In the thousands of speeches I have heard, very few presenters really engage and involve the audience.
Remember, even the most disciplined and attentive audience will shut down after 20 minutes.
It never ceases to amaze me how many very smart people who are experts in their field end up being poor presenters.
They usually have a pattern in the way they speak. A nervous start with an apology, followed by hiding behind the podium, then a new world record for the number of PowerPoint slides or transparencies that can go through in the allotted time and then a mad dash in the last five minutes when they realize who are only in the middle of their speech!
Sounds familiar?
Perhaps you have been in this situation many times before as an audience member?
Or worse yet, have you been a presenter with this approach?
So how can you engage your audience in new and innovative ways? These are my top four ways to engage your audience in a presentation.
1. ASK A QUESTION.
It’s so painfully obvious that many presentations don’t incorporate this tried and true technique. You can even use this if you are the MC of an event.
A simple question can be a great icebreaker. When planning a speech, find out when and what to ask your audience members to really engage and engage them. A good technique is to get the audience to interact with yourself or with others by checking their understanding or interpretation of what they have heard so far.
2. GIVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TELL YOUR STORY.
Ask audience members to tell their own stories that highlight the point you are trying to make. This not only personalizes your message, but makes it more relevant to the audience. Case studies work especially well in this format. This engages the audience personally with the presentation and makes each member reflect on the speech.
3. HAVE FUN.
The public loves fun and entertainment. Break up your presentation with some fun and games where people are encouraged to kick back and play. I find that my audience interaction technique of engaging the audience in some simple and not too challenging hammer throw warm-ups works well for even the most cynical and timid audiences.
The best response I’ve had was a series of keynote presentations in the Philippines on branding where audience members had to team up and write, script, produce, and then present a 30-second TV commercial on stage. for your latest product.
It always amazes me how creative people can be when given permission to compete, have fun, and play.
4. THE NEXT STEP PLAN.
One of the most successful ways to engage an audience is to get them to apply new concepts or ideas to their own situation. You can do this by having them set some goals or come up with a simple action plan based on the information you present in your speech.
There are no rules, except that whatever you do, you must reinforce the ‘essence’ of the main message in your speech. In this way, you can satisfy all the kinesthetic, visual and auditory needs of your audience.
