Have you had this scenario occur to you, as it has occurred to me? You have spent a long time preparing for your speech and now you are feeling quietly confident. As you begin your speech you feel that you are doing fine - you're speaking clearly with very few mistakes and everything seems to be going to plan. Then all of a sudden you see one of the audience members whisper to their companion beside them, point at you and snigger! Then you notice someone else doing it, and another, and another! Finally you feel that everyone in the audience thinks you are a laughing stock, and your confidence is destroyed as you realise that you are doing something to distract your audience in a very bad way.

The question is, what can you do which will distract your audience? Well, there are numerous ways you can distract your audience, but the most common is through excessive movement. Frequent movement either with your hands, your head, your feet or any other part of your body that is not relevant to your speech will distract your audience and detract from your speech.

Let me present an example to you. I vividly remember a visiting priest who did a sermon at our church. (Despite the fact that it is in a church, I still regard it as public speaking.) He was a pretty good speaker - he spoke slowly and clearly and his sermon was well planned out and there was a clear and powerful message. The only problem was that every time that he opened his mouth; he was nodding his head furiously! Just picture someone who every time they spoke their head was going up and down nineteen times to the dozen! It was distracting to his audience and you could see most of the congregation was pointing and sniggering to themselves, which was a real shame because he was a good man.

Going back to my situation, I knew before I presented that particular speech that I was a rocker, but I didn't realise how distracting it was to my audience, and how it was bringing my credibility down to zero. In this particular speech, I wasn't just rocking from side to side, I was moving all over the place for no reason! I was taking one step forward, one step back, one step left, one step right, all in the space of about six or seven seconds. Just imagine how distracting that would have been to my audience! I think someone said afterwards that it looked like I was doing a dance on stage!

Before I explain how I tried to fix this problem, let me point out that if you feel that your audience is laughing at you, either try to ignore them or try to find out why and subtly fix what you are doing wrong. Whatever you do, do not make a big fuss over it and try not to let it ruin your speech. You do not want to give the audience another excuse to laugh at you!

If you know you have a problem that is distracting to your audience, then the best way you can fix it is to practice and watch yourself as you present your speech! Practice at home in front of a mirror or record yourself with a video camera. Practice as though you are delivering your speech to a real audience. However, don't try to get rid of all body movement but try to make it as natural as possible. If your body movement doesn't have a purpose in your speech, then it can be left out.

If you have a problem like my rocking/dancing on stage, try to widen your stance slightly which will lessen your need to move. This will also help you to keep your balance so that you don't rock from side-to-side. However, as I said before, practice is the only way you will reduce these types of distractions. I now practice my speeches in front of a mirror while standing as still as I possibly can. I also practised still for ten to fifteen minutes in total silence with my arms to my side, almost military style, just to get used to standing still.

Once you discover what it is you are doing wrong, you must act and try to solve it, no matter how difficult or how minor it may seem. Don't give your audience an excuse to be distracted - not only will it will ruin your credibility but your message will not be received properly.