Just yesterday I had a huge
Human Relations presentation. It was an hour long. Yes I was a bit nervous, but
I felt good. I knew ALL my material. When delivering, I felt confident with
what I was saying.
After getting my grade back, my
instructor told me that I did not have enough power behind my words. I used the
floor, I walked around, and I talked to the audience equally, but I lacked
power because I diminished my presentation by saying words just as "just"
and "little", etc. I didn't realize that I did it. And I found the
article that my instructor sent me after class very interesting.
There are many examples in which
women especially belittle themselves. Below I have listed examples that apply
to many women out there. Women belittle themselves…
1) By telling the audience
something will take "just a minute".
[NO] "Im just going to
quickly show you an example"
[YES} "Im am going to show
you an example"
2) By making a statement
sound like a question
"Women often raise the
pitch of their voice at the end of a sentence, making it sound like a question.
Listen to your own language and that of women around you, and you are likely to
notice this everywhere. Unsurprisingly, speaking a statement like a question
diminishes its power. Make statements sound like statements; drop the tone
lower at the end"
(Mohr, 2012)
3) By telling the audience
that you might be wrong with what you are going to say
When you speak and comment on
what people have to say by replying with “Im not sure if this applies but…” or “You
definitely know more about the subject than I do but…”
So, LADIES, please keep these things in mind when speaking. I am guilty of doing if without realizing it, and I'm sure...wait...I KNOW that you all do it too.
Retrieved from:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tara-sophia-mohr/8-voice-lessons-for-brill_b_1084041.html?ref=tw
Again, I am responding to your post! The topic on which you decided to blog about caught my attention because I too, had heard feedback on specific things that ladies should NOT do during a presentation.
ReplyDeleteWomen who cross their legs during a presentation is a big no no. Why? Because it shows that they lack confidence, it makes them look “smaller” and it gives the perception that they lack the knowledge on the topic they are speaking about. To capture the audience and convince them and sway them to believe the importance of your message, one must stand straight and without hunching over. Your feet must be shoulder width apart to show you have strong ground on your message. It also shows that you have authority over the room and that you have the most power in the room.
In addition to your comments, I feel that all these tips can be extremely beneficial, not only to women, but also to men. Some of these habits, along with others, are also picked up by men, not just women.
Great post MFC. It seems that a majority of students are taught what to do, as opposed to what not to do during presentations. To add to your list, I would like to suggest a few things that I have learned from my experiences during presentations (which reflect on both males & females).
ReplyDeleteUmm, and, so - Many students have the tendency to add words such as "umm, and, so" between sentences. These words are sometimes used to break any silence during the presentation. What it really does is communicate to the audience that they are not fully prepared for the presentation. Audience members can quickly pick out repetitive words used as filler. To avoid this issue, students should give themselves ample time to prepare for presentations.
Reading off a PowerPoint - Yes, a PowerPoint might be actually a handful tool when remembering key points during a presentation but many students often take advantage of its use. I have experienced many occasions where students concentrate on the PowerPoint too much and lose focus of their audience.
By not focusing on the audience, students cannot amplify their voices effectively in a large room. This occurs because presenters are projecting towards the projector or computer screen where the PowerPoint is located. To avoid this issue, students need to practice and keep in mind that they should be projecting their voice towards the audience.
Awesome post MFC. I will be passing on this article to the women in my life.
ReplyDeleteOne things I have noticed during presentations that is very annoying is the use of the word like. You know what i mean that person who says like 50 times in the span of 2 minuets.
I had a professor once say hand gestures can be distracting too. but i also had a supervisor encourage it to convey excitement and positivist. I guess this would be situation specific.
The same professor also told the ladies in my group to use super hold hair spray when giving presentations. To keep the hair from falling in their faces. Once again he said it was distracting because the speaker is always pushing her hair out of her face.