Thread by @FatimaBarkatula

Top ten things NOT to say when giving a #speech: (these are some of my pet hates in Muslim conferences & talks that I've heard!!)

1. "I'm sorry I didn't really prepare for this speech."
(Why not? Were we that unimportant?)

2. "Sorry for waffling on."
(Just get on with it! We hadn't noticed until you pointed it out.)

3. "I won't tell you about it as I think I've bored you enough..."
(What? Just when you got to the interesting bit you won't tell us? Aargh!)

4. [Every few minutes] "I hope I'm not boring you..."
(You saying that, is boring us! We want to know what you have to say, that's why we are here! Say it with confidence, with some gusto will you!)

5. "I'm not a very good speaker..."
(Get off stage then! No seriously, we're here to listen to your message. Your message is important. If it comes from the heart, it’ll go to the heart. Convey the message & you've done your job!)

6. "I'm not really qualified to talk about this..."
(Er...then why are you wasting my time? This is faux humility -you probably are qualified in some way or people wouldn't have invited you and besides people just want to hear *your* perspective, so just get on with it will ya?)

7. "Oh no! I just got started and the time ran out. I have to miss out slides.”
[5 minutes before the end of the talk time]
(You have a time management & planning problem.)

8. "Oh I better be careful because I've heard that Muslims in U.K. are very conservative."
(Were you planning on break dancing on stage or something? Don’t worry about us- worry about your standing with Allah.)

9. "The organisers really didn't give me enough time to tackle this topic..."
(Oh please. That's not our problem. Plus you've just disrespected your host. You should've discussed that with them prior to the event or made your message fit the time you were given.)

10. "I'm sorry I was late...but..." [followed by a long explanation about transport problems & why you were late.]
(Just style it out will you and get on with the talk?!)