What do you do if you want to assess non-verbal cues in public speaking?

I Use a video camera or smartphone to record my public speaking presentations. I review the recordings to analyze my nonverbal cues, such as posture, eye contact, hand movements, and facial expressions. Another way I observe myself is to Practice my speech in front of a mirror to observe my body language and facial expressions in real-time. I make adjustments as needed to convey confidence and engagement.

I remember during my doctoral days at the University of Pittsburgh we had routine oral presentation or worse, give oral exams in front of peers regularly! It was in my 3rd year, when it dawned on me that our program was grooming us for leadership roles in healthcare and life. My lessons over the years: 1. Surrender to being in major discomfort reviewing tapes of yourself! Ensure you do it throughout your career because mastery takes years of practice. 2. Identify all areas for improvement but focus only on 1 or 2 key areas to work on... don't try to achieve everything in you next talk or you'll not see the progress.

In my experience it’s also helpful to be a bit introspective about how you’re feeling while observing yourself (practicing in a mirror or with a trusted person). Do certain parts of your presentation or speech make you more nervous, anxious, excited, etc.? Think about why you have the feelings you’re experiencing throughout. Sometimes adjusting talking points themselves to begin with can make you feel more at ease, confident and passionate about your speech or presentation.

This has helped me in preparing for speeches. I record and watch later or watch myself in the mirror. I would recommend to everyone. It helps you assess your performance and have a clear picture of how people view you. You can then rate yourself (Be sure to be honest with yourself) This helps you identify where you fall short and improve.

When you observe yourself, watch for microexpressions: These are brief, involuntary facial expressions that reveal true emotions. They can be very revealing but are also easy to miss, so paying close attention is necessary. These determine confidence or lack thereof.

If they’re yawning falling asleep skip to a humorous slide or tell a real story or clean joke!! That always worked for me. I spoke at OPERS retirees and for Zoll LifeVest.

Your audience tells you a lot about how the presentation is going. A tip for ‘starters’ or those who tend to get nervous, to have a close relation or friend in the audience to urge you on so that you don’t focus on the distractions that may come from a few people during your first speeches/ presentations. They can then help you assess the presentation and the audience reaction after. With time and more practice, you become better, gain more confidence and learn to read audience reactions on your own without the presence of your support.

. I monitor the audience's reactions and feedback to my nonverbal cues. Audience engagement, attentiveness, and responsiveness can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of my nonverbal communication.

You have to be able to think on your feet. Feel the crowd look the people in the eye make them feel like you’re talking to each one of them individually. You can see when people are bored and reach for their phones. You could feel it in the air.

I try to see if the audience is paying attention, yawning, or looking as if they are confused. On the other hand, I try to see if they show signs of engagement. I try to modulate my message to adapt to the "mood" of the audience.

Context plays a critical role in the ethical manipulation/captivation of an audience. It is essential to have an understanding of the lived and living experience of the cohort you are addressing in order to deliver effective and impactful messaging.

Pour créer un sentiment de proximite et donc d'attention avec le public, il peut être utile de prendre appui sur un élément visuel, un objet, une peinture, une spécificité du lieu. Cela donne un sentiment d'appartenance commune a l'espace et suscite une attention plus soutenue. L'effet de surprise peut aussi être provoqué et générer également une attention supplémentaire.

It is also important to make the message as relatable as possible to the audience. It would helpful if the examples given resonate in some ways to the people in this audience l. This way message will not sound foreign or far fetched.

When it comes to creating effective presentations, context is everything. Here are some tips for improving the resonance of your slides and speech: know your audience and the context. By taking the context into account, you may adapt your material to the audience's prior knowledge and interests. Consider the differences between discussing intricate medical research with a group of other scientists and a prospective investor group. For every audience, you would utilize a distinct set of facts, vocabulary, and focal points.

In my personal view, context is the important part in public speaking. It helps you to stay on the right track and avoids you to escalate to non-related topics keeping you to deliver the right messages and securing objectives of your speech to your audience.

While I personally hate watching videos of myself I do recommend recording yourself to observe your non-verbal cues. It’s an effective way to identify spots where you may want to adjust your technique. Ted talks are my go-to for watching other engaging speakers non-verbal cues if you need ideas!

Participating in public speaking workshops or training sessions that focus on nonverbal communication skills helps me improve. I also benefit from working with a coach to receive personalized feedback and guidance on improving my nonverbal cues.

It’s always good to have a prepared speech which you can continuously go over before the event and short notes/ summaries you can refer to during your presentation. This helps you always have control over your train of thought even when you are interrupted.

Practice works like magic. The more you practise a thing the more you become good at it. Meanwhile, asking for feedback is very crucial especially from observers you know are interested in your improvement.

