Remove all distractions

Few things can affect the effectiveness of your speech like unwanted distractions do. Unwanted distractions should not be confused with unexpected distractions.

An unexpected distraction is something that occurs during your speech, that you couldn't prevent. For example, a fire alarm, or somebody sneezes or becomes ill as you speak. Those types of distractions are uncontrollable. It's useful to have some way to address them when they do occur, but it is very difficult to prevent them.

An unwanted distraction is something that happens as you speak, that takes your audience's attention away from what you say and diverts it to something else. The difference here is that you have control over these types of distractions. Allow me to illustrate.

A few years ago I was asked to do a speech for a Toastmasters club's inauguration. For some reason, no matter what I came up with during my preparation, it always felt flat to me. So a few hours before T-time, I still had nothing to show for my efforts.

Finally, out of desperation, I took my best points and structured them to deliver a decent speech. Not a great speech, mind you, but enough to keep them awake and not make it tough for the speakers after me.

Because of the short time span before the moment I was to deliver the speech, I was afraid of forgetting my thoughts. So I decided to write out my structure... in the palm of my hand. My plan was to use it as a joke, if needed.

I gave my speech, it was well received and the one negative comment I received was: "I kept on looking at the palm of your hands, wondering what all that writing was about!"

Notice that I created an unwanted distraction that I could easily have avoided.

Other types of distractions include:

Tics: any repetitive gesture that you do out of habit or unconsciously. For example, scratching your nose, playing in your hair, playing with jewelry, etc.
Crutch words: these are words that you repeat over and over again, but which add no meaning to what you are saying. Typical examples include: like, ahhhh, ummmm, you know.
Pocket change: men are especially guilty of this. You have some change in your pocket and you either play with it or it jingles as you walk. Empty your pockets before taking the stage.
Clothing: Clothing has an effect on your audience. Don't make it about your clothes, make it about the value that you deliver.

How do you prevent these distractions? Recording yourself when you speak and watching the recording afterwards can help immensely. In a future newsletter, I'll explain a process you can use to do this effectively.

You also should take a good look at yourself in a mirror to make sure nothing is too distracting (for example, seeing your undergarments through your clothes).

Distractions will always be part of your speaking and you can't prepare for every single type of distraction. However, some distractions are completely under your control and you need to eliminate them in order to deliver an effective speech.