Speaking Is Sexy Tip #1, Vol. 3
Are You Crystal Clear?
In one of my favorite movies, "A Few Good Men"**, the Marine Colonel on the stand gets a bit hot under the collar when questioned by the Navy's young, brash Lieutenant attorney. After giving his answer, the Colonel repeats angrily, "Are we clear?"
"Yes," the Lieutenant replies.
"Are we clear?!" the Colonel spits out, even more angrily.
"Crystal!" answers the young Lieutenant.
And then he goes on to ask a key question that nails the Colonel in a clear case of perjury. It's a great scene for many reasons, not the least of which is that we, the audience, are absolutely clear about what's going on in the verbal battle between these two mighty opposing forces. 
No matter what the occasion, whenever we get up to speak, our key job is to make sure the audience is crystal clear about what we're telling them. We can be the most experienced expert in our field, we can have side-splitting anecdotes and killer stories to illustrate our points, show fabulous visual aids, use perfect eye contact and body language, and have spent hours carefully developing our talk, but if they don't get it, what good is all that preparation and knowledge? If they can't understand us, we might as well be talking to the wall.
Have you ever sat in the audience, straining to hear a speaker who spoke too softly? Or too fast? Who didn't know how to use a microphone properly and stood either too close or not close enough so you only got every third word? Crowded too much information into long, rambling sentences that left you confused and irritated? Spoke with an accent so strong you weren't sure he was speaking your language? Jumped too quickly from one topic to another, without giving you time to absorb what he just said? Walked back and forth so much you got seasick watching or had to crane your neck just to see and hear him?
Most speakers are unwitting perpetrators of all of these at one time or another. Here are some simple solutions to avoid 'crimes against your audience' so you'll never have to worry about being properly understood again.
a) Speaking too softly? Ask the audience if they can hear you. Many audiences nowadays are not shy and they'll speak up loud and clear if they can't. Get used to working with a microphone so you know how close or far away from it your mouth should be and are accustomed to the sound of your amplified voice.
b) Speaking too fast? Have a strong accent? SLOW DOWN! It's always better to speak too slowly rather than too quickly. Train yourself to speak slower than you think you need to. Not only will it make it easier for the audience to get every word, but they'll also have time to hear and understand the thought you're expressing. Practice speaking slowly. Emphasize the key points of your topic by pausing after each significant word to let the audience know, 'This is important!'
c) Jumping from topic to topic or crowding too much information into long rambling sentences? Simplify! Chunk it down. Break your key points and supporting data into short sentences. When you come to the end of a sentence, stop. Breathe. Give the audience a chance to absorb what you just said before offering them more. When you rehearse, record your talk with a timer to verify the length. Play the recording in the car, when you're doing household chores, as often as you can. Identify where you're giving too much information or not enough, so you 
can cut what's not necessary and beef up what is.
d) Dancing around too much, making your audience seasick? Stand still and deliver. Speak your first important point from one spot. Don't move until you're ready to go on to your next important point. Stand still and deliver that one. Don't move again until you've completed that thought. Whether you're walking back and forth across a stage or moving about in the audience, the key is to stand still and deliver what you most want them to remember. When moving around in front of the audience, less is more.
Put all of these techniques in your speaking repertoire. Then if anyone ever asks your audience, "Are we clear?", you know the answer will be, "Crystal!"
(**"A Few Good Men" was written by Aaron Sorkin)
