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Speech Analysis: How to Study and Critique a Speech

Studying other speakers is a critical skill.

The ability to analyze a speech will accelerate the growth of any speaker.

Questions to ask yourself when assessing a presentation: whether you attend the
presentation, or whether you view a video or read the speech text. These questions
also apply when you conduct a self evaluation of your own speeches.

The Most Important Thing to Analyze:

Speech Objectives
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 Knowing the speaker’s objective is critical to analyzing the speech, and should
certainly influence how you study it.
 What is the speaker’s goal? Is it to educate, to motivate, to persuade, or
to entertain?
 What is the primary message being delivered?
 Why is this person delivering this speech? Are they the right person?
 Was the objective achieved?

Audience and Context

A speaker will need to use different techniques to connect with an audience of
1500 than they would with an audience of 15. Similarly, different techniques will
be applied when communicating with teenagers as opposed to communicating with
corporate leaders.
 Where and when is the speech being delivered?
 What are the key demographic features of the audience? Technical?
Students? Elderly? Athletes? Business leaders?
 How large is the audience?
 In addition to the live audience, is there an external target audience? (e.g. on
the Internet or mass media)

Speech Content and Structure

The content of the speech should be selected and organized to achieve the primary
speech objective. Focus is important — extraneous information can weaken an
otherwise effective argument.

Before the Speech

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 Were there other speakers before? Were their messages similar, opposed, or
unrelated?
 How was the speaker introduced? Was it appropriate?
 Did the introduction establish why the audience should listen to this speaker
with this topic at this time?
 What body language was demonstrated by the speaker as they approached the
speaking area? Body language at this moment will often indicate their level of
confidence.

Speech Opening

Due to the primacy effect, words, body language, and visuals in the speech
opening are all critical to speaking success.
 Was a hook used effectively to draw the audience into the speech? Or did the
speaker open with a dry “It’s great to be here today”
 Did the speech open with a story? A joke? A startling statistic?
 A controversial statement? A powerful visual?
 Did the speech opening clearly establish the intent of the presentation?

 Was the opening memorable?

Speech Body
 Was the presentation focused? i.e. Did all arguments, stories, anecdotes relate
back to the primary objective?
 Were examples or statistics provided to support the arguments?
 Were metaphors and symbolism used to improve understanding?
 Was the speech organized logically? Was it easy to follow?
 Did the speaker bridge smoothly from one part of the presentation to the next?

Speech Conclusion
Like the opening, the words, body language, and visuals in the speech conclusion
are all critical to speaking success.
 Was the conclusion concise?

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 Was the conclusion memorable?
 If appropriate, was there a call-to-action?

Delivery Skills and Techniques

Delivery skills are like a gigantic toolbox — the best speakers know precisely
when to use every tool and for what purpose.

Enthusiasm and Connection to the Audience

 Was the speaker enthusiastic? How can you tell?
 Was there audience interaction? Was it effective?
 Was the message you– and we-focused, or was it I- and me-focused?

Humor
 Was humor used?

 Was it safe and appropriate given the audience?

 Were appropriate pauses used before and after the punch lines, phrases, or
words?
 Was it relevant to the speech?

Visual Aids
 Were they designed effectively?

 Did they complement speech arguments?

 Was the use of visual aids timed well with the speaker’s words?
 Did they add energy to the presentation or remove it?
 Were they simple and easy to understand?
 Were they easy to see? e.g. large enough
 Would an additional visual aid help to convey the message?

Use of Stage Area

 Did the speaker make appropriate use of the speaking area?

Physical – Gestures and Eye Contact

 Did the speaker’s posture display confidence and poise?
 Were gestures natural, timely, and complementary?

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 Were gestures easy to see?
 Does the speaker have any distracting mannerisms?
 Was eye contact effective in connecting the speaker to the whole audience?

Vocal Variety
 Was the speaker easy to hear?
 Were loud and soft variations used appropriately?
 Was the pace varied? Was it slow enough overall to be understandable?
 Were pauses used to aid understandability, heighten excitement, or provide
drama?

