You don’t want to be a boring speaker, do you?
A couple of weeks ago, I watched 172 speeches.
Today, you will learn the top 2 boring phrases that many of the speakers used. Phrases you can avoid!
First, a little background.
All the speakers had been my students in a 4-session hybrid class on presentation skills (some were in-person in Boulder Colorado, some were virtual via Zoom, and all were in the banking industry). To pass the class, they were to upload a speech that met the following criteria:
⎯ Met time requirements: 3 minutes to 5 minutes 30 seconds
⎯ Had an attention-getting opening (e.g., question, story, quote, startling statistic).
⎯ Had ONE main point (OK to have supporting points).
⎯ Included at least one story/case study.
⎯ Ended with a call-to-action.
Just by meeting the criteria, most had interesting speeches. However, 2 “boring phrases” were uttered by about 1/3 of the students:
Boring phrase #1: “How many of you have ever . . .?”
Boring phrase #2: “Here’s a story . . .” (or other variations of the speaker announcing that they would be telling a story)
I take full responsibility for those boring phrases, as I had not specifically mentioned them as phrases to avoid. Lesson learned. They are now part of the curriculum.
But why are those phrases boring, and how can you avoid them?
Boring phrase #1: “How many of you have ever . . .?”
This phrase is boring because it is not personal, not something you would ever say to one person in conversation. If you and I were talking and I said to you, “How many of you have ever fallen asleep listening to a speaker?” You’d look around and wonder where the other people were that I was talking to. It wouldn’t seem like I was talking directly to you. On a one-on-one conversation, or to make each member of the audience feel as if I were speaking directly to them, I would say, “Have you ever fallen asleep listening to a speaker?”
You can avoid this phrase by simply speaking as if you are speaking to one person. Change “How many of you have ever . . .?” to “Have you ever . . .?”
Boring phrase #2: “Here’s a story . . .”
This phrase is boring because you are announcing you are going to tell a story. Instead of saying, “Here’s a story about when I was a child and I learned an important lesson,” just jump into the story: “When I was a child, I learned an important lesson . . .”
You can learn important lessons from my experience. Don’t be boring! Avoid the boring phrases “How many of you have ever . . .?” and “Here’s a story . . .”