goal was realized and we learned from mistakes. After all, they learn from mistakes!

And as A.P. said Chekhov: - “Learn to speak the language, present and future speakers! Language is your base and your professional weapon.”

Bibliography

1. Alexandrov D.N. Rhetoric. - M.: 1999.

2. Vvedenskaya L.A., Pavlova L.G. Culture and the art of speech. - Rostov - n/a, 1996.

3. Deletsky Ch. Workshop on rhetoric. - M.: 1996.

4. Ivanova S.F. Specifics of public speech. - M.: 1978.

5. Lvov M.R. Rhetoric. Culture of speech: Textbook. a manual for students of humanities faculties of universities. - M.: Publishing center "Academy", 2003

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To make your speeches successful, you should avoid the most common mistakes, for which you can adopt the techniques of professional speakers.

Mistake #1: Lack of preparation

Good preparation is already half the success. Think about what you want to say, what reaction to evoke in your listeners? What is the main purpose of your speech?

You won't have any questions about errors in documents after reading the article at the link.

Write the text of the speech in full or in the form of abstracts. Improvisation looks impressive, but let's leave it to the professionals. After all, most people are nervous before a performance, and it’s not easy to come up with something witty in such a situation.

American improvisation master Steve Allen at the beginning of his career copied jokes from humor collections by hand. This helped him understand the principle of constructing phrases that evoke laughter and approval from listeners.

Be sure to think about the beginning and end of your speech. How will you greet the audience and how will you say goodbye to them? This secret helps many speakers: they write the first phrases of their speech on a small piece of paper. If the excitement is great, you can look at the “cheat sheet”. And then the rest will be remembered.

Exercise "Rehearsal"

Politicians, athletes, pop stars always train before a performance, and more than once. The more important and complex the event, the more rehearsals are required. You can build them according to the following plan:

. The task of the first stage is to remember the text.

. When you are already well versed in the text (without looking at the paper), rehearse your speech. How loudly, with what intonations and pauses do you plan to speak? Remember that the audience pays more attention to how things are said rather than to what the speaker is saying.

. Now start practicing your facial expressions and gestures.

How will you stand, how will you move, where will you look? What emotions do you want to convey to the public and what gestures will help you with this? “Superimpose” movements onto speech, achieving integrity.

. The final touch will be the dress rehearsal. It is best done in front of a small audience of people you know. This could be relatives, friends, neighbors, or even your manicurist (although then you will be somewhat constrained in your movements).

Mistake #2: Inappropriate clothing

During rehearsal, dress as you would for the planned performance. It is possible that not all toilet details will suit your role as a speaker.

A narrow jacket can restrict movement, a bracelet can slide over your hand when gesticulating, and a beautiful large brooch will attract the attention of listeners. Choose an outfit and accessories in such a way that they do not interfere, but, on the contrary, work for you.

Make sure all clothing is clean and well ironed. According to numerous studies, if something is clearly wrong with the speaker's appearance (shoes are splashed with mud, hair is very disheveled, a stain is visible on the shirt, tights are torn), this element attracts the attention of the audience throughout the speech. Accordingly, its content passes by the consciousness of those present.

Mistake No. 3. Excessive attention to appearance

Unlike the previous one, the third mistake is more characteristic of women rather than men. Often, while waiting for negotiations or an important speech, the fair half of humanity is more concerned about whether her suit is too plump and how successful her hairstyle is. While men are focused on selecting convincing arguments, creating memorable slides and other preparations that are useful for the speaker.

And although we are greeted by our clothes, we are still escorted by our minds. In this regard, the general recommendation for women is this: when preparing for a speech, pay more attention not to your appearance, but to how to convey the material to the audience and establish contact with them.

Mistake No. 4. Focusing the audience's attention on yourself / your company

Our company is the best in the field of mechanical engineering.

Our products have been on the market since 1992.

We own 16 patents.

In 2013, we received the award “The most dynamically developing company in its industry.”

Surely you have heard similar phrases “about our loved ones” more than once during negotiations and presentations. It's good if there are few of them. However, often the entire speech is focused on the speaker or the company or product he represents.