Language
 Was the language appropriate for the audience?
 Did the speaker articulate clearly?
 Were sentences short and easy to understand?
 Was technical jargon or unnecessarily complex language used?
 What rhetorical devices were used? e.g. repetition, alliteration, etc.

Intangibles
Sometimes, a technically sound speech can still miss the mark. Likewise, technical
deficiencies can sometimes be overcome to produce a must-see presentation. The
intangibles are impossible to list, but here are a few questions to consider:
 How did the speech make you feel?
 Were you convinced?
 Would you want to listen to this speaker again?
 Were there any original ideas or techniques?

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How to Improve Your Speeches through Audience Analysis

How do you capitalize on your audience analysis? That is, how do you reap the
benefits to offset the time that you invested?
How to improve your presentation based on your audience analysis?

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 How to use Audience Analysis

1. Dress like your audience, or maybe one notch above.

2. Choose a presentation format appropriate to your audience and the event.
3. Select the supporting points which will have greatest impact on this audience.
4. Use words which match your audience’s vocabulary.
5. Draw upon sources which your audience recognizes for statistics, quotations,
examples, or other evidence.
6. Choose stories which will resonate with your audience.
7. Design visuals that impact your audience.
8. Customize your call-to-action for this audience.

1. Dress like your audience, or maybe one notch above.

This is usually an easy way to boost your ethos as your audience will like you
more if you “fit in” with them. Dressing significantly better or significantly worse
than your audience makes you appear like an outsider.

2. Choose a presentation format appropriate to your audience and the event.

Sometimes slides are necessary; sometimes not. Sometimes you need a lengthy
Q&A; sometimes not. Some audiences expect a traditional lecture style; some
expect the opposite. Whatever you choose, you should be guided by the needs and
expectations of your audience; don’t merely choose the format you are accustomed
to delivering.
Note that this doesn’t mean you must always conform to audience expectations. In
rare circumstances, you might deliberately shock the audience with a style that
goes against what they expect. It’s risky, but in the right setting, it may pay off.

3. Select the supporting points which will have the

greatest impact on the audience.

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While preparing, you will usually have a large number of potential supporting
points, but you can’t present them all within your time constraints. When choosing
which to keep and which to cut, consider those which this audience will find most
persuasive.
Will this audience be persuaded more by a financial argument or an environmental
one? Do they value simplicity more than convenience? Do they value security
more than freedom?

4. Use words which match your audience’s vocabulary.

This applies both to your spoken words, as well as words which appear on your
visuals.
Don’t say “dollars” when you should be saying “euros.” Don’t use acronyms or
technical jargon that your audience won’t understand. Similarly, don’t be sloppy
with terms where your audience expects high precision. Do your homework!

5. Draw upon sources which your audience recognizes for statistics, quotations,
examples, or other evidence.
To maximize the impact of quotations, examples, and other supporting material,
draw from sources that your audience knows and (hopefully) respects.
For example, quote Bill Gates when speaking to entrepreneurs or CEOs. Quote
Justin Bieber when talking to teen-aged girls.

6. Choose stories which will resonate with your audience.

Stories offer tremendous benefits in your presentations, but you’ll lose much of the
impact if your audience doesn’t identify with the hero in some way.
For example, when speaking to community organizers, tell stories where a
community organizer is the hero. When speaking to a school auditorium of parents,
feature parenting heroes instead.

7. Design visuals that impact your audience.

If you want to trigger emotions, don’t necessarily select the images that you find
most impressive; select those which impact your audience most.

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 If you are using charts or diagrams, choose those which will answer the questions
your audience members have.
If your slides carry a theme throughout (e.g. Star Trek), make sure it is appropriate
for your audience.

8. Customize your call-to-action for the audience.

To maximize the likelihood that your audience takes action, make sure your call-
to-action is tailored for them, given their strengths and resources.
[Suppose you are speaking on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, an organization that
provides affordable housing. If your audience is a group of wealthy CEOs, then the
call-to-action might be asking for monetary donations or to get their employees
engaged. If your audience is a group of service club members, however, your call-
to-action might be to invite hands-on participation on a new home.]

