Public Speaking Course:

Stand Still

A common mistake that a lot of presenters make is not standing still when they should. It is very distracting to the audience to try to pay attention to what someone is saying when they're wandering and swaying all over the place. You can practice being still while taking your public speaking course.

I have said before that you should move at least three steps in a particular direction -- and for a purpose -- whenever you move on stage. That type of movement is not what I am referring to in this article. Small to and fro movements while you are on stage is very distracting and takes away from your message.

As we move towards more and more distance learning and TV training, keeping still will be even more important when you're presenting to an audience where cameras are sending your message out to many people.

When you are on TV or video your movements are magnified. I got a good reminder lesson in keeping still while doing the weather and traffic report for a broadcast station in Orlando, Florida. I was all set to be my highly animated self. They put me at an anchor desk and turned me loose with a set script on the teleprompter.

What was my normal performance looked absolutely ridiculous.

In fact, it wasn't even close to being acceptable for the tight shot they used. I had to stay perfectly still with the exception of my head and eye movement and facial expressions.

You can practice this at home with a simple video camera zoomed in to a tight close up shot. Either stand or sit and don't move your shoulders and arms at all. Talk to the camera and only allow movement from the neck up. To do an el cheapo simulation of a teleprompter, cellophane tape a script on to the bottom of the lens of the camcorder.

Once you master this technique and can convey all your non-verbal information with only head movement and facial expression, and remember folks communicate with their eyes, and in a close up, so should you. You can add small amounts of body, arm and shoulder movement as the video shot gets wider. From your public speaking course you will learn to adapt to the stage you are on, live on stage or live on camera.