Audience Engagement

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I recently attended a workshop, conducted by an experienced professional speaker. As part of the session, we were all given an opportunity to deliver a short presentation. My presentation included a bit of audience interaction. After I completed my presentation, our host strongly suggested that, as speakers, we should never engage our audience. His argument was that we relinquish control when we do this, and may find it difficult to get that control back.

I have to tell you, I have over thirty years of experience, having been in the entertainment business, and in the speaking business, and I would beg to differ. I engage my audience at every opportunity. Though it does require some skill to maintain control at times, the rewards are well worth whatever risk is present.

Your audience members don’t want to be static recipients of your message. They want to be a part of the show. That doesn’t mean you should be getting them on the stage, although that can, and should, happen occasionally. It does mean, however, that they want to be, at the very least, mentally and emotionally involved.

There are safe ways to engage your audience and still maintain control. For example, you can have them raise their hands, have them stand up, have them yell out answers to your questions, or even have them catch things you toss out to them, always in a safe fashion, obviously! These are very simple ways to engage your audience, and it takes nothing away from your performance, but it brings your audience into the game with you.

There is one stipulation that should be noted, however. Audience engagement must have a purpose, other than to get them engaged. There must be a reason for getting them to do something. Otherwise, it comes across as a tactic, and not an important part of the session. If you’re going to ask for them to raise their hands, do something with that resulting show of hands. Explain the purpose of the exercise. Have a point to it all.

I’ve seen many speakers ask their audience to interact, with no explanation or reason behind the interaction. This gets old very fast, and your audience will stop complying, or comply out of politeness, and begrudge you every minute of it.

So, what’s the lesson? Get your audience engaged, but with a purpose in mind, and you’ll keep their attention.

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How to Completely Kill the Moment

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Imagine you’re making love. You’re in the middle of the  steamiest moment. You’re excited, engaged and completely involved, when all of a sudden, your partner stops, flips the page in the manual, reads the instructions, and then tries to pick up where he or she left off. Don’t you just hate it when that happens?

I get so frustrated when a speaker has my attention, and is on a roll with a captivating message. When the speaker has me enthralled, both mentally and emotionally, but then has to stop to check notes. What a way to completely kill the moment! Here’s how you can prevent such a showstopper. Instead of notes or a script, consider using a mental picture stack.

In my training programs, the first thing I do is give my students a very simple mental picture to follow for their first presentation, and here it is:

In your mind, picture a huge name plate with your name on it, and picture it balancing on edge on the top of your head. You struggle to keep it balanced as it sways to and fro, but you manage to keep it balanced on your head.

At the same time, there’s a rolled up map being stuffed up your nose, as if by some magical force. With your right hand you’re trying to pull the map out of your nose, but it keeps pushing itself back in there.

While all of that’s happening, there’s a giant Cheerio stuck to your bottom lip, and it’s pulling your bottom lip down. It’s very heavy, and it’s pulling your face down while you’re trying to keep that map out of your nose, and you still have to keep balancing that name plate on your head. As if that’s not enough, your left hand’s holding a goal net, like the ones used in ice hockey. This net is in front of your stomach, and it’s very heavy, plus very awkward. Your left arm’s tired from the weight of this goal net, your face is being pulled down by a giant Cheerio on your bottom lip, your right hand’s fighting with the map that’s pushing its way up your nose, and that name plate’s still trying to fall off your head.

What on Earth could all of that possibly mean? It’s a visual road map for the first presentation my students give in class. Their first assignment is to stand in front of the class, and tell us their name (name plate), where they’re from (rolled up map), what their occupation is (Cheerio is “O” for occupation), and what their goal is in the class (goal net). See how that works?

This same process can be used for a presentation of any length of time, and it can completely remove the need for written notes. When it’s time to move from one topic to the next, a moment of silent thought is all that’s required to think about the next picture in the stack, and then to move into that topic. Your audience has no clue that you’re using the notes, because they’re in your mind.

The key to success in using this strategy is to exaggerate the pictures, and include motion. The more ridiculous the scenes, the easier it’ll be to recall them. I’ve done entire workshops with this method. There’s no limit to the number of items that you can recall, with a little practice.

So, what’s the lesson? To keep the momentum going, get rid of the paper notes, and use picture stacks in your mind instead.

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Have Fun

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This is the simplest, but pretty much the most important, of all the rules of speaking in public. When I was in the band, I used to say that our audience will never get more excited about our music than we will.

For years, our band traveled the country, playing every kind of venue you can think of. We sold out at pubs and taverns, we broke attendance records in some venues, and we even had a fan club. The funny thing about this is that we weren’t that good of a band! Our music was fine, but not nearly as good as many other bands. We weren’t as polished as many other bands, plus we didn’t have the best equipment on the planet. I believe we just weren’t as talented as many other bands, but they weren’t doing nearly as well as we were. So, what was our secret? We were fun!

