Keep Your Audience Happy by Knowing How to Avoid Being Offensive
Everyone's heard the expression "It's not what you say, but how you say it."
But what if a public speaker is alienating audience members, or even an entire audience, as a result of what he says? Believe it or not, offending audiences is a lot easier to do if a speaker hasn't taken the time to review his comments for any material that may seem insensitive, judgmental or outright cruel.
Why is important for a speaker to avoid being offensive? At best, it can turn an audience off to a speaker as a result of them forming a dislike for him.
And believe it or not, that is the best consequence. That's because the worst result is that they will totally ignore his comments as a consequence of offensive comments that he has made.
A speaker should make sure he knows how to avoid being offensive [http://www.survivingspeakingdisasters.com] not only by reviewing his comments when he rehearses them, but also in light of current situations. An example would be any comments that discuss death if he is speaking in an area that has recently experienced a tragedy.
What are some of the other things that a public speaker should remember to avoid being offensive? Among them:
* Eliminating any profanity, sexual innuendos or crude remarks from his comments. Sure, the job of a public speaker is to relax his audience and help them relax. But chances are that such language will alienate most audience members more than it will put them at ease. In addition, such speech is not only offensive, its use is unprofessional.
* Comments that suggest a particular sex, race, religion or other group are stupid, ugly, obnoxious, etc. Even those who are not represented by such groups may be offended. And the damage when it comes to audience members who fall into those groups is obvious.
* Remarks that express happiness about the misfortunes of others. As with the previous consideration, an audience member doesn't have to be affected by the situation to be offended.
* Sharing remarks that are blatantly political or religious. A speaker's comments may include a discussion of religion or politics, but audience members are not listening to hear why his personal convictions are better than those of audience members.
* A public speaker also needs to remember that he has to avoid being offensive by not using either verbal or body language that suggests a haughty attitude. How can a public speaker expect an audience will warm to him if he is conveying an attitude of superiority?
Just as a speaker can't have an impact if he hasn't prepared his remarks, he also runs the risk of failing if he doesn't know how to not be offensive, although it's doubtless than any speaker would be apathetic about not offending his audience.
But not taking the time to address the situation can unintentionally make that a possibility.
Effective speaking is a lot like preparing for a wedding. All the planning in the world can't assure there will not be problems. But preparing speaking disasters and knowing in advance how to tackle speaking disasters means they do not have to ruin your presentation.
Check out Surviving Speaking Disasters [http://www.survivingspeakingdisasters.com] to discover how to handle and avoid seven different kinds of speaking catastrophes. Get real solutions for real-life speaking disasters.
But what if a public speaker is alienating audience members, or even an entire audience, as a result of what he says? Believe it or not, offending audiences is a lot easier to do if a speaker hasn't taken the time to review his comments for any material that may seem insensitive, judgmental or outright cruel.
Why is important for a speaker to avoid being offensive? At best, it can turn an audience off to a speaker as a result of them forming a dislike for him.
And believe it or not, that is the best consequence. That's because the worst result is that they will totally ignore his comments as a consequence of offensive comments that he has made.
A speaker should make sure he knows how to avoid being offensive [http://www.survivingspeakingdisasters.com] not only by reviewing his comments when he rehearses them, but also in light of current situations. An example would be any comments that discuss death if he is speaking in an area that has recently experienced a tragedy.
What are some of the other things that a public speaker should remember to avoid being offensive? Among them:
* Eliminating any profanity, sexual innuendos or crude remarks from his comments. Sure, the job of a public speaker is to relax his audience and help them relax. But chances are that such language will alienate most audience members more than it will put them at ease. In addition, such speech is not only offensive, its use is unprofessional.
* Comments that suggest a particular sex, race, religion or other group are stupid, ugly, obnoxious, etc. Even those who are not represented by such groups may be offended. And the damage when it comes to audience members who fall into those groups is obvious.
* Remarks that express happiness about the misfortunes of others. As with the previous consideration, an audience member doesn't have to be affected by the situation to be offended.
* Sharing remarks that are blatantly political or religious. A speaker's comments may include a discussion of religion or politics, but audience members are not listening to hear why his personal convictions are better than those of audience members.
* A public speaker also needs to remember that he has to avoid being offensive by not using either verbal or body language that suggests a haughty attitude. How can a public speaker expect an audience will warm to him if he is conveying an attitude of superiority?
Just as a speaker can't have an impact if he hasn't prepared his remarks, he also runs the risk of failing if he doesn't know how to not be offensive, although it's doubtless than any speaker would be apathetic about not offending his audience.
But not taking the time to address the situation can unintentionally make that a possibility.
Effective speaking is a lot like preparing for a wedding. All the planning in the world can't assure there will not be problems. But preparing speaking disasters and knowing in advance how to tackle speaking disasters means they do not have to ruin your presentation.
Check out Surviving Speaking Disasters [http://www.survivingspeakingdisasters.com] to discover how to handle and avoid seven different kinds of speaking catastrophes. Get real solutions for real-life speaking disasters.