Talking about yourself is the best way to ensure a performance is a failure. The only exception is if you are a “star” and the topic of your speech is “My Way”. In all other cases, keep the audience, their problems and interests at the center. This is important for all types of speeches, and for sales people it is vital!

Exercise “We are you”

Refer to the abstract of your speech (it is better if it is written down). Build a bridge from information about yourself or your company to the needs and aspirations of your audience. The easiest way to do this is with the help of the magic words “means” and “therefore.”

For example:

. Our company has been on the market for 23 years. Therefore, you can be calm when you trust us to manage your finances.

. I started my career in the company from a very ordinary position and rose to become the head of a department in just a year. And this means that each of you can achieve the same.

Even if, from the height of your experience, you believe the benefits of the product are obvious, still say them out loud:

Online training in the webinar format is very convenient because you can study from anywhere in the world where there is Internet access. You also save the time it takes to travel to face-to-face training (in large cities it can reach three or more hours). Once you receive a recording of the online webinar, you can listen to it as many times as you like.

Mistake No. 5. Inability to answer questions

To be fully prepared, think through possible questions from your future audience in advance. To do this, imagine that you heard yourself speak from another person. What impression did it make on you? Are there any unsaid things or anything unclear? What do you want to ask, what to say?

Family, friends, and colleagues can help you create a list of questions. Give them a practice performance and get their impressions. Take constructive criticism with gratitude. You may feel a little uncomfortable right now, but this debriefing will help you make your public speaking more successful.

Mistake No. 6. Reluctance to learn

This is the most insidious mistake. Some say that they are not given to be speakers, which means it is pointless to try to fix something. Others believe that they are already excellent performers and there is no need for training.

They all make mistakes, because even great speakers constantly learn, both from their own mistakes and from more advanced rhetoricians. And moreover, in history, starting from antiquity, there are many examples of how mediocre speakers, who at first could not connect two words, were among the best during training.

Exercise “Favorite Speaker”

Make a list of five or more successful modern speakers (since the mid-twentieth century). These could be domestic or foreign politicians, cultural and scientific figures, singers, actors, TV presenters. Then choose the one you like the most.

After choosing your “favorite speaker,” search the Internet for videos of his speeches. Review three or more recordings and determine what makes this person an outstanding speaker. What are his strongest qualities?

Argumentation? How is the material presented? Energy? Confidence? Appearance? The more components of success you see, the better. If desired, review the recordings without sound and separately evaluate the non-verbal component of the speeches: the speaker’s posture, facial expressions and gestures.

Exercise “I am a speaker”

Analyze the list compiled in the previous exercise. Which qualities of your favorite speaker do you share? Maybe it's a conviction that you're right or a sense of humor? What qualities are you still missing? Perhaps it is confidence and the ability to speak to a large hall without a microphone?

When preparing for your next negotiation or presentation, focus on your strengths. Build your performance so that they shine in all their glory.

Do you know how to structure information well? Prepare a diagram or infographic that summarizes everything you want to say. You have a beautiful voice? In the draft of your speech, mark the phrases that you will emphasize with intonation. Make a plan on how to develop the missing qualities of a speaker. For example, regularly perform exercises to overcome anxiety and practice facial expressions and gestures in front of the mirror.

Mistake No. 7. Excessive excitement

Public speaking is almost always stressful. Psychologists are convinced that our strategies for responding to difficult situations are formed in childhood.

For example, you are in fifth grade. During the lesson, an excited director comes to your class:

- Children, a verification commission is coming to us! It is very important that you write an A in your Russian language test! Make a mistake and you will let the whole school down.

In this situation, students react in two ways. Some gather, activate all their resources and ultimately cope with stress. That is, they take an active position. The guys are scared, they can tremble and be nervous, and yet they do not lose concentration and the ability to adequately respond to what is happening.

A passive position is when, in a stressful situation, anxiety goes off scale and everything literally falls out of your hands. It does not matter how well the student knows the subject. He simply will not be able to pull himself together and remember the material. The child may fall into a stupor, and then reproach himself for not coping with a trivial task.