When I am preparing for a presentation, I like to use the power of visualization. During my practice & rehearsal, I picture my audience in front of me and mindfully imagine their reactions to what I'm saying. By pretending I have an audience to interact with during my practice, I'm able to engage and anticipate the needs of the audience during the real event. Doing a run-through with a real audience is also a great strategy, but don't underestimate the power of intentional visualization. Athletes do this, too. As a former college athlete, my teammates and I were encouraged to employ visualization techniques to channel our concentration and reinforce positive thoughts.

I like telling stories that I've experienced myself, versus quotes from famous people. I think an audience appreciates original content these days. Re-hashing some version of the same tired stuff will lose the attention of who you're speaking to! It still happens - all the time. Be your own unique, authentic, real, raw self. It's much more captivating.

I maintain a straight posture with relaxed shoulders, which indicates my confidence and authority. I use purposeful gestures, which can emphasize points, convey emotions, and enhance communication effectiveness. Variations in vocal inflexion help me convey enthusiasm, emphasis, and authenticity.

When speaking to the audience try and make sure you are authentic. By being authentic i do not mean that you should not use examples / quotes of others or take help from references rather being authentic means to be a believer of what you are saying. If you yourself believe in what you are saying, you sound authentic and this is something that can’t be faked, you have to be convinced yourself to be able to convince others and hence speaking with authentic belief helps you create a rapport with your audience that forces them to listen to you and believe you.

With authenticity now shown to be the highest form of consciousness and communication, learning and trialing on stage techniques to be yourself and just learning to chill, will allow your natural caring, kindness and empathy to radiate to the audience. Be Cool, Be Yourself , take deep breaths, get a short mantra/prayer/vibrational energy technique to use before and during a presentation. After presenting to over 800,000 youth and school students, if there not "leaning-in" your possibly not being authentic.

In a debate competition, I won an award for being the most natural speaker. That taught me that being natural, expressing my personality and enjoying my speech makes me very appealing to people. During the competition, we were grouped and because I was being myself, I had to represent the group because they taught we had a better chance if I gave the speech. Being oneself brings out character, charisma, portrays self esteem, self realization and confidence.

Try something new! Every year when I play my keynote themes for that year I try to incorporate some new tech into my talks. Who doesn’t like a live demo? Not all events want to do it, but I find that in the ones that do, the audience walks away feeling engaged and sometimes in awe. As with any live demo, make sure you have back up plans and also make sure you rehearse and make the AV and tech team at the event your best friends. They will have your back during the live demo.

Evaluation and reflection are important key components of this process, as they allow me to assess my performance, measure my impact, and celebrate my success. By reviewing performance, analyzing audience's response, and acknowledging my achievements, I can gain valuable insights into communication skills and continuously improve as a speaker.

Monitor the audience's reactions and feedback to my nonverbal cues. Audience engagement, attentiveness, and responsiveness can provide valuable insights into my nonverbal communication effectiveness. I ask a trusted friend, mentor, or colleague to provide feedback on my nonverbal cues during public speaking. They can offer valuable insights and suggestions for improvement.

Know your content, engage with the audience asking a simple question early on or use an ice breaker. You’ll be able to see right then who in the audience is connected with you, who may interact with or if they are thinking about being somewhere else. Never turn around and look at the slides and never read the content verbatim.

I always have a Q&A, but also have commonly asked questions in case there are none. I found that before doing that many people would come up after the talk and ask their questions privately. I also like to do a short survey if possible to make sure I haven't missed anything.

If you are focused on the nonverbal cues, you are likely distracted. The interview was the time to assess the audience to be sure they were right to hear and be enthralled by what you are saying. If you’re focused on nonverbal cues, take a second and get out of your head and remember why you are telling your story , not how your story is being told.

To be able to pick up non verbal cues you need to be at the unconsciously competent level with your content first. Only if you are first well rehearsed and prepared with your speech then you will be able to become aware and have mental capacity to look at the nuances of public speaking like non verbal cues etc.

Stay present, and you will be tuned into all the cues that you need. Presence allows us to access both the overt and subtle information and so we can better read the cues relevant to giving our presentation.

Non verbal cues can be different by culture age disability and lived experience so when we start threads like this I want to scream tread lightly because we often start to tell people they should not be their true selves. Some cultures see looking at the audience directly as engaging, others see the same as disengenuine. Some on the autism spectum may speak more directly and it is considered to be rude. The bottom line is all of this is unconscious bias. Besides - what do non-verbal visual cues mean to a person who is blind?

Never read the deck, audience can read, so just contribute. Spacing between feet. Eye contact, proper pacing of the area available on stage, how u hold your hand matters too. And.. a genuine smile.