Public Speaking: Do You Overload Your Listeners?

Speaking with passion is a plus - whether talking with a prospective client, or doing a presentation. Letting your passion shine through to people is important, absolutely. Maybe even critical. Enthusiasm ignites from that passion, and makes you sparkle. People love that! Enthusiasm is contagious, so they fire up some good feelings of their own. Now you've got some ideal basic ingredients for a productive business communication. Here's The Tricky Part You need to let the enthusiasm flow, but restrain your information. That means pull the reins in on how much you have to say. If you don't, you risk losing the attention of your audience. You've been on the receiving end of TMI, haven't you? You like that line of products and the guy tries to quickly tell you about all 15 items they carry. Yikes! By the time he's done, YOU'RE out of breath just trying to keep up with the information. As for workshops, I attended one where the presenter obviously knew her stuff. But in her eage ess to fully educate us, she tried to jam about 8 hours of education into 2 hours. I came away confused and disappointed because I couldn't take notes fast enough to keep up. And I didn't fully understand any of it. These are common mistakes -- especially for new speakers and folks freshly start out in business. They're just so excited, they want to share it ALL. What's Going On Here? When you deliver too much information, the results are:

• There's not enough time for each piece of knowledge to settle in.
• The listener has no time to close one topic file in his brain before you open another one.
• There's no time for questions to formulate.
• Your listener feels overwhelmed and confused.
• You don't accomplish your mission - either to educate or to sell.

Better Alte atives Here are some things you can try instead to get the results you want.

• Slow down.
• Before you start, make it clear there's more to share. Schedule a second conversation or a multi-part workshop right from the beginning.
• Only cover the main points and eliminate all the detail.... OR
• Pick 2-3 main points and go deep with them, filling in the details.

You'll be more relaxed without feeling driven to cover everything in a limited time. Your audience will relax as well, more receptive to hear what you have to say.