Lose These Three Bad Speaking Habits

Whenever you give a speech or presentation of any kind, you want to win over your audience. To do so, you must lose three bad habits forever: Never apologize, confess or make excuses. If you do, you are saying to your audience “Don't expect a lot from me today because I'll disappoint you.”

Here's how to sidestep those speaking pitfalls:

• Avoid apologizing. Don't say “I'm sorry I didn't bring a sample, but I couldn't arrange it on such short notice.” Instead, cast your comment in a positive light. Example: “I'm working on getting you a sample, and I can deliver it next week.”
• Stop confessing. Don't say: “I'm so nervous” or “This is my first time speaking in public.” That only serves to increase the audience's scrutiny of your performance. Instead, proceed with your well-rehearsed speech, knowing that nervousness is far more evident to you than to your audience.
• Drop the excuses. Don't make excuses such as “I just found out about this presentation yesterday, so I didn't have as much time to prepare as I would have liked.”  Instead, put your energy into delivering the best possible presentation, and then stand behind your performance. Tell yourself “I did the best job I could given the circumstances.”