The Problem with Just Broadcasting
Ever feel you’re losing your audience? Or have you ever seen a speaker who is merrily going through their presentation without realising that the audience is a little bored or disconnected?
I believe the solution is to really engage the people watching by trying to notice their activity and behaviour, and responding to it.
By trying to really ‘see’ your audience.
By which I mean: don’t just look in their direction (if in person, making eye contact with everyone is always good), but also listen to them (ask them some questions) and try your best to understand and respect them. Level the status of you and your audience, and grant them some power over the content.
How to Really See Them
I aim for relevance, connection and empathy. Here are three ways to do that:
1. Try to make eye contact and smile at the start, to show that you’re interested in my audience, and that this isn’t just the same old presentation. It may be material you’ve delivered before, but you can make it feel a little unique and spontaneous each time.
2. Ask questions to get their synapses firing, so that they’re in ‘thinking’ mode as well as ‘listening’ mode. I usually find that audiences aren’t very receptive to a direct question near the start, so it can be a challenge, but it’s always worth it. Make them work a bit! (They’ll probably give you something useful.)
3. Mention what’s happening there and then, to demonstrate your awareness.
(Bonus achievement: this approach can enable some *very* funny and memorable moments.)
As a stand-up comic, I feel I developed this skill (or indulged this ‘busy’ part of my brain) at every gig; I had my material, but I knew – as every comic does – that finding something in the audience could be the magic, spontaneous moment that really lights up everyone’s imagination, including mine.
I confess to sometimes being easily distracted, but it is in fact being in an alert, ‘noticing’ mode that lends my interactions a far greater level of engagement.
Possible Danger
However, there is an important caveat here: noticing someone who looks bored can throw you off, confirming an illogical fear that the whole audience isn’t interested. As soon as you see something like this, check if it’s isolated (if it is, it may be safe to ignore). If there is more than one person who seems bored, then jump right in and ask for their thoughts on what you’re talking about. If you’re bold like me, then you might point out – without ego or judgement – that they seem a little disinterested. You may find that actually, it’s OK, and that they’re just shattered from <relatable experience> which you can leverage to create a connection, or that they have a <genuine, unbiased objection> that you can address there and then, to reinforce your credibility.
Be Interesting
This awareness is simply being ‘present’, or ‘being in the moment’, which can be very beneficial to your own calmness and mental health, but doing it while speaking lends you this fantastic additional benefit of enabling significant, spontaneous engagement, with any audience, of any size.
In short: try to be interested, rather than interesting.
The best way to implement and strengthen this skill? Practise it as often as possible!
(photo by Jason Leung on unsplash – incidentally, this image looks like it’s on the High Line in Manhattan; I’ve been there and it’s amazing – LOTS of people to notice)