By Michele Trent
Public Speaking Coach

You’ve finished your presentation and you feel pretty good about how it went. The audience seemed engaged.

“Nothing to work on here,” you tell yourself … on to the next presentation!

Then from out of the blue, someone comments, “great job but the way you kept swaying back and forth nearly made me nauseous.”

What? You sway? You didn’t know that!

It’s often not until something is brought to your attention, that you can then make a change. This is one reason why coaching is valuable. You get an objective view of what you’re doing and the help to make corrections. One of our coaching techniques includes having you video yourself giving a presentation. This recording is not a judgment and it shouldn’t be scary. It’s simply feedback — feedback that will help you grow as a speaker. There is just no denying your idiosyncrasies when they are captured on video. As with any kind of unconscious habit, once you become aware of what you are doing, you can adjust and become better.

Today, it’s easier to record yourself than ever. A powerful video recorder sits in the palm of your hand thanks to advanced cell phone technology.  I bought a very simple iPhone stand from Amazon for less than $20. It even comes with a remote so I can start the recording from the stage and let it run. The sound isn’t great but you can hear it. Remember, this is to get feedback; this method is not for recording and publishing your presentation. For that, you will need to upgrade your equipment.

Whether you record yourself using your phone or the event organizers record you and give you a copy, the real secret here is actually watching the footage! Often, I’ll hear that someone has made a recording but never bothered to watch it. Carve out time to watch the recording shortly after you’ve given the presentation so it’s all still fresh in your mind. Watch it, without judgment, all the way through at normal speed. This is your first pass. This will give you an unbiased view of how you sound and look. This used to be all I did until I heard Toastmaster’s World Champion Speaker Mark Brown.  As part of his speaking discipline, he watches a video not once, but four times and in four different ways.

This is Mark’s recommendation and one I’ve adopted and encourage my clients to use as well. The process looks like this:

> Step 1:  Play the video with your eyes closed and just listen to your remarks.

> Step 2:  Watch with the sound off and focus on your gestures.

> Step 3:  Watch in slow motion and focus on your facial expressions only.

> Step 4:  Watch at normal speed with the volume up.

If you do this, you will uncover any distracting facial tics, gestures, or unnecessary filler words. Even a great presenter (Mark clearly is one!) will get even better by scrutinizing a video of his or her speeches.

Don’t use video as a tool to beat yourself up, use it as a tool to grow! Maybe you’ll find out that you sway from side to side and it’s distracting. That is an easy fix. However, unless you know you’re doing it, you’ll never fix it, and you won’t become the effective speaker you are meant to be.

To take your speaking skills to the next level faster than you thought possible, look into our Personal Coaching Packages.