Public speaking for pitching
Last night I watched an episode of Dragons’ Den, where an applicant pitched for business investment. Her performance did not impress the Dragons, who were rude to her in their reaction to her proposal. Following the roasting, one of them said “You look uncomfortable. Are you feeling uncomfortable? Because you should be.” The Dragons were reacting not only to what they had heard but to what they had seen of the speaker, whose performance did not impress. Clearly very nervous and not in control of her breathing, speech or body language, the impression she gave was chaotic.
Nerves
Each applicant must climb the staircase into the Den and launch into their speech. She said in an interview that while waiting at the bottom of the stairs she had been ‘shaking like a leaf’, but felt much better once she had reached the top ready to begin her speech. Here her adrenaline was acting as fuel making her muscles shake and tremble – as her entire system was telling her Run! Hit things! Fight! The exercise and physical exertion of climbing the stairs were making her feel better because she had started to use that fuel for its intended purpose – action. But the downside is that climbing stairs requires some exertion, with the result that by the time she had reached the top of the stairs she was out of breath and never fully regained control.
Breathing, posture and voice
A speaker must control breathing – or controls nothing.
If a speaker is ‘centred’, gaining control over their breathing, relaxation, posture and stance, they are more likely to be in control of their thinking and behaviour.
Posture matters; an elegant poise gives an impression of high status, creating a good impression, triggering positive feedback from the audience and so boosting the speaker’s confidence.
Expression and eye contact matter; if used well, the audience will then begin to feel more confidence in the speaker.
And of course speech matters, and speech is powered by breathing. A poor performance, where the speaker is out of breath, speaking too fast, trembling, gabbling, monotonous and dull, leaving no pauses for the audience to listen and think can only leave a bad impression.
In business presentations, whether pitching for funding and investment, seeking a job or promotion or asking for support and agreement, the speaker wants something from the audience, who must feel confident that the speaker can deliver something in return. Of course the words matter; but the way they are delivered are vital. Training and practice can help to improve the speaker’s performance.
No amount of public speaking training can make an idea good and viable if it isn’t to begin with. But some public speaking skills could at least have helped this hopeful pitcher to give a more polished performance – and saved her from the indignity of that remark.
Speaking Well In Public provides business training courses in public speaking at all levels. Contact us and we’ll be pleased to discuss your needs.