There are a lot of truths when it comes to learning effective business communication but there are also a lot of myths, a lot of things which simply aren’t true.
Speaking to Groups
When speaking to a crowded audience or a room full of people; you need to look over them. This in fact a myth; you need to make eye contact no matter how big or small your audience is. Your audience will be watching you and if they see you looking over them it will make it seem like you feel superior to them.
Looking over your audience will cause them audience to not listen to you at all. If you lose the focus of your audience you are not communicating very well.
Body Language
Looking at body language is the best way to communicate, this is a myth. You need to hear them and the tone of voice they have. This way you know what you are dealing with, some people are nervous by nature or always look mad when they are actually happy. This is where the saying looks can be deceiving applies.
Do not always try to judge someone’s mood by their body language, doing this means you will not interpret the conversation wrong based on one wrong eye twitch.
For many, public speaking is the number one fear. There is no reason to fear speaking in public. It is not something you die or get hurt from. Yes, it is scary to get up in front of so many people and try to speak but you will survive.
Do not picture everyone naked because that can have you laughing so hard you cannot speak. That will be a little embarrassing. You need to just speak, look every person in the eye and talk like it’s just the two of you in the room.
The more information you add to your speech or the more time you take; the more effective you will be. Oh, this is such a myth. Stay to the point, try not to add too many words that you think will make you sound smarter. This will annoy and bore your listeners. They don’t want to sit all day and listen to you ramble; they want you get to it and be done.
So just state the facts and move forward, you will get more from a crowd if you get to the point and let them go. People these days are very busy and are constantly on the go so you get more from being brief.
Being funny is the perfect way to start a presentation, myth. You may think you are funny, but other people may not think so. So if you start off a presentation with a joke and it is not funny; that will make for an awkward presentation. If you are going to be funny; let it flow naturally. This way you will actually get laughs. No speech will ever be perfect, so don’t even try. Things will fall into place and be perfectly imperfect.
Guest post by Mark Stubbles. Mark once spoke at an event with 1500 people and made a mess of it :(. He writes for Interact, experts in business communication.
Featured images: image source
Marty Huggins
