Presentations

Greetings,
Here are some observations and with regards to presentation styles/methods I have noticed.

1) Many Singaporeans (and this is of course a generalization to some extent) have a tendency to rely on many fillers in their presentations. What exactly are "fillers"? To me, they are any words or slang that people say either in between phrases/clauses in speech or said simply because they have run out of other things to say. More pertaining to Singaporeans are the usage of the words "Actually", "Basically", "Uh/Em". Many times the speaker himself is unaware of the tendency, or even reliance on these words spoken. While it may not be so evident to the speaker, it can be very distracting to the audience, especially if it turns the attention of the listener to simply counting how many times he repeats a certain word (though to the humor of the audience, this detracts his attention and the message is not gotten across).

Personally, I do notice (upon retrospection) that I have a slight tendency to use 'um's in my sentences.

How then to overcome this problem? Well, one method is to listen to other people's critiques about your own presentation. Though it may not be the most pleasant of experiences, it does open your eyes to the actual distractions you are causing to your audience. What next? If possible, and I highly do recommend, is to watch a video of yourself presenting to a live audience. Watch yourself in action, bearing in mind the critiques of your friends. Only after you can consciously change your mannerisms that real improvements can be made.

2) Again another generalization, but I do notice Singaporeans in general find their hands and body not knowing what to do during a presentation. What I mean is that they range from the two extremes: Being entirely rigid or excessively moving about (Though more so the former than the latter). I see this as a lack of engagement with the audience. Even behind a podium, there are options to show enthusiasm (Just look at Bill Clinton during his DNC rally: A fine example of audience engagement).

As for myself, I do make an effort to engage the audience, though I do find a problem with "meaningless hand movements". What I mean is my hands are moving in an attempt to show emphasis on a point, instead they come across as a very sloppy movement.

Again, to overcome rigidity or too much movement is to be aware of your own shortcomings and intentionally working to correct them each time you have the opportunity to speak in public or to an audience. People advocate practicing in front of the mirror to see for yourself certain presenting habits that you may have. While I agree with it, I feel that there is a limit to its effectiveness, after all the mirror presents far less stress and nervousness than a live audience and that is when the true habits will surface: in front of many pairs of eyes who catch every single detail of your presentation.

Public speaking is (as I'm told) the number 1 fear of the general population. Now imagine you conquering what so many other people in the world dread - That is real strength. Cheers to speaking well!