Fillers are killers — and why practice makes perfect

I’M just back from my sunny holiday in Italy and I’m sorting through my email inbox. In there is a note from a senior manager of a Fortune 500 company with whom I worked about a year ago in Singapore. He writes to tell me that he is now committed to practicing presentations.

“I always make sure, at the very least, to rehearse my opening and closing lines several times days in advance,” he told me. This is great news to me. It certainly wasn’t always the case.

When I was in Singapore I worked with him and 20 of his colleagues, who were all managers of the global company’s Asia division. I recorded each participant as he or she delivered a message they had spent some time crafting, but hadn’t rehearsed.

Using their first-round deliveries as examples, I stressed how important it is to practice aloud and refine.

My now pen-pal executive then strongly questioned my recommendation. “I don’t know. I think I lose the true emotion of what I am trying to say. I think the spontaneity is gone,” he said.

I welcome all challenges. Encouraging other viewpoints helps us learn more about each other’s perspectives. It also compels me to reflect and reconsider my approaches and opinions. So, we put his challenge to the test. I had him give it a second go on-camera.

Before he spoke again, however, we edited the content from his previous attempt to tighten the wording. I also coached him in how to use some vocal variety techniques — increasing his overall volume, changing the pitch and emphasis on a couple of words and slowing his pace toward the end for added clarity. The rest of the management group agreed that his second time was much stronger and therefore more memorable.

But, again he challenged. What about his “emotional spontaneity”?

Did he give up some of his initial extemporaneous expressions for those of a more contrived nature? My loyal adversary watched the recordings a couple days later (I give all my participants copies of their video clips to keep) and emailed me to say that to him, there was a more natural and emphatic “blink in the eyes” that he didn’t repeat on command with the same impact. Let’s broaden the topic to consider overall impact from a lengthier speech. What are the benefits of practice? Here are my top reasons for why practice is important.

1 You will know your material. More than anything else, practice will prevent you from losing your train of thought or completely omitting a point. Last spring, after I spoke to a group of Irish solicitors at an event in Dublin, one participant proudly announced to me that he “never rehearses what to say. I just open my mouth and speak!”

“How’s that working for you?” I asked him. Before he could respond, another participant, who had overheard his initial statement, jumped in. “I never know what he’s trying to say.” Don’t forget, the reason you’re presenting is so the other people in the room take away something. Not simply to hear yourself speak.

2 You will get rid of fillers. When we don’t know precisely what we want to say next, many of us unconsciously add “uhh”, “you know”, “uhm”, “eh” or any other number of distracting — and unprofessional — utterances. These interrupt the smooth flow of our messages and can be completely disruptive to a highly expectant audience. I was told of a performance professional who once counted a whopping 37 of these during a presentation made by someone who had eschewed his urging to practice. Speaking with fillers is a sure-sign that you are a rookie and will undermine whatever it is you’re trying to say. In short, fillers are killers.

3 You will be more confident. Whenever anyone asks me the best way to reduce nervous butterflies, I encourage them to practice more. When you know what you are going to say, in the order that you are going to say it and have practiced doing so out loud several times, you will gain confidence.

4 Knowing your structure gives you freedom. The confidence you have in knowing what you are going to say, allows you the freedom to be in the moment with your audience. I don’t advocate strict and unwavering memorisation of a text. I encourage you to know it well enough that you can relax and have a genuine conversation with your audience.

Think about the actor who explores a well-known role. Presentation delivery should be like a pianist playing a concert. You know the piece so well, you are in the moment. You know what emotions your words are conveying. Don’t be a robot. Experience what you are saying with them. Watch their faces for verbal cues and give a little more or edit a bit depending.

5 Your audience will appreciate your professionalism. When you are comfortable and confident, your audience will be more so too. Nobody wants to watch someone ramble. You’re wasting their time.

6 Your message will be more clearly understood. Like my solicitor’s colleague noted, it’s frustrating for an audience to have to try and follow someone who doesn’t have a clear path. Audiences have other things on their minds. It’s up to you to make sure you’re easily understood and remembered.

I’d love to hear from you about your own experiences with practice. When you did it to perfection and when you didn’t. What happened? What could have happened? Drop me an email at SundayBusiness@ independent.ie. Gina London is a former CNN anchor and international campaign strategist who is now a director with Fuzion Communications. She serves as media commentator, emcee and corporate consultant. @TheGinaLondon