Water covers 70% of Earth’s surface. Your body is 70% water. 70% of public speaking is water. OK; I made up that last one. However, the importance of water for public speaking shouldn’t be overlooked.
Water is the oil of our speaking engine, our voice. Actually, saliva is the lubricant, but water is saliva’s main component; Saliva is 99.5% percent water according to wikipedia. Just like an engine low on oil, we can not perform our best if our mouth runs low on lubricant.
Dry Mouth
Dry mouth is the common phrase to describe the lack of saliva in the mouth. It is quite literal, much of the moisture is gone from your mouth. In the US it is also often called ‘cotton mouth’, a phrase meaning it feels like having a ‘cotton ball’ in your mouth.
Dry mouth is a relatively uncommon medical condition and a side-effect of some drugs. For most of us it occurs in conjunction with one thing, public speaking. There are 3 basic factors that play into dry mouth in speakers. It’s important to know what they are so we can combat them.[
Dry mouth might also lead to bad breath. While speaking you might be far enough away that this doesn’t matter, but afterwards you are likely to be in close conversations. Don’t let your great speech be ruined by bad breath afterwards. Just a little extra motivation for keeping hydrated.
Dehydration
If you are dehydrated, you don’t produce as much saliva. Even if you have poor hydration habits, you probably don’t notice this in your everyday experience. When coupled with the next two factors it can play a role, so don’t take chances. Make sure you’re hydrated.
Speaking
Speaking dries out your mouth! The motion of air through your mouth causes evaporation of saliva (remember 99.5% water). Talking for longer periods of time make this really take effect. A 15 minute talk isn’t likely to dry you out that much, but it does contribute. Longer periods of time talking, including chatting all day with people at a conference, will cause significant drying of your mouth.
Anxiety
If you are like most people, you get anxious when you have to speak. Unfortunately, anxiety triggers dry mouth. This causes a terrible cycle, you are already anxious, then dry mouth starts. You feel like you can’t talk. For many, worse is the thought that everyone can hear/see your dry mouth symptoms.
First of all relax, unless it is really really really bad, they can not see it. I don’t think I’ve ever visible seen symptoms from a seat in the audience and I’ve seen plenty of anxious speaker. Dealing with anxiety is a big topic. You’ll find plenty of things on this blog and elsewhere, but there is direct help described below.
The magic elixir: Water
Water is a speakers friend. It is the main weapon we have against dry mouth. It also has an extra benefit for most amateurs, which I’ll talk about shortly.
Our general hydration is a factor in dry mouth and one we each individually have complete control over. Good hydration routines are generally recommendable. Unfortunately, many occasions for public speaking also lead to poor hydration. Conferences tend to be especially bad. We drink too little and often drink way too many caffeinated and alcoholic beverages.
Simply drinking a glass of water beforehand isn’t enough. In order to gain effects for saliva production you need to be conscious of your fluids intake for a whole day before. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water or non-caffeinated teas and cut back on your coffee and alcohol before speeches.
Speaking is an unavoidable part of public speaking. Airflow through our mouths is necessary. The only real remedy is keeping the oil of public speaking topped up, by drinking water over the course of longer speeches. If you are speaking or chatting during the day, we also need to consider this in our hydration routine.
Anxiety is a reality for most of us when public speaking. I still get this effects at times. A good tip is to use water as a ritual for keeping calm. Take a deliberate sip of water, using the excuse to force yourself to relax. Make this similar to deep breaths. You’ll also avoid the cycle of anxiety associated with dry mouth by doing this as you’ll keep the worst symptoms away.
Tip: Not all water is equal. Water with gas (bubbles) should be avoided directly before and during speaking. It can make dry mouth worse. I learned this the hard way at a conference in Europe. Wasn’t a shining moment.
Water Breaks
Combat two factors leading to dry mouth by taking sips of water during a speech. It counteracts the effect of speaking and helps with anxiety. I believe for most of us, water actually has at least one secondary benefit.
Water breaks help with pacing your speech and add breaks. For many of us with speaking anxieties, taking a break to drink is difficult psychologically. It may sound easy enough now, but during a talk it becomes unimaginable for many of us.
Anxious people often think everyone knows why I’m drinking, because they can see my dry mouth. They can not. You may feel the focus on them even more acutely during that break. Others simply believe it is some sort of weakness. Others don’t believe that they should ever break. Some may simple want to rush to ‘get it over’.
Take breaks to sip water. Make them very deliberate. This may be hard for you at first. Practice it. Breaks in speech are important and can be very powerful. They provide the audience a moment to digest what you have said. Place them after important points and your audience is more likely to remember that point. You can plan this.
If you have a tendency to rush your speeches, taking sips can help you pace better. Don’t overdo it. Simply taking occasional sips will help your slow down throughout your whole talk.
Finally, one mistake I have seen often and used to do myself is to take your sip of water as if you feel ashamed of it. Make it deliberate. Do it with certainty. “Own it”. Not sure about this? Go watch your favorite orator or standup comedian. Watch for them taking a drink. You may not have even noticed before, but now you’ll see how they ‘own’ that gesture.
Tip: During one presentation early in my career I had a full glass of water in hand for most of an hour. I gestured. I walked. The glass remained full as I hardly sipped. My boss afterwards said: “I have no idea what you said. The whole time I was watching the glass, waiting for you to spill the water.” Don’t do what I did. Instead, place your water on a table and to the side. Retrieve it. Take your sip. Place it back. Then continue.
A Smooth Running Speaking Engine
Water is a major component in the earth and us. Hopefully, I have also shown you how water can be an important component in public speaking. It is a key tool to keep us talking.
Hydrating before our speeches, starting a day before, helps build up our saliva reserves, the oil of our speaking engine. Avoiding things that dehydrate us in that time, like caffeine and alcohol, is part of a good hydration program.
Sipping water during a talk can help us further. It helps keep our mouths from drying out, particularly during long talks and when we’ve spoken a lot. It also provides a break, providing an opportunity to emphasize important points, collect our thoughts, and exhale our anxieties. Own the act of sipping your water and project confidence and professionalism.
Dr. Blom is a long time researcher in the VR field. He is the founder of Virtual Human Technologies, which applies VR and avatar technologies to human problems and helping better understand people. Virtual Orator exists largely because Dr. Blom wishes he had had such a tool instead of the ‘trail by fire’ he went through learning to speak in public.
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