Some speakers wander the stage with what seems like no purpose.
They walk back and forth across the front of the stage or simply
meander from place to place. This can distract the audience. In fact,
early in my speaking career, I paced back and forth to get rid of my
nervous energy. This wasn’t a bad idea, considering how much my
legs would shake, so I wasn’t sure if I could stand in one spot, anyway.
I was given some feedback recommending that I cut back on
some of my movements. I misinterpreted the feedback and stood in
the same spot. I no longer distracted the audience, but I appeared
even more upright and uptight than when I was pacing. I needed to
find a happy medium if I wanted to get my messages across to the
audience.
I began to study other speakers’ movement. I found out that the
effective ones casually walked the stage but were not pacing. They
stopped on key points and the movement had a nice, even flow. They
always seemed to know how to navigate the stage without distracting
the audience or enabling us to predict their every move. The nature of
the walk was the fundamental difference. The movement had purpose
but remained as natural as walking down the street. The casual-walk-with-
friends approach solved my need to walk the stage to release my
nervous energy, and at the same time made me appear as if we were
just having a conversation while walking the dog.
Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):
- Now What? The Ultimate Graduation Gift for Professional Success
- Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
- Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
- The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
- From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
- The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood
See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com. Book , eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only) purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com