Speak Up - tips

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Getting and holding an audience's attention is always a challenge. How do you make them believe that what you have to say is important and worth listening to carefully? Carmen Matthews offers several tips that have worked for her.

Nine ways to keep an audience mesmerized and motivated
By Carmen Matthews

For a speaker, getting and holding an audience's attention is always a challenge. It begins the moment you open your mouth to say "Good morning" and ends with "Thanks for having me." How does one grab the audience's attention, hold it, and make them believe that what you have to say is important and worth listening to carefully?

I have found that beyond topic research, audience analysis and making sure that everything in the room works, you must immediately unite everyone in the room toward a singular goal. Then you must continue to bring your audience into your speech, weaving their interests into your topic throughout the presentation. Here are nine tips that work for me.

Before you take the podium

Believe in yourself. Speakers become speakers when they have something to say. They are in the business of influencing greatness in others. But all speakers are human too, and fearful of what could go wrong talking in front of all those people.

Your first mission is to get over your fear by taking the focus away from your inner drama. Consider it from the audience's point of view. They want to get something out of your talk, and you, the confident and prepared speaker, can bring it to them. Focus on how.

In the beginning

To develop instant rapport, consider opening with a question. Open-ended questions are a great way to grab an audience's attention and pique their curiosity. Keep in mind that the question needs to be intriguing and must be a question that can easily be woven into your presentation's theme.

Add a timely pause after the opening question. This strategic pause gives you a chance to show the audience that you are genuinely talking to each and every one of them. Open your body language with appropriate hand gestures, project your voice and look around to gauge their reactions. A couple of brief seconds is all you need to pause before continuing.

After the pause, begin by stating either your own answer to the question, or, if you have time, ask an audience member to share their reaction. This interaction does not have to be long and drawn out, but it does have to establish common ground between you, the speaker, and the collective experiences of the audience.

Easing into the middle

Your next step is to segue from the opening question into the presentation. Consider yourself the facilitator of this adventure. At this point, they are intrigued and anxious for you to take them forward. State the main goal of the presentation and, as you list your main points, explain to your audience why what you are about to share is important to them.

Always come back to the audience's needs. As you present your ideas, sprinkle in general interest questions such as, "You do want to…, don't you?" or "Remember when we talked about this? This will help…" Such questions allow the audience to catch up with you, and help lead them farther along in the direction you want them to go.

Don't forget to pause from time to time. This can be for effect, to gauge their reactions, or you can open up the floor to questions or comments. This keeps the discussion between you and the audience going, further building your credibility.

The grand finale

Every presentation should end with a brief summary to look back on what the audience now knows as a result of the presentation. Remember: As you reiterate your key points, you are also helping your listeners retain the information you've presented.

End with a request for action. This is your time to sell an idea, product or service. Demonstrate how this desired action will fulfill their needs and benefit them, then explain the action you want them to take.

No matter your topic, speaking environment or audience, a speaker must put the audience's needs first and foremost. If you do this consistently, your presentations will ultimately succeed, and you will appear confident and credible at the same time. What speaker doesn't want that?

Blogged on 7:27 PM

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