As you try to fix your bad habits, do you sometimes feel like you are just running in circles?
This post is about improving your speaking and presenting. However, (yes that’s a but) would you be willing to listen to a story first?
I listen to Live The Day Radio. The show’s hosts, Dr. Rachelle Disbennett Lee and Christen Resmo, had previously interviewed Pastor Will Bowen of A Complaint Free World.
A Complaint Free World is based on the theory that you complain mostly out of habit and without being truly aware of all your complaining. By inviting you to wear one of their purple “Complaint Free World” bracelets, and switching to the other wrist when you notice yourself complaining, you will build awareness of that action. Increased awareness causes you to complain less. Complaining less causes you to feel like complaining less.
So what does this have to do with speaking or presenting?
Do you have a particular issue that you want to improve? Do you fill your speech with “Ah” too much? Do you wave your hands too much? Do you pace back and forth like a caged tiger, with no purpose? I used to tug on the sleeve of my sports coat.
You can use the same theory to work on improving your speaking skills. In a Toastmasters Club, every meeting has a member designated as the “Ah” counter. This person is the purple bracelet around the wrist of every speaker’s wrist. The “Ah” counter builds awareness of the ahs in our speaking.
If you want to improve a bad habit you display in your presentations, find your purple bracelet. Find a way to focus on that one habit and increase your awareness of when it’s occurring. As you increase awareness, you will decrease instances. As you decrease instances, you will decrease the habit.
Would you share with me, some of the habits you would like to improve?
