Effective public speaking: audience contact
by Wayne Foster
Although speaking in public is really a monologue of sorts, this monologue is
addressed to a ready, able and receptive audience who wants to be informed from
you as much as you want to learn from them.
Speaking in public would be more productive if it is listened to. The following
are effective tips to preserve that necessary contact with the audience.
Greet them
Minutes before your actual speaking engagement, you could circle around the
venue and establish yourself with the people who will be listening to you. As
the people and the attendees arrive, give them a warm greeting. It is so much
easier to deliver a speech to an assembly of people whom you consider as friends
than to a bunch of anonymous faces.
Be positive
Honestly, people expect and want you to succeed. Audiences want to be as
enlightened, motivated and entertained as they could be. If you fail, they
cringe with you. Succeed and your audience benefits just as well from your great
speaking performance.
There is nothing to be sorry about
If you disclose to the audience that you are nervous or if you announce your
apologies to any problems you think may exist about your speech or your speech
delivery, you may be setting them up to focus on that thing you are apologizing
for. You do not have to mention this to them, chances are they haven’t noticed
this until you brought it up. Relax and be silent. Your audience will relax with
you.
Establish eye contact
Connect with your audience, appear natural. Or better yet, be as natural as
you can be, without overdoing it of course. You should be able to get the
audience to nod their heads as an acknowledgement of what you are trying to
convey. Do not breeze through your speech. Pause for a moment or for a brief
moment, especially at those points you want to emphasize. This is also a good
time to establish eye contact with your attendees as well as to catch that much
needed breathe.
Do not debate
If during the question and answer part of your speaking engagement an
audience expresses difference of opinion with any part of your message, you need
not aggressively argue your point to him or her. A debate is not just a futile
means to get your point across but it could just as well never be resolved. Get
that attendee to talk with you after your speaking engagement, never during.
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