How to Handle Special Audiences

The guidelines above apply to just about every presentation, regardless of any
particular audience characteristic.

Sometimes, though, your audience analysis will uncover a specific fact that will
impact your choices. Consider the following special audiences:
 Mandatory audience
Overall, it’s much easier speaking to people who choose to attend, because
their attendance demonstrates their motivation. So, when speaking to an
audience where participation is mandatory, you’ll need to convince them that
there is value for them.
 Hostile audience
When your audience is predisposed to oppose your message, you’ll need to
practice logical jujitsu to show them how their beliefs really do support your
objectives. You are probably doomed if you fail to recognize this in your
analysis.
 Fatigued audience
When you are speaking late in the afternoon (or evening), or even just before

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 lunch after a tiring morning, it is tough to keep your audience’s attention. Keep
it short. Keep it upbeat and high-energy.
 Conference audience
Whenever you are speaking at a larger event, do your homework on how your
presentation fits with the material from other speakers. The more you can draw
connections for the audience, the more valuable you’ll be.

What to do with a heterogeneous audience?

We’ve assumed so far that you have a homogeneous audience, with a single
audience persona (i.e. everyone attending has similar background, knowledge
level, key demographic characteristics, etc.). This keeps it simple, but is rarely
realistic.
Often, your audience will be mixed in some critical aspect. For example:
 You are presenting to potential customers. The audience is split between
senior management (managers, accountants, legal) and the technical team.
These groups have very different backgrounds, different issues of concern, and
different vocabularies.
 You are presenting at a civic government meeting on a controversial issue. The
audience is comprised of people from the following groups: pro-business;
environmentalists; pro-family; etc.
 You are speaking at the parent-teacher association meeting for your child’s
school. The audience includes parents, teachers, and school board members.
So, what do you do when your audience is a mix of two or more distinct sub-
groups?

There are three basic strategies:

1. Speak to only one sub-group of the audience and ignore the others. This is
a risky strategy, but may be appropriate if, for example, the decision rests with
a single person or a small group of people. It may make sense to focus your
presentation on the decision-maker(s).
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2. Address each of your audience sub-groups with different parts of your
presentation. Part of your presentation might be aimed at sub-group A, while
the next part may address the concerns of sub-group B, and then sub-group C,
and so on. This is a strategy employed often by politicians.
3. Ignore the differences between audience members, and instead focus on
common appeals. Although important differences exist between the sub-
groups, you might choose to ignore these differences to avoid getting tangled
up in opposing arguments. Your presentation can “stay above the fray” and
focus instead on values, principles, and issues where there is common ground.
Depending on your situation, any of these strategies may be optimal for you.

How much audience analysis is necessary? It depends

 For an impromptu speech, your audience analysis might be simply observing

your audience, making a few educated assumptions, and going for it.
 For a very short speech like a class presentation or a routine presentation
within your department, your audience analysis might consist of 15-30 minutes
at the beginning of your speech preparation.
 For a longer presentation or one where the stakes are quite high, your
audience analysis may take several days or more and require assistance from
others.
Like all speech preparation tasks, your audience analysis should scale according to
the importance of the speech.
Don’t skimp on the time you devote to audience analysis. The time you invest in
audience analysis will save you time later on preparing your speech, and make you
more effective when you present.

25 Public Speaking Skills Every Speaker Must Have

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 Every public speaker should be able to:
1. Research a topic – Good speakers stick to what they know. Great speakers
research what they need to convey their message.
2. Focus – Help your audience grasp your message by focusing on your message.
Stories, humour, or other “sidebars” should connect to the core idea. Anything
that doesn’t needs to be edited out.
3. Organize ideas logically – A well-organized presentation can be absorbed
with minimal mental strain. Bridging is key.
4. Employ quotations, facts, and statistics – Don’t include these for the sake of
including them, but do use them appropriately to complement your ideas.
5. Master metaphors – Metaphors enhance the understandability of the message
in a way that direct language often can not.
6. Tell a story – Everyone loves a story. Points wrapped up in a story are more
memorable, too!
7. Start strong and close stronger – The body of your presentation should be
strong too, but your audience will remember your first and last words (if,
indeed, they remember anything at all).
8. Incorporate humour – Knowing when to use humour is essential. So is
developing the comedic timing to deliver it with greatest effect.
9. Vary vocal pace, tone, and volume – A monotone voice is like fingernails on
the chalkboard.
10. Punctuate words with gestures – Gestures should complement your words
in harmony. Tell them how big the fish was, and show them with your arms.
11. Utilize 3-dimensional space – Chaining yourself to the lectern limits the
energy and passion you can exhibit. Lose the notes, and lose the chain.
12.Complement words with visual aids – Visual aids should aid the message;
they should not be the message.

