Using a Lectern or Podium during Speeches

00:00 First of all, a lectern is the thing you stand behind, and you see people put their notes there. A podium is actually the floor that you're standing on that's raised, but people call lecterns, podiums.

00:12 In either case, my advice is, avoid them like the plague.

00:17 Once you get behind the lectern, you've shut off your ability to communicate with your body language to your audience.

00:24 You've isolated yourself.

00:26 It's as though you're now afraid of your audience, and it tends to have you hunker down and destroy all of your movement and sap the energy from you.

00:38 Yes, I know some of your favorite presidents speak behind lecterns, and they can still do it effectively.

00:45 But I want to give you every possible advantage I can.

00:49 And one advantage is get away from the lectern.

00:52 Now, if you want a place to store your notes, that's fine.

00:56 But if this is the lectern here, instead of storing my notes like this, put it sideways.

01:03 So now I can be standing over here and looking at my notes occasionally and never get behind the lectern.

01:12 This way you can move in a natural way.

01:15 You can move right up to the front of your audience.

01:17 It doesn't matter if you're talking to ten people or 10,000.

01:20 If you have a wireless microphone on, you can walk around.

01:23 You'll see more comfortable, confident, relaxed.

01:27 When people see someone get behind a lectern, they associate that with a really boring business presenter, a boring college professor who's going to sit, read and just lecture to you.

01:40 Why do something? Why take the position that people associate with really boring speakers? So again, you want to use the lectern to put your glass of water or put your notes.

01:52 Fine, just don't stand behind it.

01:55 Stand as close to your audience as possible and move around.