As We Speak by Peter Meyers & Shann Nix

Author:Peter Meyers & Shann Nix [Meyers, Peter & Nix, Shann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781439153055
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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MASTER TIP: Do not hold notes in front of you with both hands.

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This is the most common mistake most speakers make when using notes. It creates a barrier between you and the audience, and the body language it conveys is that you feel the need to protect yourself. Holding notes in front of you also has the effect of cutting off a percentage of the audience—from certain points of view, it’s going to look as if someone dropped a shade in front of you, and they won’t be able to see you.

Instead, put the notes down on the podium or in an inner pocket, so that your hands are free to gesture. If you find that it’s necessary to hold the notes, hold them with one hand, and make sure that the other hand is free. Don’t allow the free hand to drift into a pocket. If you do put your notes in your pocket, practice reaching in and pulling them out before you go onstage. Wear a jacket with an appropriate inside pocket. Some pockets are so deep that it will look like you’re digging down into your shirt to get hold of the cards. Actors know this: rehearse your props. A prop needs to come smoothly into your hand the moment it is needed, without fumbling or falling.

Don’t read the notecard out loud—you’re using it as a memory prompt, a springboard. If you’re not traveling around a lot onstage, try holding the notecards in one position. Your eyes will create an internal map of where you were on the page last time you looked. When you look back, your eyes will go automatically to the exact spot where you left off. If you are moving around the stage, try leaving one finger on the place where you left off, so that you don’t lose your place. A final word about notes: always use notecards or a notepad with a back, never just loose paper. When you’re nervous, your hands will shake—and loose paper exaggerates this movement, flapping like a noisy sail and drawing everyone’s attention.

It’s also perfectly acceptable to use your slides as a series of prompts, to remind you of your material. Unfortunately the most common mistake people make is to fall into the habit of simply reading the text to your listeners off your sides. Please, we beg you, don’t do this. If all you’re going to do is read out loud, send them the slide deck and stay home. Anyone who has a second-grade education can read faster than you can talk, so you’re telling them something for the second time. Boring!

If you do have a few words of text or a compelling image on your slide as a memory prompt, upon which you can then elaborate, try to work with the monitor in front of you, rather than turning your back to the audience and reading the text off the wall. Monitors in this situation can be easily placed on the floor.

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