Think: how do you react to stress? If you are proactive, work on techniques to reduce anxiety. If you tend to have a passive position, change your perception of difficult situations. After all, they usually contain the possibility of winning. And after time they don’t seem so scary.

Don't be afraid of fear! It turns out that even professional actors are afraid to perform. Marilyn Monroe and Andrei Mironov had difficulty overcoming their fear of going on stage. Freddie Mercury once almost fainted from excitement. It happened before a concert at the birthday party of his friend’s little son. Nicole Kidman and many other public figures faced similar difficulties.

Exercise “Add Confidence!”

In a stressful situation, the right attitude helps a lot. You can achieve it with the help of affirmations (positive statements). According to Nancy Bergern*, “affirmations are positive statements made in the present tense. They express our vision and our dream as if they were already a fait accompli. By creating and repeating affirmations, we reprogram our minds, moving from the level of “this is impossible” to the level of “it is possible, and it will be done.”

Formulate the desired state in one or two phrases and repeat them to yourself or out loud. You can use ready-made affirmations or come up with your own based on them:

  • I am calm (calm) and confident (confident) in myself.
  • I manage to establish contact with the audience.
  • I am learning how to structure my speech correctly.
  • I express my thoughts clearly and constructively.
  • At the right moment, I pull myself together and overcome my anxiety.
  • Performing is a fun experience. I love performing!

Breathing exercises

Breathing techniques are very useful. They help you calm down and disconnect from unpleasant thoughts. The easiest option is to straighten your shoulders, breathe slower and deeper. If this doesn't help, try a more advanced method of relieving anxiety.

It's called Triangle Breathing. Inhale, counting to 5 or 7. Then hold your breath - also for 5 or 7 counts. Then exhale at the same time. Perform the exercise for 3-5 minutes, tracking the “triangle”: inhalation - air retention - exhalation.

Perhaps the best cure for performance anxiety is practice coupled with self-belief. So don't pass up the opportunity to give a speech. Then every time you will do better and better. And the pleasure (yours and the audience’s) from the performance will become more and more!

Error 1: Mismatch

When the content of your words diverges from your tone of speech, posture, and body language, the audience instantly notices. The audience has an unerring sense of the speaker's mood and well-being. Do everything you can to truly experience joy when speaking in public. Consciously convey your positive mood to your listeners. This is important - people in a good mood perceive information more easily, they want to continue contact.

Mistake 2: Making excuses

The public doesn't really care whether you're nervous or not, how long you've been preparing your report, or how much experience you have in public speaking. Therefore, there is no need to make excuses in front of her in the style of “I’m a bad speaker, I rarely speak in front of the public, so I’m very worried and can give a bad performance...” This is exactly how many amateurs begin their speech, trying to evoke sympathy and get an indulgence in advance for a bad performance.

Mistake 3: Apologies

This error is similar to the previous one. Beginning speakers love to apologize, offering to absolve them of blame for the poor quality of the report. “Please forgive me for... (my cold voice, my appearance, poor quality of slides, too short presentation, too long speech, etc., etc.).” The public is not a priest and will not forgive your sins. Apologize for only one thing - for your constant apologies. It’s better to avoid from the very beginning what you will need to ask for forgiveness for.

Mistake 4: Eyes and eyebrows

Are you really confident that you control your facial expressions well? Most beginners only think that this is so. In fact, controlling facial expressions is not easy for an untrained person. Facial muscles are difficult to control without training, and a mysteriously seductive look and eyes wide open with fear are separated by just a couple of millimeters, which radically change perception.

Mistake 5: Choice of words.

We hear and understand individual words before we understand the entire sentence. Therefore, we react to the meaning of individual words faster and less consciously than to the meaning of sentences. In addition, negative particles are perceived later than other words, and often are not perceived at all. Therefore, the constant use of such constructions as “... will not bring losses”, “... not bad”, “... we are not afraid to make an effort”, “... I don’t want to bore you with long statistical calculations” cause the listener an effect opposite to the speaker's expectations.

