The most difficult challenge for any public speaker is connecting with the audience. A focus on the audience and a confident delivery go a long way. The best speakers can also make their speeches feel like a conversation with the audience.
Nervous speakers will go to any length to avoid interacting with an audience. Some peer over people's shoulders, while others read from notes or slides. Others approach presentations as if they were a performance, with the audience acting as mere spectators.
This rigid separation between performer and audience is referred to in theater as the fourth wall—an imaginary barrier at the front of the stage that prevents viewers from becoming involved in the action. People will not sit still for this unless you have thespian charisma. Interactivity is increasingly expected by audiences.
How will you engage a crowd that is staring at you blankly? Here are some suggestions for increasing audience engagement.
We need to break down that fourth wall in order to establish a meaningful rapport. Here are five pointers for effective audience participation:
Audience participation can range from a simple show of hands to requests for brief personal input, role playing and games, and small group exercises. Each has advantages:
The show of hands is useful for polling the audience and gathering feedback in real time. It informs audience members of their position in relation to the group.
A brief personal contribution reveals the range of experience in the room.
Games and role-playing are great ways to practice sales situations and interpersonal responses.
Group activities allow participants to learn from one another.
Choose a technique that fits your goal and the time constraints.
Consider the types of responses you might receive before asking for audience participation. You want audience feedback to be meaningful and useful in helping you make your point.
Be specific about your goal and consider how audience participation can help you build your case. Most importantly, consider what you will say if you do not receive the expected responses. Participation from the audience should add value.
-Use all-in-one framing.
That is, ask your questions in such a way that the majority of the audience will be able to respond. "Tell me about your most recent shopping experience," is a question to which everyone can respond.
Avoid putting people on the spot. Make them feel competent to contribute instead. Along those lines, avoid using superlatives.
"Tell us about the best meal you've ever had," for example, may be more difficult to answer than "Tell us about a good meal."
Inclusive questions are excellent for fostering a sense of community among the audience.
Determine whether your question is rhetorical or genuine. Because audiences are frequently unsure, phrases like "Who here" or "Who in this room" can help elicit genuine responses.
Even if the question is rhetorical, meaning you don't expect a verbal response, give participants time to think about it and how they would respond. It only needs to be a brief pause to allow them to process your point.
A simple phrase like "Think for a moment... " can signal a rhetorical question.
- Appreciate contributions.
Before moving on to the next point or participant, always acknowledge an audience member's contribution, even if it's just to say "Good" or "Thank you."
As you gain experience with audience participation, you can frame the responses to fit your point and refer back to the contributions of participants later in your presentation. Pose follow-up questions or invite responses from others. Make the audience feel competent once more.
- Discuss a topic of interest to your audience.
You may believe that this is obvious and that you would never make such a mistake. However, I see many otherwise intelligent people discuss what they are interested in rather than what the audience is interested in.
Last week, a business banking specialist began planning a presentation to be delivered to local accounting firms. The majority of his presentation focused on the internal organizational changes they had implemented in their team to better serve their clients. But is his audience interested in internal organizational changes? No. His presentation should have focused on the services they provided to clients.
When you speak at a conference, people come to your session because they are interested in the synopsis. Don't change it just because it's convenient for you. I witnessed one of New Zealand's most successful professional speakers make this error many years ago.
Her session was billed as being about email marketing. But she'd recently become obsessed with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for websites. She stated right away that she did not want to discuss email marketing, but rather SEO.
She then inquired as to how many people in the audience had a website. Approximately 5 people out of 100 raised their hands. You'd think she'd change her mind, but she doesn't. 95 people sat through a presentation on a topic in which they had no interest in.
- Explain why they should pay attention.
We ask each participant to complete an online questionnaire prior to attending one of our presentation skills courses. The most important question is:
"How important do you think presentation skills are?"
They respond by selecting from a menu of multi choice options ranging from "it's vitally important" to "it's not that important." If a significant number of participants select "It's not that important," we know we must begin the course by demonstrating the benefits of developing presentation skills. I begin by sharing how developing presentation skills has benefited my career. Then Tony talks about speaking at his father's funeral and the sense of accomplishment that gave him. They now have a reason to listen.
So, if your audience doesn't have an obvious reason to listen to you, tell them why they should. This can be difficult. I've had email conversations with a few readers who present on topics like health and safety or environmental regulations. The audience must be present, but they have no inherent interest in the subject.
The solution is to explain why they should be concerned. If you're giving a talk about health and safety, tell them about people who were injured at your workplace and the consequences it had on them.
I recall sitting in the audience for a presentation on Occupational Overuse Syndrome. The speaker had experienced it herself and described being unable to brush her own hair.
And if you can't think of a reason for them to listen, don't give the presentation!
Every presentation expert extols the virtues of storytelling. People are hardwired to listen to stories, according to research (see my post Are our brains wired to enjoy stories). Your audience will perk up when you say, "I'll tell you a story about..." Of course, your stories should reinforce the point you're making. Examine your presentation through the lens of stories. Are they scattered throughout your presentation, or are they clumped together? To get the best effect, scatter them around.
See When to Tell a Story and What Story to Tell for more strategic insights into when and where to tell stories.
You can also use the power of story to keep people's attention by structuring your entire presentation around a story - I'll write more about this later (meanwhile if you know of any good links to this concept please do post them in the comments).
Include frequent breaks, but if you notice people losing focus, suggest a "microbreak" for 1-2 minutes where they can refresh their drinks and take a walk around. Moving is the most effective way of reviving people who are about to doze off.
The best way to keep your audience's attention is to not go on for too long.
If incase you find this article interesting and helpful, comment box is not full. Thanks for reading!