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13.Analyze your audience – Deliver the message they want (or need) to hear.
14. Connect with the audience – Eye contact is only the first step. Aim to have
the audience conclude “This speaker is just like me!” The sooner, the better.
15. Interact with the audience – Ask questions (and care about the answers).
Solicit volunteers. Make your presentation a dialogue.
16. Conduct a Q &A session – Not every speaking opportunity affords a Q&A
session, but understand how to lead one productively. Use the Q & A to
solidify the impression that you are an expert, not (just) a speaker.
17. Lead a discussion – Again, not every speaking opportunity affords time for a
discussion, but know how to engage the audience productively.
18. Obey time constraints – Maybe you have 2 minutes. Maybe you have 45.
Either way, customize your presentation to fit the time allowed, and respect
your audience by not going over time.
19. Craft an introduction – Set the context and make sure the audience is ready
to go, whether the introduction is for you or for someone else.
20. Exhibit confidence and poise – These qualities are sometimes difficult for a
speaker to attain, but easy for an audience to sense.
21. Handle unexpected issues smoothly – Maybe the lights will go out. Maybe
the projector is dead. Have a plan to handle every situation.
22. Be coherent when speaking off the cuff – Impromptu speaking (before,
after, or during a presentation) leaves a lasting impression too. Doing it well
tells the audience that you are personable, and that you are an expert who
knows their stuff beyond the slides and prepared speech.
23. Seek and utilize feedback – Understand that no presentation or presenter
(yes, even you!) is perfect. Aim for continuous improvement, and understand
that the best way to improve is to solicit candid feedback from as many people
as you can.
24. Listen critically and analyze other speakers – Study the strengths and
weakness of other speakers.
25. Act and speak ethically – Since public speaking fears are so common, realize
the tremendous power of influence that you hold. Use this power responsibly.

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 The Secret of Choosing Successful Speech Topics

Imagine you are scheduled to deliver a speech in two weeks. At first, you are
excited about the opportunity. Very soon, however, a feeling of dread overwhelms
you — what will your speech topic be?
Conventional wisdom says to talk about what you know, but conventional wisdom
is only partially correct.
This article reveals three questions you must ask before choosing your speech
topic, and how the answers lead you to great speech topics for you and your
audience.

The Secret Three Questions

Before considering a speech topic, ask yourself these three questions:
1. Am I an expert on this topic?
It isn’t necessary to know everything about a topic, but you do need to know
more about the topic than your audience to be seen as a credible speaker. Your
knowledge must cover not only what you plan to say, but go beyond that so
that you are able to comfortably handle questions afterward.
2. Am I passionate about this topic?
Passion for spreading your knowledge about a topic is the fuel that will power
your speech delivery. Your posture, your gestures, your eyes, your facial
expressions, and your energy level are all elevated when you talk about topics
you enjoy. Likewise, all of these suffer when you talk about topics that you
find mundane.
3. Does my audience care about this topic?
If your audience doesn’t see value for themselves in your topic, there are two
possibilities. Either they don’t show up, or they show up and tune out. In either
case, you are wasting your breath. Every successful speech must contain
explicit value for your audience.

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1. Turning the lights off during presentations?
The first presentation day in a classroom can be scary. Students are expected to
weave together the material they’ve learned in an engaging, dynamic way, and
those public speaking fears often rear their ugly heads at the last second. Students
will sometimes ask right before they start speaking, “Can I turn off the lights?”
This question is often couched in some kind of excuse like, “I really worked hard
on my slides, and I want my audience to be able to see them.” My answer is
always, “The lights stay on.”
“If your audience can’t see you, you won’t be able to connect with them…”
Students learn this bad habit by watching their professor’s lecture with the lights
out. And why wouldn’t they want to do this themselves? Students feel much
more comfortable with the lights off because the audience is looking at the
slideshow instead of looking at them presenting.

