Feedback
I believe that asking for and acting on objective feedbackis the best way to improve your speaking skills. In our Excellence in Speaking Institute (ESI), wecall this 20/20 feedback.
Honest, objective feedback helps you identify your strengthsand weaknesses, so that you can enhance the former andrepair the latter. Also, looking for the strengths as wellas the weaknesses helps make the feedback more balanced andfeel less confrontational. You have to use your activelistening skills to really hear and internalize the feedback
A course like ESI or ESI-Advanced gives you the best possible feedback. But if you need a quick dose, get a friend with a camcorder to videotape you doing a presentation or two. Then, together go through the videotape to determine your strengths and weaknesses from the checklist below.
- Rambling. Do you have a clear road map of where you aregoing and do you follow it?
- Monotone. Are you using vocal variety, varying your pitch,tone and volume to keep the presentation interesting?
- Topic Knowledge. Do you have a good grasp of the topic?
- Energy, Passion. Are you pumped up or pooped out?
- Non-Words. Um, do you, uh, throw in a lot of, you know, um,non-words?
- Eye Contact. Do you really look at and connect with themembers of the audience?
- Body Language. Do you distract your audience by wandering,fidgeting or pacing?
- Appropriate Material. Do you use profanity or questionablehumor?
- Preparation. When it's show time, are you ready for yourclose-up, or are you winging it?
Get feedback on these items and I guarantee that you willimprove your presentation skills. Not only does 20/20feedback work to help improve speaking skills, it works forcompanies, too.
Ty Boyd, CEO of Ty Boyd Executive Learning Systems(
http://www.tyboyd.com), is in the Broadcast Hall of Fame and the Speakers Hall of Fame. He has taught presentation skills to Fortune 1000 executives in more than 40 countries. His Excellence In SpeakingInstitute celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2005.
