3 Most Irritating Public Speaking Mannerisms
The moment is upon you – you have rehearsed your carefully written speech. You understand your audience’s interestes and you know their expectations. You’ve even gone the extra mile and have researched the demographic make-up of the assembled company. All you need to do now is perform a few vocal warm-up exercises and step out onto the stage.
Surely there’s no room for error? Yet your audience appears distracted as you deliver your speech perfectly.
It could only be – your irritating mannerisms.
But no! Surely you don’t have any irritating mannerisms – do you?
Time after time, carefully prepared presentations are spoilt by speakers being oblivious to their mannerisms whilst on stage – unconsious habits that serve only to distract the audience from what is being said and focus their attention on your irritating actions.
Are you guilty of any of these? Be honest with yourself or better still, ask a trusted friend to truthfully outline your most annoying habits.
1. Are you a Leaner and Swayer? Many speakers continually shift their weight from one foot to the other, swaying first one way, then to the other. Others will rock forward and backwards from heel to toe as they deliver their speech. These movements are always performed unconsciously but can make an audience truly giddy. Make an effort to become aware of your movement and balance when speaking and work towards remaining upright.
2. Are you a Scratcher or Ear Puller? Many speakers put great effort into appearing to be well educated and a deep thinker and frequently this will give rise to habitual touching of an ear or scratch of the head to give weight to that image. Sub-consciously too, these actions bring comfort and calm frayed nerves and so are common mannerisms. Always remember though, scratching is catching and before long you’ll have the whole audience scratching too!
3. Are You an N.B. & C.? Otherwise known as a Nose Blower and Cougher. It may appear that the speaker is suffering from a heavy cold but the truth is that their frequent clearing of the throat and wiping of the nose is merely a nervous habit they have developed over time. These mannerisms are probably the most irritating ones for the audience and definitely the most frightening ones for any hypochondriac who may be sitting in the front row!
If you find yourself constantly needing to clear your throat, practice swallowing instead and always make sure that you have a glass of room-temperature water to hand during your speech.
Mannerisms affect us all and in any other walk of life generally won’t matter at all. However, if you are delivering a speech to an audience, your mannerisms – or lack of them – may make the difference between being remembered as an excellent public speaker, or an extremely irritating one.
Which one would you prefer to be?
Filed under: Writing & Speaking