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A few weeks ago, I came across a web site that had the audio of speeches from the 2006 TED Conference. TED stands for Technology, Education & Design and the organization behind it describes the conference as an “invitation only event where the world’s leading thinkers and doers gather to find inspiration.” I listened to two of the speeches – they we each by a well known person that I know quite a bit about. I really liked one speech and really disliked the other, which I expected would happen. What I didn’t expect was that each speech had an effect on me which was the complete opposite of what I expected.
One common mistake that many novice and some “expert” speakers make is to ignore the time limit. Most offenders only go over by minute or two where others wait until they’re practically booed off the stage to finish up.
In general, this is very poor practice and if you’re being paid to speak or even speaking for free for a non-profit, it unlikely that you’ll be invited to speak for them again. If you’re giving a presentation at work, your co-workers may feel become annoyed at you. Think about when you’ve been in the audience and the presenter went way over time. It’s never viewed positively.
It seems like you can never be fully prepared for distractions while speaking or giving a presentation. Over the last few years, I’ve experienced everything from loud coughing to a person walking across the room to ask someone else a question WHILE I was speaking.
Not calling attention to such things takes experience and practice – it’s the mark of a true professional. Most audiences are courteous and respect the speaker, so it may take years of speaking before you run into major distractions. But the first time it happens, you find it breaks your concentration to the point where it negatively affects the rest of your speech.
I have been involved with Toastmasters International for about four years. If you’ve never heard of Toastmasters, it’s an organization with thousands of clubs all over the world that help people improve their public speaking skills. But like anything else, you get what you put into it.
I’ve seen people go from petrified to polished in a matter of months. I’ve seen others join, attend a couple meetings, and then quit. If you’re serious about improving your public speaking skills, consider joining a Toastmasters club and commit yourself to completing the first ten speech projects within a year. If you really want to achieve results quickly, become a club officer.