We had more fun on that stage than any other band touring around, during that time period. We made jokes, we screwed up regularly on stage, we laughed at each other, we jumped around, and we had loads and loads of fun every single time we hit the stage, but every second of it was sincere and honest. We just loved to be in front of an audience, and it showed. The result was that we had people flocking in to come and see us play.

The exact same concept holds true for speakers. Some speakers don’t seem to appreciate the magnitude of the opportunity, or the responsibility they’ve been given by being on the stage. The Spotlight is glorious, and we, as speakers, should respect it, we should savor it and most of all, we should enjoy it. The worst thing a speaker can do to an audience is to bore them.

An audience will forgive just about any mishap, any mistake, or any fumble, as long as they’re having a good time. There’s no way an audience is going to have a good time, if the speaker isn’t also.

I’m not suggesting that you need to jump around like an idiot on the stage. We did that in the band at times, because it was fitting of the environment we were in. I’m simply suggesting that your audience will never elevate themselves beyond your emotional elevation. While you’re on stage, you’re the leader. Your audience looks to you to establish the emotional altitude.

So, what’s the lesson? Above all else, have fun. Your audience will love you for it!

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Whatever Happens, Make It Look Deliberate

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In early summer of 2010, my daughter graduated from high school. I was sitting in an auditorium that held maybe a thousand people or more, and I was enjoying the very elaborate graduation ceremony. The valedictorian was scheduled to give his speech in a few minutes, but, before he got to do so, the power went out in the auditorium. The entire stage went black, and the sound system shut off, so nothing worked anymore. The emergency lights came on, but they were positioned to illuminate the exits, not the stage.

Now, if you’re a seventeen-year-old, about to give your speech as the class valedictorian, is this not pretty much the highlight of your life up to this point? Does this not rank up there as one of the most important events in your life so far? I wonder what must have gone through his mind, as his time to make his speech approached, and he had no light from which to read his speech, and no sound system with which to project his voice. I can only imagine the anxiety that must have been surging through him.

The Master of Ceremonies had to keep the program going, so, with a loud, booming voice, the MC introduced the valedictorian, whom no one could see in the dark. This young man stepped to the front of the stage, where there was a single ray of very dim light from one of the emergency lights, and, from memory, he began to speak. The entire auditorium went completely silent, as we strained to hear the young man’s voice, but we only had to strain for a moment. As the crowd fell silent in the auditorium, his voice rang through the stands as clearly, and with as much professionalism, as I’ve ever heard from a speaker.

He had no light, had no script, and had no microphone. Yet, he captured the attention of every person in the auditorium, all thousand-plus of us. His speech was profound, was masterfully delivered, and was one of the best speeches I can remember being a witness to. It was like he’d planned it this way all along.

Two minutes after his speech ended, the power came back on, but he had already won us over in the dark. I have to tell you another story, because it fits in so well with this topic. A close friend of mine is a master magician, and his name is Elliott Smith. In late summer of 2010, while Elliott was performing in a magic show, there was suddenly an earthquake.

In Ottawa, Canada, earthquakes aren’t common. This one happened to hit in the middle of Elliott’s show. He briefly stopped his performance and waited for the tremor to stop, then looked at his audience and, without skipping a beat, asked, “Now, who wants to see me do that again?”

So, what’s the lesson? Expect the unexpected. When it happens, make it look like it was all part of the plan.

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Share the Stage, But Be Careful

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On occasion, I like to share the stage. I’ll bring up a volunteer to participate in a demonstration, or even bring up a guest to share a quick story. This can be very effective, but also very dangerous, and you’ll need to decide for yourself how adventurous you want to get.

In item #83, I explained the importance of staying within your time limit. If you plan to share the stage, you’ll need to make sure your guest agrees to, and abides by, a time limit, or you may have to politely interject, and stop them from taking over your program.

Another risk is that your guest may not behave exactly according to plan. I invited a volunteer to the stage once, and, to prove a point, set up a scenario that was meant to garner a specific reaction from the volunteer. This scenario had him walking down the street, and had him see me coming toward him. He was to recognize me as his long-lost brother. He was to have been searching for me all of his life, and right out of the blue, there I was. I asked him how he would respond. I expected him to open his arms, and to welcome his long-lost brother back into his life, but instead, this volunteer put his hands on his hips, and yelled angrily, “Where the hell have you been?” Not exactly the response I was hoping for.