How to Un-Learn this Habit…

Turning the lights off during presentations is a bad habit that must be broken. The
focus should always be on you as a presenter. If your audience can’t see you,
you won’t be able to connect with them, and you certainly won’t be able to

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 effectively engage them. Audiences who can’t see you are also less likely to
participate and answer questions, and more likely to sit back and disengage as they
would in a dark movie theater. And while slides are important, your slideshow’s
job is to support your message as a presenter… not to be center stage.

2. Relying too heavily on one leg of the presentation stool.

Jim Endicott sees presentation as a three-legged stool comprised of the following:
1. speech content/message;
2. delivery; and
3. visual presentation.
Since there are three legs to Endicott’s presentation stool metaphor, my students
are plagued by three bad habits.
 Sometimes, students will put too much focus on content, while ignoring their
delivery and visual presentation.
 Other times, students will spend so much time on their visual
presentation that content and delivery fall by the wayside.
 For a few charismatic folks, delivery is the primary focus, and they don’t
develop content or a slideshow because they rely on their wits instead of a
message.
“Focus on learning the importance of all three legs of the presentation stool,
and work on developing a strong presentation that stands equally on all three
legs.”
All three legs must work together successfully in order for a speech to resonate
with audiences. If a student relies too heavily on one of these legs, their speeches
fail to connect. In my class, we learn to focus on all three, and we constantly
develop and improve all areas.
You may be a delivery superstar, but relying solely on your dazzling personality to
get you through a presentation will make your audience believe you are an
unprepared, disorganized mess. And you can be the most informed person in the
world about a particular subject, but if you write out your entire script on your
slideshow in bullet point format, your audience is going to sleep through your
speech. Focus on learning the importance of all three legs of the presentation

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stool, and work on developing a strong presentation that stands equally on all three
legs.

3. Delivering an informative topic will inevitably bore the audience.

Informative speeches are often difficult for students because they forget the
importance of creating engaging speech content.

“Use storytelling, but… make certain all of your stories relate to the central
focus of your speech.”
The most important way to improve your next informative speech is to realize that
a good presenter can talk about a ham sandwich and make audiences interested.
To improve informative topics, use storytelling, but make certain all of your stories
relate to the central focus of your speech. You can also incorporate audience
participation and interaction into your presentation. It’s also important that you
select an amazing topic that you are energetic and fired up to speak about, as your
passion will shine through.

4. Choosing bad topics.

Bad Habit leads directly into the fourth thing my students must un-learn.
Students often select “bad” topics. Examples of bad topics include tired, overdone
subjects such as capital punishment, abortion, fast food, violence in the media, gun
rights, etc. These tend to be bad topics because we’ve been hearing the exact same
arguments (for or against) for 20 years, and the presenter rarely offers anything
new to the audience. Thus, the message is boring. Another example of a bad topic
would be a topic the student isn’t personally invested in or connected to. Passion
in delivery can only come through when there is a true connection between the
student and the topic.
Delivery should be as natural as possible. Why, then, do students write out an
entire script and read that script for their presentation? When you read your
speech, you bore your audience.”

“Reading a script from start to finish makes an audience feel cheated.”

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 Remember that overly slick, forced, or artificial presenters fall flat for audiences.
Reading a script from start to finish makes an audience feel cheated. The best
way to plan for a speech is to use an outline. Your outline will include main
points to keep you on track, but this outline will allow you to speak naturally and
from the heart. Still nervous that you might forget something? Practice! The
only way to remember your information is to practice your speech until you know
it well.
Consider these examples:
 Effective speakers share ideas with impact, insight and intensity. They
engage listeners with courage, conviction and confidence.
 Effective speakers convey their point of view confidently, cogently and
convincingly. They sew their thoughts with the threads of innovation,
inspiration and imagination.
 Effective speakers enrich, enlighten and entertain their audiences. They
strive for compatibility, capability and credibility.

