For the rank amateur to the ignorant professional, audiences
create the same effect no matter how small they are to a speaker. Fear and
anxiety.
From a single person to a crowd as big as the fans in the
Super Bowl, speaking in front of a serious listening audience is the true test
and baptism of fire.
Despite this, audiences are predictable. Audiences listen to
you because they want to learn something from the speaker.
Following this logic, the speaker would do well to follow
the strategy of making it informative as well as interesting to listeners to
see your speech through till the end.
Here are some tips on how you can have the audience listen
in rapt attention.
1. Speak according to the listeners’ interests. It is always
a good idea to find out what the crowd you are speaking to is interested in.
For example, if you have more teenagers in the crowd, you don’t really want to
talk about your subject in a way that bores them, like good education. Other
aspects to consider would be the local culture, age, sports, religious
inclinations, etc. Talk about what’s important to them, something they can
easily relate to without a stretch of imagination.
2. Praise the audience. Audiences are human too, and each
and every one of them has a need to be acknowledged as much as you want to be
acknowledged for speaking well in front of them. There is only one requirement
for this maxim, that your praise be one hundred percent sincere. Anything less
and you’ll have resentment in your hands.
3. Connect with the audience. Find a common thread that
makes the audience relate to you, and you’ll find that the speech will come
through really well. Finding a common thread humanizes you and the speech. It
makes them want to listen to you because it may in some way be of great benefit
to them.
4. Have the audience participate. Get somebody to come
onstage and participate in a demonstration. Ask questions of the audience. Get
feedback. Encourage them to walk up to the microphone and give you a piece of
their mind. The point is to involve the audience, once more, making it more
real to them. Taking them along with you in your experience.
5. Less you, more them. Play yourself down. Nobody, especially
an audience, likes to be lectured to. This will cause resentment that will last
a long time. Never feel that you are above them. The better way to think about
your audience would be that you care about their welfare. Think of yourself as
their best friend, and more often than not, this will hold you in good stead.
Concentrating on
these 5 areas will help you focus and overcome the fear and anxiety associated
with public speaking.
I want to encourage you to take a look at our Certification Course on this very
subject. Many have been helped in this area with this course and a great number
have taken the course to improve and perfect their delivery and presentation
skills. You can find it at this link: http://www.integrityseminary.net/course?courseid=professional-speech-and-presentation
Wouldn't it be a good idea to create a course?
