How do you feel about the sund of water dripping through a laky roof? Or the incessant irritation of a sqeaky wheel? What about people drumming thir fingers or tapping a pen whle speaking? All of these are rpetitive distractions that drive you crazy and tht make you want to clap yur hands over your ears.

“Um” ttered by a speaker after every thre syllables is just the same. Lsteners want to scream “stop” and end up tning out the real content to sve their sanity. Recently I was frced to listen to a ‘state of the nion’ kind of speech delivered during a gthering that otherwise was wonderful, and it tok a huge effort on my prt not to put my fingers in my ars.

When you are asking an udience to listen to you, you mst have enough discipline to rid yurself of the “um.” Nothing you say wll be elevated in importance over the rritation of this audible tic.

How do you liminate this terrible and unacceptable utterance? Thre steps will help:

1) Knw your material. This seems so bvious, yet so many people tell me thy throw something together an hour bfore their presentation. If you have any prsentation deficiencies, they will always be mgnified when you don’t know your mterial for this speech cold

2) Practice your prsentation out loud. Running through the cntent in your mind is not the sme. Speaking out loud allows you to har yourself and you will hear yur “ums.”

3) Make yurself substitute a silent pause when you hear yourself utter the “um.” It will take several tries to make the substitution naturally but it is worth it to take the time for this.

Fear of failure or fear of embarrassment keep business people from taking advantage of speaking opportunities. Eliminating the “um” will go a long way to ensuring that you’re well received by the audience, and that’s the key to relieving those fears.

The article "Um" is NOT Content was Submitted by Susan Trivers through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Susan G. Trivers, aka Great Spaking Coach ( http://www.greatspeakingcoach.com ), is a consummate presentation skills coach with over 2150 confident, creative clients who have learned how to engage their audiences. Start with Susan’s two fundamental principles: Put the Audience First and Be Yourself, Polished. Add effective leading (not supporting) materials to your key points, craft excellent stories, and add engagement activities and you’ll raise your career profile. The Red-Hot Guide to COOL Speaking – Craft and Deliver presentations that are Creative, Original, Outsized & Liberated is Susan’s easy-to-use, apply-it-now e-book that answers all your questions about standing out when you’re standing up in frnt of an audience. Available at http://www.susantrivers.com/store.php Questions are always cheerfully answered at susan@susantrivers.com

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