Consider the message strategy and memorability in this example delivered at

the 2004 Republican Convention by then-First Lady Laura Bush:
Abraham Lincoln didn’t want to go to war, but he knew saving the union
required it. Franklin Roosevelt didn’t want to go to war, but he knew
defeating tyranny demanded it. And my husband didn’t want to go to war,
but he knew the safety and security of America and the world depended on it.

You can also use just two words to develop the refrain as Arnold
Schwarzenegger did at the 2004 Republican Convention:
America is back.
Back from the attack on our homeland.
Back from the attack on our economy.
Back from the attack on our way of life.

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Consider former President Ronald Reagan speaking on D-Day in 1984:
The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith
that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them
mercy on this beachhead, or on the next.

Consider this passage from Martin Luther King Jr’s famous “I Have a
Dream” speech:
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that.
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

Feel the fight from Winston Churchill’s speech given to the British Parliament
in June, 1940:
We shall fight on the seas and oceans.
We shall fight with growing confidence and strength in the air.
We shall fight to defend our land, whatever the cost may be.
We shall fight on the beaches.
We shall fight in the fields and in the streets.
We shall fight in the hills. We will never surrender!”

Finally, consider the cadence in the words of Lyndon Johnson in August, 1964
as he accepts a nomination for President of the United States:
Most Americans want medical care for older citizens. And so do I.
Most Americans want fair and stable prices for our farmers. And so do I.
Most Americans want a decent home in a decent neighborhood for all.

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And so do I.
Most Americans want an education for every child to the limit of his
ability. And so do I.
Most Americans want a job for every man who wants to work. And so do I.
Most Americans want a victory in our war against poverty. And so do I.
Most Americans want a continuing, expanding and growing prosper. And so
do I.

#4: Harmony
President John F. Kennedy used this rhythmic technique in his Inaugural
Address on January 20, 1961:
We will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, supportany
friend, and oppose any foe in order to assure the survival and success of
liberty.

Finally, consider the words of Reverend Billy Graham:

Humor helps us overlook the unbecoming, understand the
unconventional, tolerate the unpleasant, overcome the unexpected,
and outlast the unbearable.

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 Most individuals are unaware of the static they create when they communicate.
What do I mean by static? Static is created when what you say is inconsistent
with how you say it.
For example, suppose you’re having a conversation and the other person says, in a
boring, monotone voice, “I’m so excited to have this opportunity to work with
you.” Their facial expressions are lifeless. They never look you in the eye while
they’re fidgeting with a pen. Most likely you’d question their credibility and
knowledge, and not take action on what they have to say.

Communication Barrier #1: Lack of Enthusiasm

Do you really believe your product is better than the competition’s? Do you lookas
confident as you say you are? The benefits of your product will not be believable if
you don’t communicate your passion, enthusiasm, and commitment through your
facial expressions.

How to Avoid This Barrier: Show Some Enthusiasm

 Begin paying attention to the type of facial expressions you use and when you
use them. You may not be aware of when you frown, roll your eyes, or scowl.
 Make sure your facial expressions are appropriate based on your topic,
listeners and objective. When you’re smiling while communicating a serious
or negative message, you create a discrepancy between your facial expression
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 and your message. The same discrepancy applies when you’re communicating
a positive message without facial expressions.
 Once you have increased your awareness of facial expressions, practice the
skill of incorporating them into your message, matching the appropriate
expression to each situation. You wouldn’t want to have a stone-cold look on
your face when you are expressing your passion for your company’s products.

Communication Barrier #2: Distracting Gestures

The majority of individuals I work with fidget with their fingers, rings, pen — the
list goes on. If they don’t fidget, then they unconsciously talk with their hands.
Their elbows get locked at their sides and every gesture looks the same. Or they’ve
been told they talk with their hands so they hold their hands and do nothing.
Throughout the day, notice how you and others use gestures.
 Do you talk with your hands or gesture too often? If you’re constantly using
gestures, you’re not able to think on your feet and you’re creating static.
 Do your gestures have purpose?
 Ask for constructive feedback from friends, family and co-workers: “When I
gesture do I look like I’m talking with my hands?” “Do I use gestures too often
or not enough?”

