Your audience does and they are too kind to tell you.
So many speakers walk off stage feeling like they’ve done a good job because the audience smiled, when in reality
The audience are excited about the fact the speech is over.
You don’t want that to be you!
If you can avoid the following mistakes, then it won’t be.
Mistake 1: Being a “Motormouth”
I remember preaching in church, and I was excited I felt energized and I thought I rocked the stage. When I finished speaking, I went to my friend and said
“Gary, how do you think I did?”
He said “Malachi I’ll be honest I didn’t hear half of what you said you speak too fast!
I was upset because I saw him clapping at my best points, I guess that’s what friends do.
That feedback has helped me grow as a speaker because I now have this philosophy
When I speak, I invest, when I pause my audience digests.
Pause when you speak. It helps your audience digest your content.
Mistake 2: Being late
Never be late to a speaking engagement, it will cost you
The respect of the audience
Your ability to feel out the room and adjustment to the environment
Your focus at the start
Your plan B if the technology isn’t working
I hate being late
Every time that I have been late, I have lost out in one of those areas.
I remember turning up to a speaking engagement and I was the last person in the room.
That was embarrassing the speech went well but I left the stage knowing that being late did some damage to my brand and that’s something that you never want to happen.
Mistake 3: Having no call to action
Your audience will remember your first words and your last words the most!
Your first words capture your audience’s attention your last words should lead your audience to some sort of action
If you don’t lead your audience to
Think, feel, or do something different after you’ve spoken then your speech isn’t that effective.
it’s frightening how few speakers actually have a call to action in their speeches.
Always have a call to action…it’s a must.
Mistake 4: Telling boring stories
You may know that storytelling is a must-have for every good speech.
But stories need to be told the right way.
A well-told story is a story that is conflict rich!
I always say that
The absence of conflict is the presence of boredom
Avoid being boring by developing a conflict in your story
Here are a few conflicts you can use to craft your stories
man vs. man
man vs. nature
man vs. self
man vs. society
It’s not about being perfect but
Avoid these mistakes and you’ll be will on your way to giving a speech that your audience will love.
You won’t have to second guess if you’ve done a great job. You’ll walk off stage knowing and sensing that your audience was truly with you.
