Spreaker addressing his audienceIf you are like me, from time to time you find yourself presenting to groups of people. It may be other people in your ministry, supporters, community leaders, those in your church, or even just a group of friends. Would you like to be more effective in your speaking?

My friend Phil Cooke quoted Roger Ailes in a recent communication piece. You may know Mr. Ailes as the former President of Fox News in the U.S. Prior to that, he had a corporate communications firm, consulting and advising major corporate CEO’s, celebrities, and even folks like President Ronald Reagan.

In his book, You Are the Message, Ailes cites 10 common communication problems that those who speak publicly experience. See how many of these are issues with you.

1. Lack of initial rapport with listeners.

2. Stiffness or woodenness in the use of the body.

3. Presentation of material is intellectually oriented; speaker forgets to involve the audience emotionally.

4. Speaker seems uncomfortable because of fear of failure.

5. Poor use of eye contact and facial expression.

6. Lack of humor.

7. Speech direction and intent is unclear due to improper preparation.

8. Inability to use silence for impact.

9. Lack of energy, causing inappropriate pitch pattern, speech rate, and volume.

10. Use of boring language and lack of interesting material.

Numbers three and seven jumped out at me. But I really liked number eight. The use of silence for impact is a great tool when used effectively. I know, for those of us who live and breathe radio, silence is not golden. But it can be when used to drive home a point, or to make the listener think about what was just said.

Is there anything there on that list that you can work on before your next presentation?