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3 Worst Public Speaking Mannerisms - Are You Guilty?

September 16th, 2008

The moment is upon you - you have rehearsed your carefully written speech. You understand your audience’s interestes and you know their expectations. You’ve even gone the extra mile and have researched the demographic make-up of the assembled company. All you need to do now is perform a few vocal warm-up exercises and step out onto the stage.

Surely nothing could go wrong? Your delivery is smooth and engaging yet the audience seems to be quite distracted.

It could only be - your irritating mannerisms.

But it can’t be! You don’t have any annoying mannerisms - do you?

Time after time, carefully prepared presentations are spoilt by speakers being oblivious to their mannerisms whilst on stage - unconsious habits that serve only to distract the audience from what is being said and focus their attention on your irritating actions.

Are you guilty of any of the following irritating habits? Be honest with yourself or better still, ask a trusted friend to tell you which annoying mannerisms you should look out for.

1. Are you a Leaner and Swayer? Speakers who continually shift their weight from one foot to the other, swaying first one way, then another will certainly make their audience feel truly giddy. Others will show a preference to rock forward and backwards from heel to toe as they deliver their speech. Of course, the speaker is oblivious to these movements but the audience certainly won’t be! Make an effort to become aware of your balance when speaking and work towards remaining still and upright.

2. Are you a Scratcher or Ear Puller? Many speakers put great effort into appearing to be well educated and a deep thinker and frequently this will give rise to habitual touching of an ear or scratch of the head to give weight to that image. Sub-consciously too, these actions bring comfort and calm frayed nerves and so are common mannerisms. Always remember though, scratching is catching and before long you’ll have the whole audience scratching too!

3. Are You an N.B. & C.? This is polite code for a Nose Blower and Cougher. These irritating mannerisms indicate that the speaker has developed a nervous habit which makes them appear to be suffering from a heavy cold. Their frequent clearing of the throat and wiping of the nose will annoy the audience and certainly frighten any hypochondriac who may be sitting in the front row!

If you can recognise yourself in this category, train yourself to take a sip of water whenever you feel the need to clear your throat and break yourself of this irritating mannerism.

We all display little mannerisms and in any other walk of life they won’t usually matter at all. However, if you are speaking publically in front of an audience, your mannerisms - or lack of them - could make the difference between being remembered as a particularly accomplished public speaker, or a very annoying one.

Which one would you prefer to be?

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