Whether you’re pumped or dreading your presentation, you, the speaker, must answer these 3 questions in order to engage your audience.
🎯 Question #1 to create buy-in ➜
Do you know what you’re talking about?
You answer, “Of course!” But, does your audience know that you know?
- Tip: Share your credibility through stories. We call this “credibility sprinkles”.
- Ex: “When I spoke to 900 home inspectors in California at their annual association meeting I asked them what ‘BS’ stood for and they shouted out ‘better service!’”
🎯 Question #2 to maintain buy-in ➜
Do you care about what you’re talking about?
You do not need to be a raging extrovert. In fact, introverts make great speakers.
- Tip: You show your passion for your subject through your nonverbal actions.
- Do: Smile, have good posture, exhibit effective eye contact.
🎯 Question #3 to go beyond buy-in ➜
Do you really know who you’re talking to?
- Tip: Gather your intel.
- Find out: Where is their pain? What makes them tick? What are they good at? Who competes with them? Where can they improve? What defines success for them? How knowledgeable are they about your topic? Experience range?
🎯 Your audiences are distracted, tired or deadline driven. AKA: Overwhelmed. Do them a favor. Nail these answers in order to share your value.
#Communication #SpeakForYourself #KarenCortellReisman #AudienceEngagementRules
Knowing your audience is often overlooked, and the simplest mistakes can hurt your credibility. I always think back to a speaker talking to a credit union, and he made mention of their ‘clients.’ Credit unions use the term, ‘members.’
Hard to come back from a mistake like that.
Good tips. Thanks loads
Harry – what a great example, because it’s so subtle. You might think that “members” and “clients” are inter-changeable but this one word tells the audience you do not know who they really are… and your credibility index goes way down. Thanks for your comment.