Effective Public Speaking: Audience Contact
Although speaking in public is really a monologue of sorts, this monologue is addressed to a ready, able and receptive audience who wants to learn from you as much as you want to learn from them.
Speaking in public would be more effective if it is listened to. The following are effective tips to maintain that necessary contact with the audience.
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It’s 9:30 in the morning and you’ve made it to the third presentation of today’s marketing meeting. The presenter is pretty much reading word for word from a deck of 40 slides, which are mostly densely worded, bulleted items with an occasional chart or graph thrown in.
You have no interest in the topic, and to keep from falling asleep during the next 30 minutes, you are taking this opportunity to proofread some documents for a pressing deadline.
Read on …
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When I was planning for my recent all day presentation I was considering the post lunch sleepiness that most audiences experience. I wanted to do something totally different that I knew would shock them out of their afternoon low.
So I bought a muskrat trap. I was talking about the “traps” AKA deep trouble you could get into by spam email marketing.
I set the trap with great care. Then I put a pencil into the trap to set it off. The pencil snapped showing the trap to be real . . . This got their attention.
I then reset the trap and talked about how learning what I was going to teach them in the next section would keep them from getting hurt in the email spam trap.Then, with lots of suspense building as I approached the trap, I set it off with my bare hand, I let out a fake Karate-like scream, the trap slammed on my hand and I held it up hanging from my fingers. . . . Believe me this got their attention!
DO NOT TRY THIS! DO NOT TRY THIS! DO NOT TRY THIS! I know how to do this without getting hurt. I am not responsible if you break your finger or get hurt in any way !!!
There are many other ways to shock people. You could put a needle through a balloon, you could stick a knife through one of their coats. Stop by any magic or gag shop for tons of ideas. Just don’t get too outrageous and scare people unnecessarily.
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Why are you giving this speech? What do you hope to achieve with your presentation?
What sort of impact do you want to create? What will that “WOW” be?
In creating that “WOW”, that impact, one of the most important steps will be to research and consider the audience, because unless they understand what you are saying and respond to it, there can be no impact, no WOW.
Before you can even start to plan what to say and how to say it, you will need to know as much as you can about that audience – their likes and dislikes, their needs and values, what they hope to take from your presentation. You will need to explore age, sex, income bracket, lifestyle as well as needs, wants and ambitions.
Of course this may not always be possible – it may be that when you stand to speak and connect with the audience, you have to assess them, then and there. And in that moment and those following, you will need to adjust your material and presentation accordingly. Your planning, of course, will have taken this into account.
But there may be opportunities before the presentation to assess the audience. When they register for the event you could gather details. After they register you can send a questionnaire. Use this opportunity to also ask for any questions they particularly want answered and this will help your planning even more.
If at all possible, mingle with the attendees before your presentation. This gives you a chance to get to know them and their likely patterns of response. (It will also give them a chance to get to know you … and … you the opportunity to warm up your voice before the speech!)
Then, when you have conducted your assessment, you can fine-tune your presentation to create the impact you desire.
The content of your speech or presentation can be designed to respond to their needs and wants – provide the answers they wanted, provide the motivation they needed. You might choose to stimulate creative thinking for them, provide alternative options for them, based on your research of their interests and needs. That would certainly create an impact!
You may want to present yourself, both through your image and your content, as something your audience can aspire to, if that would provide an answer to their dreams and aspirations.
At the very least, your image should be chosen to be inoffensive to your audience. If possible you can research what they are likely to be wearing, and dress according to their code and culture, or a step higher in terms of formality, or business. You can create a WOW with your image, either by fitting in with your audience’s tastes or by impressing them. You can impress by creating an image that supports your message, and that sells you as the person you want the audience to see – trustworthy, honest, sincere or maybe exciting, mystical – whatever will support your message and the impact you want to create. But it will only create that impact, that WOW, if you tailor it to your audience – their likes, dislikes, tastes, values and culture.
Your language structure and vocabulary can be crafted to make the audience feel that you speak their language. And this will be based on factors like age, educational level, occupation, and lifestyle.
You can also ensure two other things – that your language does not provide offense and that it can be easily understood.
Otherwise, not only will you not create an impact; people will simply tune out and you will also have destroyed your personal credibility. So make your material; your anecdotes, your humour and your explanations; as well as your image, appropriate to your audience’s sensibilities and their levels and areas of understanding. Confine your jargon and vocabulary to words the audience feels at home with and you will maximize their understanding of your message and the impact you can create.
Successful speech-makers consider their audience in as much depth as they can, and use that as an integral part of the planning for their presentations. Use this tool when you speak, and you too, can create that impact, that WOW.
© 2005 Bronwyn Ritchie All rights reserved. If you would like to use this article, you have permission to use it only in full, and with the following Resource box attached.
Bronwyn Ritchie AALIA AC(ITC) is a librarian, an award-winning public speaker and ITC-certified trainer – For more resources on public speaking, visit http://www.consultpivotal.com/public_speaking