Leadership: Leaders, Followers, Environments

Mannerisms and other distractions

A word about mannerisms and nerves is in order. There is no good substitute for experience and practice. There's an element of showmanship as well, with appropriate pauses, timing, and inflections. Good speakers are both knowledgeable about the subject and experienced at delivering a message; most superb speakers develop their speaking talents over many years.³⁹ If you have an opportunity to videotape one of your presentations, do it. It might be painful to view yourself, but it is usually very useful.

The obvious advice about mannerisms is to avoid them. This includes distracting movements and obnoxious phrasing. A “talking head” is a phrase that describes TV announcers who talk directly into the cameras and whose upper bodies are all that is shown on the screen.⁴⁰ What is distinctive about a talking head? Nothing. The goal of TV newscasters and readers is to deliver a message; they want nothing to get in the way. Imagine the evening news being delivered by a manic individual with lots of flamboyant jewelry. You'd remember very little about the news. The same applies to public speakers. Good public speakers focus on the audience and avoid the following:

• Excessive arm or body movement
• Pacing back and forth vigorously or planting feet in one place and not moving
• Not making some eye contact with the audience (e.g., reading from notes or screen)
• Hands in the pockets, jingling keys or coins
• The “fig leaf” or the “reverse fig leaf” (keeping hands crossed ...