So, what’s the lesson? Sharing the stage can get a laugh, and it can enhance the experience for your audience, as well as help you prove a point. Be aware, however, that it can also be fraught with peril. Be prepared for the possibility that things might not develop the way you expected them to.

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Use Flip Charts Backwards

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This is a cool little trick I learned years ago. You’ve probably seen presenters struggle with the flip chart paper, as they try to lift it over the top of the chart. The paper gets crumpled, and won’t fall properly. Most speakers have struggled with this, from time to time.

When I use a flip chart, I turn all of the pages up first, so that I begin using the last page of the pad, and I flip them from back to front. I do this for two reasons:

First, when the pages are flipped over the top of the chart, it’s much easier to grab them from behind the chart. The pages are already separated, and they’re at chest height, so I don’t have to bend down.

Second, once I grab the sheet, there’s already a forward pulling force on it, because the sheets are mounted on the front of the chart, and the fold is pulling the paper for me. I simply have to lift the sheet a little, and let gravity drop it smoothly into place.

Try it! Flip the papers of the flip chart backwards, from back to front. You’ll see how smoothly you can flow through those pages, with next to zero effort, and no awkward fumbles.

So, what’s the lesson? I think you get it!

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Don’t Speak to Your Audience, Converse With Them Instead

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Wikipedia defines a conversation as, “communication between two or more people.” A conversation flows two ways, and it should do so from the stage as well. Now, that doesn’t mean both parties must speak; it means there’s some communication between the two. This typically requires mutual attention and 150 Take The Stage respect, in order to establish transference of both information, and emotion.

In order for you to converse with your audience, you first need their attention. A very simple way to command your audience’s attention as soon as you take the stage is by giving them your attention first. You can do this through silence. That’s right, say nothing, do nothing. Just stand there, and look into your audience. This lets your audience know they have your attention, and that you’re expecting theirs. I’ve done this hundreds of times, and it works very well. It sometimes takes longer than is comfortable, but it does work, and you need to remain steadfast until you have everyone’s attention, not just some of them.

If you begin speaking before you have your audience’s attention, you’re not conversing with them, you’re merely speaking at them, and they’re not listening. Standing in silence and looking at your audience takes moxie, no doubt about it. But it can be a very powerful way to command their attention.

Once you have their attention, you’ll need to gain their respect. You can do that by first giving them yours. Respect your audience by being properly prepared, appropriately dressed, professionally poised and effectively projected in your voice.

The more prepared you are in every aspect of your presentation, the more respect you’ll have shown for your audience, and the more respect they’re likely to have for you.

With your audience’s attention and respect, you’re in a great position to just chat with them as you would a close friend, and they’re in a position to do more than receive your message. They become silent participants in the conversation.

So, what’s the lesson? Command your audience’s attention, and respect, by first giving them yours, then just converse with them like you would with an old friend.

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If You Don’t Know the Answer, Don’t Ask the Question

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Around 1987, I was sitting in a large conference room that held between eighty and one-hundred other business people. Our host was at the podium, introducing our guest speaker. The guest speaker had just published a new book. He was the founder of an organization and on the board of directors for another corporation. He had a list of credentials a mile long.

As his name was announced, our guest speaker stepped up to the podium. As I watched him, I noticed how successful he looked. He was tall, confident, and self-assured. He was wearing an expensive looking suit that was most likely custom tailored, and I was thinking, “This is going to be really good!” As our speaker stepped up to the podium, he raised his right hand high into the air, and he asked this question, “By a show of hands, who here has read The One Minute Manager?” (This wasn’t the book this speaker had written.)

I hadn’t read that book, so I didn’t raise my hand. I look around the room, and not a single hand was raised. “No one has read, The One Minute Manager?” he asked, now looking a little concerned. I scanned the room again, and still found no hands in the raised position.

Our speaker began to stumble over his words at this point, as if he’d been completely thrown off by the fact that nobody in the room had read that book. He grabbed a piece of paper off the podium, and his hand began to shake so badly we could hear that paper rattle clear across the room. After a few seconds of stumbling and stammering, our speaker took both of his hands, brought them up to his face, and began to weep like a child.

My jaw dropped, and I was now staring at this man in complete disbelief. I figured this must be part of his show, or something of the kind. After a few moments, he removed his hands from his face; he then wiped his hands on his custom tailored suit, as he picked up his papers and he walked out the door.

Our speaker didn’t anticipate the answer to his question would be anything other than what he was prepared for. When he was caught off guard by the audience response, it threw him right off his game, and everything in his mind came crashing down around him. To this day, I don’t recall this poor man’s name, nor have I seen him anywhere else since.

So, what’s the lesson? Never pose a question to an audience, unless you either know what their answer will be in advance, or you’re thoroughly prepared to handle any other possible answer that could come up.

