Embedded Files
When technology and audiences collide, the results can be…interesting. (Source)
Thus far, we've spent a lot of time focused on your role in the public speaking game. It stands to reason: as the speaker, you're the one who's got to be prepared for whatever might come your way on that stage or behind that lectern, and we've been schooling you in preparatory methods and strategies.
It's time to completely shift gears for a lesson and focus on the audience.
As a public speaker, the audience can be your BFF or your worst nightmare.
You've got to know how to work with the audience that's placed before you, no matter what sort of circumstances you're in. One of the best ways to get the audience on your side is to involve them in your presentation in some manner. This doesn't necessarily mean asking for volunteers and bringing people up on stage to the delight and chagrin of their fellow audience members; you're a public speaker, not a magician. (Though asking for a volunteer can be a powerful involvement strategy, as we'll see later in this lesson.)
Involving the audience in a speech can play out in a number of other ways. From lecture halls on college campuses to sold out stadium tours of motivational speakers, good public speakers know how to get the crowd directly involved in what they're saying.
You don't have to do be a televangelist or best-selling economics guru to get the crowd begging for more. Employ some of our basic yet effective strategies and you'll have audience involvement down to a science in no time.
HOOK, LINE & INVOLVEMENT
When you step onto a stage or into a room of any sort to give a speech, the audience will already be operating under some preconceived notions about what you're going to deliver. The last thing you want to do is let them down, and the best you can hope for is exceeding their expectations so wildly that they'll be reminiscing over your greatness for years to come.
It's safe to say that the majority of public speakers will fall somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.
Let's read "5 Tips For Powerful Audience Participation." This short but effective article offers the following suggestions for involving an audience in a speech:
Choose your technique
Plan ahead
Use inclusive framing
Allow time for response
Acknowledge contributions
The article kicks off with an example of a public speaker who seems to ignore all five of these tips; as you can imagine, the results aren't terribly pleasant. Read the article and reflect on which of these tips you might feel the most comfortable working into your very own public speaking repertoire.
GETTING TECHY
There's no denying that our world is highly dependent upon our technological gadgets and devices. With that assertion being made, we'd be amiss if we didn't at least touch on how public speakers can integrate technology into their presentations. And the best part? It's actually pretty simple. No need to be a computer savant to amp up your audience participation in a technological way.
"Creating The iEvent: Technology Tools For Audience Engagement" has a list of nineteen different technology tools that are readily available for you to start using in your presentations ASAP.
Read this article, and check out some of the tools on the list. Since there are nineteen of 'em, you don't have to click through to every single page, but look into a few that you think you might actually use. For instance, if you can't stop checking your Twitter feed, Twitterfall and Twitterfountain might be useful to you.
Spend some time getting all tech-y, then hop back over to see some audience involvement in action.
INVOLVEMENT 101
You've read the details and figured out a few devices to integrate into your presentation. But how are the pros doing it? In the following two short videos, we'll get to witness some audience involvement as it goes down.
Our first two-minute video is called "Roberto Pradilla—Audience Involvement Examples." This views a bit like a short clip from a movie, where you're thrust into the scene with the speaker in front of an audience. Pay attention not only to how the speaker asks for the audience to participate, but how he responds to their answers, and moves forward in his speech.
Finally, we bring you the thrill-filled video, "How to Engage Your Audience for a More Interesting Presentation." Both the woman presenting this video and the speaker in the example are full of enthusiasm—which is always fun to watch.
When you're finished with both video clips, consider the following questions before wrapping on this lesson:
How important do you feel audience involvement is to the overall success of a speech or presentation?
What tips or tricks have you used in the past to get the audience participating in your own presentations? Which of these are you most likely to use going forward?
Are there technological tools that you feel might really bolster a presentation?
Whether you're personally well-versed in audience involvement or have yet to really give it a go, we hope you're feeling much more excited about the prospect of jazzing up even the toughest crowd. It might be daunting, but now that you're armed with tons of strategies, you know that it can be done.
Google Sites
Report abuse