Public Speaking Tips - How to Win Your Audience’s Attention
Anxious about an upcoming corporate presentation, a speech or a lecture? It’s normal to feel nervous every time a speaking engagement gets near. Even the best speakers claim to have that feeling from time to time and still ask for public speaking tips from fellow presenters or their mentors.
Winning the audience’s attention is certainly a big challenge to a public speaker or a presenter regardless of how big or small his audience is and regardless of his or her experience as a public speaker. To be able to successfully do that, one must not only be gifted with natural communication skills but must also be knowledgeable enough about his subject matter. Similarly, he must know how to properly communicate his message to his audience.
To help you win your audience’s attention while doing a presentation, below are some presentation tips you can follow:
Assess your audience’s needs – a big part of preparing for your presentation is assessing your audience’s needs. Do they need to be informed, persuaded or entertained? What do they need to know about your topic? Be sure to match your discussion, your speech or the contents of your presentation with their needs. If your audience realizes that they have nothing to gain from your presentation or your discussion, they won’t be interested to listen.
Communication experts George Grice and John Skinner recommend that when seeking to inform the audience, you must project yourself as a mentor. When seeking support to a belief or a cause, project yourself as an advocate. When aiming to amuse the audience, be an entertainer to them.