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Stay Within Your Time Limit. Always!

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About thirty minutes before I began writing this section, I received a phone call from a friend who was scheduled to give a  presentation that very evening. She asked me for some input on a few things. She shared with me that she’d been allocated five minutes for her presentation, but planned to “hijack” more time.

I strongly advised against it, and I hope she heeded my advice. You’ll have to buy the next book to find out if she did or not.

In late 2007, my wife, Sharon, and I held a seminar. As part of our session, we invited two guest speakers, both of them doctors. Before the event, I spoke directly with each of them, and we discussed their allotment of time, and their main topics. We reached an agreement on topics, and on a fifteen-minute time limit. We planned our session, in significant part, around the agreed-upon topics and time limits.

During the session, the time came up for the first guest speaker to take the stage. His presentation was outstanding! As he presented, I sat off to one side of the platform, beside his laptop computer. He had to walk over to the computer many times, in order to advance his slides.

After his allotted fifteen minutes, there was no sign of his presentation coming near an end. After twenty minutes had passed, I flagged him down when he walked over to advance his slides. “Hey Doc, you have to wrap it up,” I told him. He didn’t, and I signaled for him to end about a dozen times.

After forty-five minutes, he finally ended his presentation, so I walked out onto the stage and politely thanked him. For the past half-hour, the second guest speaker had been standing there, ready to present, but his allotted time was already long gone as well.

I felt that we had to honor our invitation to the second guest speaker, so I introduced him, and welcomed him to the stage. He, too, had agreed on a fifteen minute maximum, but took a full thirty minutes to complete his presentation.

The net result was that we weren’t able to include all of the information we’d planned for the seminar. The complete second half of our seminar was destroyed, because we weren’t able to squeeze it all in.

I learned two important lessons that day. The first lesson was that I won’t allow a guest speaker to hijack my meetings again. The next time, I’ll walk right out onto the stage if I must, and wrap their presentation up for them. The second lesson I learned was that I’ll never do that to anyone else. Never will I run overtime in a presentation. It’s disrespectful to the organizers, to all of the other speakers who must follow, and to the audience.

So, what’s the lesson? Be respectful; always stay within your allocated time limit.

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Avoid the Apology

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I would say the most common thing I see from my students is the tendency to walk up to the front, and tell us all the reasons why their talk is going to suck!

I haven’t really prepared anything.

I’m not good at public speaking.

This isn’t something I’d normally do.

I was going to talk about this other thing, but I changed my

mind.

I didn’t know I was going to be speaking today.

These are the most common opening statements I hear in my classes, and they’re really just products of nervous energy. Most people are very uncomfortable with speaking in public, so when they walk up to the front to speak, they have to release that energy somehow. In their minds, what better way to do it than to explain to the audience members the reason they shouldn’t expect too much? That takes the pressure off the speaker, right?

In actuality, these nervous opening statements make speaking more difficult, because they put you into a negative pattern right from the start. This means that something good has to happen in order to move you from a negative mindset and into a positive one, instead of you already being on a high note.

What you do or say on the way to the stage is critical, because your audience is forming an impression about you right from the start, even as you walk up and take your place front and center.

What should you say on your way to the front? Nothing! When your name is called, you walk up to the front of the room, or onto the stage, sporting a huge smile, and step into the Spotlight like you own the place. Take your position in front of your audience, give them a moment to form their first impression of you, and then begin.

In the spring of 2010, I had the opportunity of being the motivational speaker at the 114th graduation ceremony of ‘Willis College of Business and Technology’ in Ottawa. There were between 500 and 600 people there, along with delegates, political figures and members of the press. I was sitting in the front row while I awaited my time to speak, but the front row was about fifty feet from the stage. Between the front row and the stage was quite an expanse of floor, lots and lots of floor.

The room was set up this way because some ceremonial activities had been conducted in that open floor space a little earlier in the day. This meant that when they introduced me, the walk to the stage felt like I was walking down the hall to the gas chamber.

I was only half-way to the stage by the time the applause generated by my introduction had ended. This left me with a walk of twenty-five feet or so to reach the short stairs, to climb up to the stage level, and to get across the stage, where the podium awaited me. I had to complete this trek in a rather uncomfortably silent room. Believe me, that’s a long walk in front of such a large crowd.

A simple walk to a platform, to the front of a room, or to the center of a stage can be an ominous walk. The distance can seem overwhelming, and if there’s a complete silence, it can be absolutely painful. But remember, as a speaker, anything you say during that walk is more likely to hurt you than help you, therefore, say nothing.

So, what’s the lesson? Walk to the stage, the podium or to the front of the room like you own the place, and say nothing until you’re ready to begin your talk.

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