Brande Victorian is a freelance writer based in Toledo, Ohio.
Adapted with permission from ENT Today (2012;7 (4):14, 16).
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Top Mistakes
Public speaking experts say they see doctors make certain mistakes time and time again in their presentations. See if you’re guilty of making one of these common errors.
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- Trying to present too much information in a short period of time. “The purpose of a 20-, 30-, 45-minute, or hour-long talk is not to present as much as you possibly can, but to concentrate on two or three key facts or themes and emphasize those over and over during the presentation,” Dr. Collins says.
- Not grabbing the audience’s attention first. “Doctors know the research,” Dr. Miller says. “They’re experts, so they don’t think, ‘I have to hook this audience,’ and they don’t think about delivering in a way to maintain interest.”
- Bad PowerPoint transitions. “The presentation becomes more important than the context,” Dr. Hall says. “With all the gizmos, it’s very easy to be distracted by clever transitions from slide to slide, and that takes precedent over what you’re trying to say.”
- Losing your cool. “I have seen it, and it must never, ever happen,” Dr. Hall says. “If you think a questioner is trying to pick an argument with you, you have to diffuse the situation.” One way to do this is by offering to speak with the questioner in private, after the talk is over, he says.
