4 Common Speaking Mistakes You Should Avoid
Jasmin Haley, MS
Award-Winning Educator | Corporate Trainer in Healthcare, Communications, Public Speaking & Leadership | Learning Design Agency Owner | Founder- Beyond The Prophy? & Legacy Scaler? | WBENC & MBE Certified | Dental Leader
Speaking can be daunting.
It can be demanding.
It can challenge you in ways you never expected, but the rewards it delivers in personal fulfillment and brand visibility are massive.
With many of the speaking clients I coach, there are obstacles in the beginning, especially if they don’t have speaking experience.
The key to persevering and attaining speaking success is cultivating a growth mindset and remembering that you can learn and refine everything with practice.
You do have to show up and work that speaking muscle though!?
Every quarter when I’m on the road delivering keynotes I see speakers presenting their signature topics at events across the country.?
These are the common mistakes I see presenters make at the podium:
1. Not knowing your audience and not adapting your presentation to them
As speakers, we have to engage with people from diverse backgrounds.
No matter where we come from or what our character is, we need to be able to connect with our audience if we want a flourishing speaking career.
Will you be speaking to executives and corporate leaders??
How familiar are they with your topic??
How can your message help your audience??
Who you are presenting to makes a difference in your delivery, how you tell your story, and the way you engage with your audience which is why I always recommend that speakers research their audience before their event.?
2. Dumping too many statistics instead of engaging in a conversation
Statistics are powerful when they are used sparingly.
When we lean too hard on numbers to support our presentation instead of sprinkling them in at key moments, we risk losing our audience's attention and not engaging them on a deep level.
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Remember, we want to connect on a heart level with our listeners and motivate them to transform their lives, which requires conversation and storytelling that evokes emotion.?
3. Not building pauses into your presentation
Well-placed pauses are crucial to delivering an impactful presentation that allows the audience to reflect and enter into a “conversation” with the speaker.?
I know it can feel intimidating to let silence envelop the room when you’re on stage, but when we build those moments into our presentations we come across as more confident, and our audiences have the opportunity to personally connect with our message.
4. Not evoking emotion?
Speakers who want to impact the lives of their listeners need to evoke emotion in their presentations.
Think about it.
Without an emotional response, presentations are uninspiring, but when our emotions are involved, things become vibrant and potentially transformative.
Using stories that are meaningful to you and that the audience can relate to in their own lives lays the foundation for establishing an emotional connection and building client relationships.
Have you ever made any of these mistakes when presenting??
If yes, how did you change your approach for your next presentation?
As seen in Time and NextAdvisor, nationally awarded speaker and workshop facilitator Jasmin Haley, MS, is the CEO of a consulting firm that creates transformative speakers, strengthens presentation skills & designs speaker marketing assets.?
Jasmin has been featured in national media outlets such as Crest, Colgate, CE Zoom, Con Edison, The University of Maryland School of Medicine, the American Dental Hygienists’ Association, and RDH Magazine.?
She has traveled the country as a sought-after speaker on overcoming burnout as a clinician & academic as well as presentation/communication skills. Jasmin consults ambitious professionals, speakers, and business owners to command the stage through powerful presentations that reach hearts and impact lives.??