Mistake 6: Lack of humor

Better than an informative speech is an interesting speech! Add a smile to your serious speech, dilute it with jokes, tell a funny story. People need to rest periodically. A grateful audience will respond to you with favor and attention. You can laugh at yourself if you made some mistake - listeners will perceive this as a sign of your self-confidence and self-esteem.

Mistake 7: Know-It-All

Even worse than insecure and unprepared speakers are pompous and inflated speakers, bursting with awareness of their own importance. They always consider themselves smarter than the audience they are addressing. Get rid of the delusion that you know more than everyone else combined. Even if you are knowledgeable about the topic of your speech, listeners may know much more than you in certain areas. Do not consider the audience stupider than you, otherwise they will repay you in the same coin. Pomposity and know-it-all behavior can play a very cruel joke on you. So, one day a psychology student publicly asked a generally unloved lecturer on the history of philosophy a tricky question: how should one treat the philosopher Wallace? The teacher, afraid that he would be caught lacking erudition, spent a long time and convincingly explaining to the breathless audience the errors of this philosopher, invented by the students on the eve of the lecture.

Mistake 8: Fussiness

Distracted from the fear of the public, a novice speaker can hastily walk from wall to wall back and forth, like a pendulum, perform fussy manipulations with objects (open and close the lid of the lectern, constantly twirl a pencil in his hands, etc.) and make other unnecessary movements . As a result, the audience begins to follow his movements and stops following the topic of the speech. By the way the speaker moves, it is easy to understand how confident he is. The constant “walking” during public speaking is not accidental. It betrays the desire of the insecure speaker to escape. This is exactly how it is perceived by the audience. These would-be speakers just want to give advice strictly according to Archimedes: “Finally, find a fulcrum!”

Mistake 9: Monotony

Nothing is more boring than a report on an interesting topic read in a boring, monotone voice. Such public speeches are akin to Chinese torture with dripping water: water drips monotonously onto the crown of the tortured person and gradually drives him to madness. All the words merge into a monotonous stream and by the tone of speech it is impossible to understand where one sentence ends and another begins. Monotonously droning bores quickly cause irritation and fatigue in the audience; listeners can barely restrain themselves from starting to yawn.

Mistake 10: Missing pauses

Today we will talk about common mistakes that speakers make and briefly but specifically analyze these mistakes.

Let’s immediately define that the concept of “speakers” includes all people, because we have to constantly communicate. We start talking - and this is already a public speech: either we motivate the team to solve important problems, or we correctly formulate our thoughts when communicating with children, so as not to offend the child, but also to clearly convey to his consciousness that we love him, and not we find fault.

1. Wrong attitude

It would be more logical to say that the first point of any speech is its preparation. But you can read about it. We will assume that the speech has been written, edited, rehearsed, maybe even learned almost from memory.

Are we ready for this performance?

What kind of attitude is needed?

        • Firstly, do not plan important matters on the day of the speech, the solution of which could distract you from the main task - to perform successfully.
        • — Have you thought through your image? Have you prepared your clothes? Did you get a fresh manicure or makeup?
        • Yes, you need to take care of your shoes! It is shoes, first of all, that can say a lot about its owner.
            We will attribute all this to appearance - you must be beautiful and neat.
          Very important on the day of the performance adhere to certain rules:
        • Early rise. I believe that a person should wake up at the same time, and this is early in the morning, and not closer to noon, then a lot can be done, and our body is tuned to getting up early, when there is vitality.
        • Breakfast required. Make it a rule to never leave the house hungry, so that your brain is focused on solving other problems - important ones, and not on where to eat.
        • Maintain a feeling of inner elation, a feeling that an important event is coming up, and you are completely ready for it.

So, we are in the right mood for the upcoming performance, and this mood is commensurate with our goals.

2. Lack of focus

With our goals? What goals?

But this is another main mistake of the speaker - there is no setting a specific goal: what is the most important thing in your speech, what goal do you set, what do you want to convey to the audience? And if the speaker himself cannot clearly understand the objectives of his speech, then the speech will turn out to be crumpled, and the listeners will not understand what is being sought from them and what they want to present?

