How to stop waffling in meetings and talk with poise and confidence

Picture the scene.

You’re in a meeting and you’ve been waiting for your turn to speak.

You know it’s all about good communication skills and that your public speaking is what can make or break you.

And there are people in this meeting that you want impress.

And then it happens.

It’s your turn.

And all eyes are on you.

And you babble.

It all comes out too fast and it’s too much for people to follow and understand, and even although you can feel things slipping, you keep on talking until you’ve finished what you wanted to say and then you wish you could it all again because there’s one thing that you missed.

Pausing.

That small and simple thing that makes a huge difference.

Pausing.

That thing that boosts gravitas, leadership, and executive presence.

Has the situation I’ve described above ever happened to you?

Don’t worry. You’re human.

And public speaking nerves can get the better of us from time to time.

But here’s a little trick that you can use.

And you’ll need a pink pencil for it.

Now, that’s got you curious, hasn’t it?

So.

This is what you do.

Look over the notes you’ve got for the meeting, the presentation or the Important Conversation.

And read them with this question in mind: “Where do I want to include a pause?”

Pauses can help with a few things.

1. They can help people understand new information. New needs more time - remember your first driving lesson? Now, you’re with me!

2. They can help people wrap their head around something that is complicated. Note, complicated to them might not be complicated to you.

3. They can help people take a breath to absorb painful news e.g. there’s going to be 12% budget cuts.

4. They can add drama and tension to your point.

So, with those excellent things in mind that pauses bring read over your notes.

When you see a bit where you’d like to pause, draw a pink line there.

And that, my friend, is your pink pause line.

Meaning that even if you just glance at your notes/bullet points/scribbles/doodles/mindmap just seeing that pink line will give you a gentle nudge.

‘Hey!” it says.

Remember and pause here.

Your audience will love you for it.

They will.

Pauses are powerful.

Where can you use next use pauses?

And how soon can you get your hands on a pink pencil to start doing this?