How to Avoid This Barrier: Use Gestures for Emphasis

Confident speakers use gestures to add emphasis to their words. To gesture with
purpose, avoid locking your elbows at your sides or creating the same repetitious
gestures. Instead, expand your gestures from your sides and let your hands
emphasize and describe your message.
Add variety to your gestures by relaxing your arms back to your sides after you
complete a gesture.
“Static is created when what you say is inconsistent with how you say it.”

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 Benefits include:
 When your gestures create a visual for your listeners, they’ll remember more
information and will remember your message longer.
 Gestures will grab your listener’s attention.
 Gestures add energy and inflection to your voice and channel your adrenaline
and nervous energy.

Communication Barrier #3: Lack of Focus

The more you add information that isn’t necessary, the greater the risk your
listeners will misinterpret your point.

How to Avoid This Barrier: Stay Focused

1. When you begin to say too much and feel like a train about to derail, put the
brakes on and get yourself back on track … PAUSE!
2. Keep your objective in mind. Think in terms of what your listener needs to
know about what you want them to do, not what you want to tell them.
3. Put thought into your words.
4. Focus your message on three significant points.
5. Pay attention to your listener. Are they hanging on your every word or are they
dazed? Are they attentive or fidgeting?

Communication Barrier #4: Using PowerPoint as a Crutch

“The more you add information that isn’t necessary, the greater the risk your
listeners will misinterpret your point.”
PowerPoint isn’t designed to serve as your notes. The purpose of visual aids is to
enhance and support your message through pictures and illustrations.
How to Avoid This Barrier: Design Visual Aids, not Wordy Slides

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 How you design your visual aids will determine your ability to stay connected with
your listener.
 Create PowerPoint slides with more pictures and fewer words.
 Ask yourself, “Why am I using this PowerPoint slide?”
 Identify how your PowerPoint slide best supports your message based on the
following criteria:
 Listener expectations and needs.
 Listener experience and knowledge level.
 Objectives.
 Time frame.
 Number of participants.
 Save details for handouts. Your listeners will appreciate a conversational
approach with interaction accompanied by take-aways they may use as a
resource.
 Stay away from software overkill. If you’re clicking the mouse every few
seconds, your visual aids are the message and you are the backup.
 If you’ve been using the same PowerPoint design for more than six months,
it’s time to make a change!
 Stop disconnecting with your listener by talking to your visual aids. Only
speak when you see eyes! Pause when you refer to your visual aids and stay
connected with your listener.

Communication Barrier #5: Verbal Static

Um… what perception… like… do you create… you know… when you hear…
um… a speaker using… uh… words that clutter… you know… their language?
Knowledgeable, credible and confident are labels which probably don’t come to
mind.
As I travel the country, the number one challenge individuals need to overcome to
increase their influence is the ability to replace non-words with a pause. We use

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 non-words to buy ourselves time to think about what we want to say. These words
are distracting and your listener misses your message.

How to Avoid This Barrier: Eliminate Filler Words

“PowerPoint isn’t designed to serve as your notes. The purpose of visual aids
is to enhance and support your message through pictures and illustrations.”
Benefits for you:
 Think on your feet.
 Get to the point and avoid rambling.
 Take a relaxing breath.
 Hold your listener’s attention.
 Gain control over your message.
Benefits for listener:
 Hear, understand and respond.
 Act on what you say.
Communication Barrier #6
Lack of Eye Connection
The only way to build a relationship is through trust. When you forget what to say,
you will look at the ceiling, floor, PowerPoint slides or anywhere away from your
listener. When you disconnect you’ll say: “uh” “um” “so” “and”, etc.

How to Avoid This Barrier: Keep Your Eyes On Your Audience

When speaking to more than two individuals, connect with one individual for a
complete sentence or thought. Take a moment to pause as you transition your eyes
from one individual to another.
When rehearsing, ask your listener to immediately give you feedback when you
look away from them while you’re speaking.

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