Use Of The Stage

It is important to move with purpose. You don't want to just wonder from spot to spot.

This can be very distracting to your audience.

You need to develop your neutral stance, how you stand when you are not moving your hands or your feet. This can be very hard. As a hyper active person it is extremely difficult for me to stand still. I would find myself just moving from side to side, swaying back and forth or just wondering around.

To break this habit, I would practice giving my speech or presentation just standing still, not moving my feet, not moving my hands, just standing.

Try standing in front of a mirror for 5 minutes.

This will give you a feel for what it is like. Then take a look at your speech or presenta-tion and see if you have any action or movement words. These are good times to move from one location to another.

Another good way to move on stage is with a time-line.

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In America we read time from left to right. When you are standing in front of an audience, you are facing them so you have to move from your right to your left, like a jazzercise instructor, mirroring what your audience will see.

As time progresses in your speech or presentation, move to your left.

Now that we have your feet movement down, let's talk about your hands. My Grandmother use to say "If we tie down your hands, you will not be able to talk". Does that sound familiar to you? Learning to be comfortable with my hands just naturally hanging by my side was very difficult.

Again practice doing an entire speech or presentation with your hands just hanging by your side.

Then gradually add hand movement. When you do a jester, you want to be naturally not forced and you want then to be big, big enough for everyone to see, even the people in the very back of the room.

Just pay attention to when a gesture will help to communication your message.

When you can have your hand and foot movement aid in your communication rather than detract from your message, your audience will be able and more willing to focus on you message.

The next time you take the stage, have a plan, map out your speech and use the stage as one of your tools in your SDK (Speaker Development Kit).