Eight of the most serious mistakes a keynote speaker can make

Have you ever missed the conference during the speaker's speech? And how can you avoid this fate, if you should speak next? We suggest that you review the speaker's mistakes, so that you can be sure that you do not repeat them.

1. Weak start

The first impression when you appear on the stage is very important. It must be positive and alive. Many speakers make a very weak start. They stand and mutter the first sentence or, worse, start apologizing. The audience expects an interesting, informative and professional speaker, so you need to meet these requirements.

2. Excessive use of slides

Slides can be very useful, especially in order to demonstrate graphics or images. But many speakers overload their presentations with an excessive number of slides that contain unnecessary information. Further, when the speaker reads the slide, the audience also begins to read it and does not pay much attention to the speaker.

3. There is no clarity of thought

Very often the speakers try to cover too much material and overload the audience with data. As a result, there are a lot of different messages, but the topic never becomes clear. Ideally, your report should have a central idea and structure that conveys this idea. For example, you can start a conversation with a problem, then tell her story, suggest a solution and end your speech with a call to action - something that you expect from listeners.

4. There is no hobby

Many performances are crowded with graphs, facts, data and statistics without any stories. In its absence, many listeners report may seem very boring. Include in your speech one or two stories that are relevant to listeners. This will help preserve their interest. For example, if you talk about how to improve customer service, you do not need to issue only interest and recommendations. Tell a story about someone who does provide a good service, describe them and the situation, and your report will come to life.

5. Lack of enthusiasm

The speaker, who lacks enthusiasm, will not be able to call him and the audience. Many speakers turn out to be capable only of a dreary monotonous voice and read dry statements exactly according to the scenario. This is the perfect way to put an audience to sleep. Your role as a speaker is to inform and entertain. Look into the audience's eyes and speak from the heart, you can walk on stage (but not too much) and diversify your voice. Try to use humor or something unusual or interesting, but such things should be related to the topic.

6. Too much "me" and not enough "you"

A very big mistake is to talk only about yourself, your company, your questions and achievements. Audiences are interested in her problems, so you should speak for her. If you give examples from your company, you should learn from the above and lessons that are relevant and useful for listeners. Count how many times you say "I", "we" and how many times "you".

7. Lack of rehearsal

Many speakers make elementary errors at this stage. They fight with equipment, slides, and from this it becomes clear that they did not rehearse. Before speaking, rehearse your speech so that you are confident in every aspect of it. On the day of the event, you should check all the equipment prior to your performance.

8. Overrun of time

This is the sin of many speakers. The organizers of the event and the audience will not appreciate the speaker, who overspends the time allotted to him. The speaker only aggravates the error, trying to squeeze in the last minutes all the slides prepared. If you were given 45 minutes to speak, practice speaking only 40 minutes. Thus, you can finish your performance in a strong confident manner, and you will have enough time to voice a key message. And if you have time, you can always offer to answer the questions.

Rehearse your performance and make it confident and enthusiastic. Then you can enjoy it, just like the audience.