All this irritates the public, they think about wasting their time.
And to prevent this from happening, you must definitely determine the purpose of your speech, and, of course, understand this purpose - what and why I am saying, what I want to achieve. And in this case, there is a chance that your performance will be effective.

3. Fears have not been addressed

Ready to perform but still scared?
And why? Are you afraid that it won't work out? Are you afraid of being booed? This is important for you?

Or are the subsequent feelings more important - disappointment in yourself, emptiness?

You need to work with fears. You just have to know that every person has the right to make a mistake, and has the right to perform not very well. And this installation should be in your head. And it is not yet known, maybe you will perform brilliantly, but at the moment you are engaged in self-criticism. Just treat your fears as allies that help mobilize your body to complete an important task. And it is fear that forces you to prepare better for the performance.

But this . And what happens after?

And then we must connect the head, thinking, and analyze your performance without emotion– what worked, what didn’t work. But not for self-humiliation, but in order to remove mistakes from subsequent events. Not so that the thought appears: “Everything is lost, I have disgraced myself and will never open my mouth again, I will remain silent and listen. It’s less of a problem.”

The inner voice should remind you of the positive aspects of your performance, and analyze what failed, and then decompose it into atoms, and let them (these fears-failures-atoms) fly into space and never return.

Having analyzed everything, we must understand why something did not work out, why the set goal did not come true, and understand our fears. Maybe an inner voice stopped us so that there would be no disappointment later, and therefore the goal was blocked?

What is the solution to this problem?– Of course, make fears your ally, stop being afraid, and, to put it pompously, look your fears in the eye. To put it simply, take it and perform, gain experience in performing.

But experience is experience. Without certain tools that must be mastered, there can be no successful performance, and this means working on diction and articulation, body positioning and movement, developing breathing, flexibility of speech, developing range, and so on. How much does it take to make a performance successful?

But this can be mastered if desired and if there is a goal.

4. Inability to “present” yourself

When you start talking, you “filter out” information about yourself. Of course, everyone wants to appear in a favorable light, and everyone decides for themselves what information to present and what to skip.
But the most important thing to remember is that even if you are presented for a speech, be sure to give the presentation itself: repetition is the mother of learning, and the audience will remember you better. Moreover, no one will tell about themselves like each of us.
I once read that any person can write a book, at least one - this is his own biography.

So, the description must correspond to the event and topic of the speech. If you, for example, are a teacher, you should at least present to the parents of your students your concept of teaching, and correlate this information with your professional qualities as a teacher. These are, of course, not self-praises. Listeners should see you as an ordinary person, just like them, so that there is not a huge gap between the speaker - a high-level professional who cannot be reached - and the listeners.

Listeners begin to doubt whether they can achieve the same results. And also there is a lack of trust in you - do the words correspond to reality?

Therefore, position yourself as a simple person who was able to become a professional with a capital P, and what was needed for this. But this path can be repeated, and listeners will also be able to achieve the same results if they have determination, desire, and always under your strict guidance.

At the same time, be able to get feedback- ask a question, ask listeners to express their opinion, so that you have a dialogue with the listeners, and in no case a monologue in front of an indifferent audience that evaluates you and does not participate in the process. Therefore, learn to express yourself beautifully, create a platform for further cooperation.

5 – Lack of voice work

Everything we have discussed is important and must be applied in public speaking.

But let's analyze your speech:

  • artistry of performance
  • performance technique: diction, articulation, staging, breathing, facial expressions, range, vocal plasticity

How well do you know the items listed?

Irina Anishchenko

Yes! By the way! Start preparing for your performance right now: show courage and perseverance - write a comment! After all, speaking is the ability to express your thoughts. So write at least a few words first. You will see that over time this skill will develop and you will speak convincingly and fluently.

And from the site pages don't leave in English, click on the social networking buttons. It’s not difficult for you, but I’m pleased, because I worked and tried for you – my readers.
Bye!



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