Public Speaking Course:
Gimme Three Steps
Lynyrd Skynyrd sang a song that said, 'Gimme three steps, gimme three steps
mister, gimme three steps towards the door.' I try to remember that message
during a presentation. Here are some tips from my public speaking course, for
moving around on stage.
- Make sure that you have a purpose in your movement. If you take a
step, go at least three steps in that direction to tell the audience you are
moving for a reason. One of the biggest mistakes I see is when presenters
wander all over the stage or take a step here and a step there. This is
extremely distracting and annoying to the audience.
- When making an important point during your presentation, move toward the
audience. Three steps forward from center stage is a very powerful position
that will command attention (especially if you walked right off the stage
and fell on your face -- hahaha).
- Upstage (away from the audience) left and right are usually weak
positions. They can be used when you feel you are overpowering the audience
or when you want to take attention away from yourself and direct the
audience to do some task, such as talk among themselves.
- Upstage center is also a strong position, but one that makes you appear
disconnected from the audience. I usually avoid this position.
- Try walking right into the crowd. I do this when I want to be playful or
really get the audience involved. I might have to come down off the stage,
but it's worth it. Good public speakers will get really connected with the
audience. I am also sending a message that I really know what I am doing. I
don't need any notes. I don't need any visuals. I don't need anything but
interaction with them. They love it!
When you are out in the audience in a large room with lots of attendees be
aware that many people can't see you, so they will start to lose interest if you
stay out there too long. Don't worry as much if you are being projected on a
large screen and you have an on-the-ball and well-rehearsed video crew. (If you
don't alert the video crew ahead of time of your intentions, they will be
scrambling to follow you and it won't look good on the screen.) You will
probably be lit poorly too. When you are being projected, think about toning
down your overall movement because it's not easy to follow you wildly around the
stage with a video camera. These movements are best practiced in your public
speaking course in order to master their effectiveness.
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