Two Techniques To Build Rapport With Your Audience
Two Techniques To Build Rapport With Your Audience Have you heard about horse whisperers? People who exhibit an almost mystical bond with horses. They can calm the horse. The horse trusts them and follows their guidance. Imagine if you could have that effect on your audience. Establish trust and have them follow your guidance. The way you do that is by establishing rapport. To establish rapport, the audience must believe that you understand them and share common experiences or values. Demonstrate how you are like your audience. How might you do that especially when you don’t know your audience well or believe that they are different from you for economic or sociographic reasons? Leverage Your Family Talk about your family. Tell a short story about your family. Even better if it’s funny or expresses frustration with certain family members. Why is that effective? Because everyone has family, and they typically have strong memories and feelings about family. When you talk about your family, they can connect with you because of those similar emotions. We all have family and strong feelings about family. Use your family stories to trigger those common emotions. Shared Pain A second way to build rapport is to reveal a flaw or embarrassment. Tell a short story about that. One where you are not the hero. Instead, you’re the butt of the incident. It doesn’t need to be a major flaw. When you reveal a weakness, flaw or embarrassment, you are being vulnerable. When you do that, we trust you more because it seems you have nothing to hide. The other benefit is that the audience can relate to your pain because they all have similar incidents they’d like to forget. The added benefit of sharing pain is that you demonstrate how you are imperfect just like them. Too many speakers present themselves as perfect. They believe you’ll listen better if they are perfect. The opposite is true. When a person claims they are perfect, they are lying because nobody is perfect. When you claim perfection, we hate you. But when you admit your imperfection, we can identity with you because secretly we all know we are imperfect. Be selective about which flaws you reveal and don’t tell all your flaws. You want to maintain credibility. Build rapport with your audience by demonstrating how you are like them. Imagine if you could be an audience whisperer. Access More Presentation Skills Resources Looking For A Speech Coach? Learn More Here
Create and Deliver your Presentation on Purpose
Create and Deliver Your Presentation on Purpose The most critical step in preparing a presentation is to clarify the purpose. If you’re not clear on your purpose, you could end up anywhere except where you want to be. When you have your purpose clearly defined, it’s easier to create your presentation and you are less likely to wander off on tangents. Your purpose isn’t about you. It’s not about the result you want. The following statements do not describe your purpose: Cover the topic Provide a project update Explain the new policy and procedures Perhaps you want to accomplish these objectives. They might be part of how you plan to achieve your purpose but that’s not your purpose. Why? Because each of those actions is about you. Your purpose is about your audience You might believe that you need to deliver a perfect presentation. That’s never the goal. Your goal is to move your audience. To do that, you need to deliver an effective and successful presentation. Don’t waste time and effort trying to be perfect because you will only frustrate yourself and possibly fail with the relevant audience-centered purpose. A successful presentation is one defined in terms of the audience. How do you identify your purpose? The most important question that you need to address before any presentation is this: What do you want people to think, feel and/or do as a result of this presentation? What do you want people to think? What do you want people to feel? What do you want people to do? You might want one or more of the three. The first question is based on logic. The second is based on emotion. The third and most important result is driven by both emotion and logic. In most cases you speak to encourage people to act as desired. This means that the key question is “What do you want people to DO?” A successful presentation is about moving people. In what direction do you want to move them? If you moved them as desired, it was a successful presentation. Write the purpose of your presentation from the perspective of the audience. What does a successful presentation mean to them? This is where you start in preparing your presentation and this is the destination you pursue. Access More Presentation Skills Resources Looking For A Speech Coach? Learn More Here
How to open your presentation
How To Open Your Presentation How to open your presentation Your first words are important because your audience is judging you. They are scrolling through questions in their mind: Should I listen? How long will this take? Do I trust the person? How painful will this be? When will we get to the relevant part? What does this mean to me? The purpose of your opening is to grab their attention, establish rapport and set the direction. Most importantly – grab attention. How might you do that? First, be aware of silly phrases to avoid: My name is… and a little bit about me (we don’t care) Today I’m going to talk about (boring) Thank you for inviting me to speak (boring and irrelevant) I’m honored to be invited (wasting time and feeling phony) Instead, start with: An enticing promise A bold statement An intriguing question An emotional trigger Study these suggested phrases for each opening method. An enticing promise: By the end of this presentation, you will understand the 3 criteria for You have the tools for success, and today you will learn how to use them You don’t need to waste more money if you use this process A bold statement: If we don’t address this threat, we will be out of business in six months Success is never easy, yet it can be simple We have a secret weapon that is waiting to be used An intriguing question: Did you know… Would it surprise you to learn… What is the most dangerous question that our clients are asking about… An emotional trigger: Imagine a world where… (The word “imagine” engages and triggers our imagination) How would you feel about… (“feel” is emotional and more powerful than “think” which is logical) What scares you about… (tap into the powerful emotion of fear) My daughter asked me about… (family stimulates emotional connections) Review these opening phrases. Rehearse them out loud. Play with different endings that fit your circumstances. Get comfortable with these opening lines. Imagine the power of your presentation when you grab their attention with your first words. Access More Presentation Skills Resources Looking For A Speech Coach? Learn More Here
