5 MOST COMMON MISTAKES IN PUBLIC SPEAKING

I've been to a lot of professional conferences this year. I've seen some great speeches and presentations, but also a lot of vague or boring performances that won't be remembered by the audience. Most often, they are made that way by poor selection of content, structure, and delivery.

I will highlight the 5 most common mistakes I have noticed in public speaking or conference presentations. Along the way, I will also suggest solutions to help you avoid these mistakes and make your public appearance clear, interesting, and convincing. These are the prerequisites that give you a chance to achieve the basic goal of almost every presentation - which is to influence the audience.

1. GENERAL AND SHALLow SPEECH/PRESENTATIONS

You try to cover everything and go "a mile wide, and a meter deep". In the end, you touch nothing deeper and don't bring value to the audience. The audience doesn't want a "buffet" of ideas, but a specific meal with a refined taste and aroma. Focus on what is most important to the target audience, and provide value that people will remember long after they leave the hall.

2. UNCLEAR KEY MESSAGES

If you can't summarize your speech or presentation in three to five key messages or sentences, the audience certainly won't remember the essence of your performance . After many years in this business, no one can convince me otherwise. A speech without clear messages is like a map without markings - you are lost, and the audience is even more so. Structure is a separate challenge here, I will skip it this time.

3. THE ABSENCE OF "YOU" IN YOUR SPEECH

I consider this a key shortcoming.

Ask yourself: could your speech be delivered with equal legitimacy in terms of content by someone other than you? If the answer is “yes,” you have a serious problem. This means that the audience wants authenticity. Stories with a point from your business or personal life, your experiences, the unique perspective you can offer, visible emotions and attitudes are what make your speech memorable . Choose such ingredients for your speech, rather than generic phrases, abstract theorizing, endless thank-yous, and Chat GPT listings of everything related to the topic.

4. MONOTONE PERFORMANCE

Monotony in verbal communication is the killer of any content. Changing the pace of speech, volume, and tone of voice is key to dynamics. Otherwise, you could play an AI-generated audio recording to the audience. The result would be the same, and perhaps even more interesting. Monotony is especially present in speakers who decide to read their written speeches from paper when they come on stage.

In a previous article, I already pointed out that I think reading from paper on stage is justified only for a handful of the most powerful people in the world, whose one wrong word can result in global consequences. Everyone else - prepare more , and throw the paper in the trash. You will seem more natural and convincing in public speaking.

Body language (nonverbal communication) in public speaking is also extremely important, and often makes a crucial difference in persuasiveness, but that is a separate topic.

5. SLIDES WITH LOTS OF TEXT

The most common presentation problem (aside from terrible execution). Instead of images, videos, good titles, a bit of text, or an attractive chart telling the story, we get a "data dump." Someone literally takes their Word document with a report on a topic and "copy-pastes" it into Powerpoint.

Seriously, do you really think anyone in the audience will read that and find it interesting? No. You can send such a presentation to the audience via email. If your goal is to influence the audience, you will need to use a much simpler, clearer, and more understandable version during your presentation.

I know, cluttered slides often serve as a distraction for speakers...but the audience can't read, listen, and watch at the same time. You're the one giving the presentation, not the other. The slides are an accessory, not the main character. The audience is there for you, not for the text on the screen. Text should be a secondary element in presentations anyway. Presentations are primarily a visual medium.

Apply these suggestions to your next performance and watch your impact on the audience grow. Which of these mistakes have you noticed?