Don’t Lean on Your “Crutch” Words
We have all experienced this: You have a speaker who gives a presentation that could be great, but it becomes one long jumble of words. Instead of taking those key pauses to let the audience digest the information or to create some dramatic effect, every moment of hesitation is filled with a “crutch” word. Maybe it happens to you.
A crutch word is a bad habit in your speaking style that you use when you are nervous, to avoid uncomfortable silence or as filler when you cannot remember what to say next. This can be “Ahhh”, “Ummm”, “You Know”, “Like” or other sounds to fill up the space.
Identifying and eliminating crutch words is one of the best ways to improve yourself as a speaker. Not only does it display confidence to your audience, but it becomes easier to understand you and to get your message across. It isn’t easy to do, but if you can throw out those um’s and ah’s you are one step closer to winning over the audience.
Don’t Fear the Silence
Um’s and ah’s come for many reasons, but primarily, because as a speaker, you naturally want to avoid silence. We are conditioned for two-way conversations. When you pause, you let the other person speak and then get on with the conversation. In front of an audience, it is only you talking and the silence can be very frightening and cause a case of the Ummmms.
Here are some suggestions for conquering the crutch in public speaking and to become a more polished speaker:
Realize That Silence is a Good Thing! Very few speakers talk too slowly with too many pauses. Pauses help to emphasize points and give listeners time to understand what you are talking about. Remember, although you may be an international expert and have a memorized speech, the audience has to process what you say and sometimes to translate it to their own language
Practice, Practice, Practice! – You should know your presentation backwards and forwards before giving it. If you spend all your time thinking of what to say next, you can’t put emphasis on avoiding crutch words. Once you eliminate crutch words you can deliver your speeches more effectively, but it is hard to cut the um’s if you aren’t prepared.
Breathe In, Not Out – When you feel the temptation to ummm your way through a point, breathe in.This is a great technique to get rid of the Umms! This may add a pause to your presentation, but you probably could use a few more pauses anyway, and it will be far better than annoying crutch words which merge sentences together and distract from your message.
Avoid them in Daily Conversation – You are speaking all the time throughout the day. Watch your crutch words when chatting with business colleagues, friends and family. Be aware of it and try to stamp it out in everyday conversation and that will spill over onto the stage – if you follow all the other points of this list!
Get a Counter – If you’re giving an important speech, get a friend to listen to your speech and have him/her count the amount of times you utter an um or ah. Keeping numbers makes you (painfully) aware of when you’re using these speech-killers.
Comma = 1 pause – Make a rule for yourself when preparing and rehearsing your speech. Every comma you encounter should have a built in pause attached to it. You might have a tendency to want to run through a list of ten items as if they were one thought. Don’t do that! Force yourself to give a short count in between each item. Your audience will thank you for the added pauses which emphasize key points and provide clarity.
Period = 2 pauses – Another rule you can follow is this: the end of a sentence requires twice as much pause time. There is a time-delay between hearing your words and registering their meaning for English natives and even longer for non-native English speakers. Don`t overlook this step by blurring together your sentences.
Double Underline –On your speech notes, underline key words and phrases and double underline especially important ones. It helps you understand where to slow down and emphasize an individual word with your vocal variety, facial expressions, gestures and delivery. When you slow down to emphasize words, this reduces the temptation to inject crutch words in between.
If You Get Lost, Don`t Panic! – Um`s come in when you don`t have your next sentence ready. Your mind is still busy to pull out what you want to say next, so you have a strong urge to throw in a few um`s as filler until your brain produces the desired next line.. Don`t do this! Instead take a quick pause before moving on and breathe in instead of dropping an ummm.. The audience won`t notice and it will make your presentation run more smoothly.
Passion for Your Topic Cuts Crutch Words – Imagine that the presentation you have to give is the most important information your audience needs to hear. When you engage emotionally with your speech topic and are enthusiastic about it, it becomes easier to deliver key points and avoid crutch words. If you aren`t emotionally engaged, you might feel the need to preface your words with crutch words to downplay their importance.
Plan Tricky Parts – Know your introductions and conclusions WORD for WORD. Memorize these two parts before you even enter the room Also practice, repeatedly, any tricky parts of a presentation you might have difficulty explaining or feel unsure about. If you are preparing a business proposal and want to cover a sticky issue delicately, know that section inside and out (very well)…
Quality over Quantity – Presenting a speech is not really designed to deliver large volumes of information. The audience will have challenges to stay interested in listening to you – let alone learning something from you – and not interested to take in large amounts of information. Structure your speech with just a few take away points and set a clear structure for the presentation. Emphasize these few key points to your audience and repeat them. Do not fall into the trap to try to fit twenty minutes of information into a five minute speech, because a case of the ummms, is sure to follow.
So in conclusion, these 12 tips will help you identify and manage your crutch words and make you an outstanding speaker who flawlessly presents your information with passion and impact.
This article will appear on Free Tools Page shortly.