Manage and Leverage Your Confidence
Manage and Leverage Your Confidence Did you know that confidence is the currency of success, yet it can be the most difficult coin to obtain? Like money, the more you have the more you get. Yet, unlike money, you can’t borrow, trade or steal it. If you experience speech anxiety or the fear of public speaking – you are normal. It is considered the most common fear. From my experience as a presentation coach, I’ve been surprised to discover that many of my clients experience that fear or anxiety. That includes people who’ve been successful in their career or business. They’ve demonstrated success yet they still feel nervous about public speaking. Why is that? One theory suggests that when we speak before others – we feel we are being judged and we believe that they can read our mind – that they can see us metaphorically naked. The reality is that the audience can’t read our mind. They can’t see within our mind cage. That’s why we need to express our message clearly in words that they understand. Consider this question: Is it more important to feel confident or to look confident? Think about that… You probably want both – to feel confident and to look confident. It’s more important to look confident. Why? Because that’s the audience perspective. If they believe you look and sound confident, they are more likely to listen to and believe your message. The key point here is that is not about you. It’s about your audience. What did they see, hear, believe and feel? That means that during your presentation you might experience those moments of anxiety – but the audience doesn’t need to know. Confidence starts by becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable. The audience doesn’t need to know about your inner doubts or anxiety. Put on a happy face for them. Believe in the value of your message. That’s why you’re speaking. That’s why they listen. It’s more important that the audience believes you’re confident than you to feel confident all the time. The momentary lapses are normal and for your information only. PS: I experience those occasional moments of anxiety and don’t let it show. Access More Presentation Skills Resources Looking For A Speech Coach? Learn More Here
Speak to an Audience of One
Speak To An Audience of One Imagine how you might feel when you’re sitting in an audience listening to a speaker and it feels like the speaker is talking directly to you. It seems more like a one-to-one conversation despite the audience present. Now imagine that you could convey that intimate feeling when you are the speaker. The secret is to speak as if you’re speaking to one person. Sounds simple yet few speakers have mastered this technique. Here are three changes to make in your presentations to connect with your audience as individuals. See them as Individuals The first step is to adjust your mindset. Don’t see a crowd or audience. Instead, see a gathering of individuals. Imagine yourself speaking to each individual one person at a time. You can get into this mindset if you great them as individuals when they arrive. You don’t need to call out every name or where they are from. Simply connect with a few. The other benefit of seeing them as individuals is that you will feel less anxious about public speaking. Mind your Words Stop using crowd language. Don’t refer to them as a crowd. “Hello everybody” is both impersonal and reinforces that they are part of a crowd. Instead say “Hello”. And don’t ask “How is everybody today?” because we know you don’t care. You’re not going to let every person tell you how they are. This question is from the Motivational Speaker 101 fake enthusiasm guide. The word” anybody” is equally distasteful, as in “anybody have any questions?” Yuk. Don’t refer to the audience as “You guys”. Instead say “You” because it is both singular and plural. Make a point to use the word “you” often during your presentation because every time you say the word, each person feels as if you are speaking directly to them. Remove plural versions of words that describe the audience. Instead of saying “as members of” say “as a member of”. Use these phrases: You and your team You and your fellow members Test your words by asking yourself, “Would this be appropriate I was sitting across the table and talking to one person?” Eye Contact When you are in the room with an audience, move your glance from one person to another and hold their eyes for a few seconds before moving to the next person. By the end of the presentation every person should feel that at some point “the speaker was talking directly to me”. Of course, if you’re speaking virtually, you stare at the glass eye of the camera to convey the same feeling. Look at the camera, not the screen. Effective eye contact is from the perspective of the audience not you. It’s not that you thought you looked at them. Did they believe you looked at them? Convey the feeling that you are speaking to one person. Imagine how each person will feel when you speak to them as individuals, not a crowd. Access More Presentation Skills Resources Looking For A Speech Coach? Learn More Here