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Articles - Captivating Your Audience's Attention
Written by David Mudie   
Thursday, 26 April 2007

Interacting With Your Audience While Speaking

The following excerpts came from a series of Effectively Speaking Newsletters.

 From June 16, 2006
Just for fun!
How far into a field can a horse walk? Send me your thoughts. I will share the answer with you in next week’s newsletter.
 

From June 26, 2006

 Just for fun!
 Last week I asked,
 How far into a field can a horse walk?

Well, everyone who answered got it correct. After walking halfway into a field, a horse will be walking out. Thanks for responding N.B., R.P, L.P., and C.S.
 
This week’s question:
 
How many times can you subtract 9 from the number 27?
 

From July 3, 2006

 Just for fun!
 Last week I asked,
 "How many times can you subtract 9 from the number 27?”
 
Well once again everyone who answered got it correct. You can only subtract 9 from 27 once. After that it is no longer 27, it is 18. Thanks for responding L.W., L.P., M.R. and RKP.
 

What is the next letter in the following series?

O T T F F S S
Bonus question:

Besides for fun, why am I including these questions?

From July 12, 2006

 Why Just for Fun?

Over the past several weeks I have ended the newsletter with a section called “Just for Fun”. In it I have included a bit of a puzzle for you to figure out. Last weeks went like this…

 What is the next letter in the following series?
 O T T F F S S
 Well everyone who responded got it correct. The letters are the first letters of the words One through Seven. That is…

One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
And so the next letter would be an E for eight.

But I also asked you a bonus question… It was, “Besides for fun, why am I including these questions?”
 
Here are some of the answers I got…
 

From L.P.

1. It provides an incentive for people to read (at least part of) your newsletter.
2. When people answer the questions, you know that your newsletter is being read (at least in part).
3. It fosters a dialog between your readers and you. A reader may not be inclined to write to you about the subject matter of the newsletter, but may respond to one of the "Just For Fun" questions. Once he/she has done so the ice has been broken, and that reader may thereafter be more inclined to write to you about the subject matter.

From L.F.

1. To add an element of entertainment like the crossword in the paper.

And from H.K.

why am I including these questions? ... to build your mailing list!

 

Well they are all good answers – I particularly got a laugh from H.K. Yes I am trying to build my list – however I do always try to give you value for your attention. I know that you are interested in public speaking so I try to tie my material into that. I’m not going to include anything I don’t think will help you to achieve your goal(s) of growing as a public speaking/presenter.

 An audience that interacts with you will generally have more fun, comprehend the material quicker and recall your material easier. In short, they will be captivated by your presentation. As you know from previous articles in this newsletter, the ability to captivate your audience is an extremely valuable skill for someone who is speaking.
 
Your audience will benefit because they will comprehend your material quicker and be able to recall it later.

You will benefit because your efforts at motivating (leading) your audience will be that much more effective.
 
What are some methods of interacting with the audience?
  • Asking questions and getting the audience to answer.
  • Getting the audience to ask questions that you can answer (these two of course also makes sure that you and the audience are connecting and that the audience understands).
  • Giving the audience exercises, handouts, activities, jobs to make the presentation a success. That is, getting them to interact with you.
  • Taking polls, getting the audience to stand up/sit down to be counted for something and then using the information to demonstrate a point.

The key to this is that you want the activity to tie into your message in some way. And that brings us back to “Just for Fun.” Although this is a different forum and it does not work as effectively as speaking I was trying to demonstrate a number of ideas.
Activities and interaction will draw audience members into your message.
There has to be a connection. I know that some of you probably doubted me when you saw these “pointless” exercises. I would rather you doubt me and remember this lesson then have your audience doubt you if you implement this strategy without thinking about the tie in.

Next week I will share with you an extremely effective way that I use this strategy when I’m talking about leadership


You are granted permission to reproduce and distribute this article provided that all of it (including these notices) is included.

 

Copyright © 2007 David Mudie All Rights Reserved

 

Visit http://www.EffectivelySpeking.com to get your own free newsletter subscription and start overcoming your fear of public speaking.

 

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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 28 August 2007 )
 
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