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There once was a story about a
man who practiced and practiced and practiced his speech until he knew the
entire presentation word for word. The day came when he got on stage in
front of a full audience, delivered his speech perfectly without forgetting
a word, and then walked off stage. He decided his talk was a success
because it was delivered flawlessly. His audience, on the other hand, did
not agree.
Today, we are going to talk about
the importance of including your audience in your talk and how you can
increase the effectiveness of your presentation if you ask questions and
engage them in a conversation, rather than recite a memorized monologue.
Let’s face it—no one likes to be
talked at. We want to feel included, like we’re part of the conversation.
If you’re giving a talk and
people look sleepy, aren’t making eye contact, or are looking down at their
phones, these are indications that you are boring them, and you need to do
something to fix it. Here are three ways to make your speech interactive
and keep your audience paying attention.
1. Ask a question
Asking, “What do you think about
that?” isn’t the best question, because it’s too open-ended and is
confusing to the audience. Try asking a more pointed question, like, “Have
you been to the library in the last year? If so, raise your hand” or “Is
anyone in the room gluten intolerant? If so, raise your hand.” Of course,
your question will need to apply to your talk, but if you can come up with
a simple question that is easy for the audience to answer, they’ll likely
participate. Staying away from opinion questions and difficult concepts
will make it easier for them to get involved and feel like you are
talking with them, not at them. Try
yes/no questions to start.
2. Ask for a volunteer
Creating a scenario that requires
you to work with someone in the audience to illustrate an idea is a great
way to wake up your audience and get them to pay attention.
Remember to always ask for a
volunteer rather than pick someone out. Introverts, shy people, and people
who don’t do well in front of crowds won’t appreciate being singled out and
asked to perform in front of their peers. When you ask for volunteers, you
will get to work with someone who is happy to be in front of the group and
will likely work with you to achieve your goal. For example, if you wanted
to teach your audience how to act in a job interview, you could have a
volunteer come up to the front of the room with you and act as the
interviewer. You would be the interviewee and model the behavior you are
teaching. This is a simple way not only to reinforce your point, but to get
your audience to pay attention as well.
3. Get everyone out of their
seats
If people are yawning and looking
at the clock, they are likely not listening to you and hoping for your
presentation to end. If this is the case, tell everyone to stand up. This
puts everyone on high alert because now they have to perform in some way.
There are a variety of things you can do with them once they are standing,
and you want to make sure your plan matches the goals of your talk. For
example, if you’re teaching networking skills, you can ask everyone to
introduce themselves to the person on their left and their right.
If you are teaching stress
reduction techniques, you could have everyone practice one or two stretches
they could later do at their own desk. You can also put people in pairs to
work together on something or have them work in small groups while
standing. Getting out of chairs helps your audience pay attention and stay
engaged throughout your talk.
If you think you have a topic
that can’t be interactive, think again! It’s time to get creative with your
presentations and include your audience. Rather than stick to the boring
slide presentation, try to mix it up by remembering you have an entire team
of people sitting in front of you who can make your presentation even
better.
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