Lessons from a Lousy Law Lecture;                 How a Law Prof. Failed to Connect.

In my first year of law school, one of my professors scheduled a class for students that had missed his lecture on the Jewish holidays.  When I was the only person to show up, I had a sense that this would be interesting.

I was right. It was the strangest law lecture of my life and it stands as a lesson in how not to be audience-centered. Being audience-centered means believing that the whole reason that we give presentations is to connect with the audience, answer their questions, and help them, even if that means changing your initial game plan to meet the circumstances.

But this professor didn’t get that idea.  As a result, his rigid approach bewildered his audience.

Lecturing to an Audience of One

To be fair, this man was a great professor, one of my favorites. But this “make-up lecture” to a single student seemed to take him out of his game.

At the appointed hour, he walked in with his books, plopped them down on the lectern and began to speak just as he always did.

He made no acknowledgment that the 100-person lecture hall was populated by himself and a single law student. He apparently only knew one way to give this lecture and that was what I was going to get. Never mind that his stentorian delivery style, while riveting to a large audience, when delivered to a single listener in an empty auditorium was creepy.

Similarly, many business people fail to adjust to circumstances.  They have a plan for their presentations and won’t change.  If you’ve prepared a formal talk, be ready to adjust if the audience is smaller than expected.  Touch briefly on your key messages. Then take questions.  It would have been nothing for my professor to say, “Joey, the key ideas are these.” He could have then sat down with me and discussed them.  It would have been hugely effective. And he would have saved time.

Giving a Questioner the “Heisman”

But the worst part of the lecture came when I asked a question, something I rarely did during lectures.  But I didn’t understand something. So I raised my hand. What the professor did next blew my mind.

He gave me “the Heisman!!!” 

He held out the palm of his hand, fingers up, and shook his head dismissively. He wasn’t taking questions.  We call this giving “the Heisman” because the brush off looks a little like the pose of the tackle-avoiding running back on college football’s famous Heisman trophy.

I was stunned.  This professor knew that the only person in his lecture had a question and likely was lost. But he chose to ignore me and proceed. He didn’t care about helping me.  He just wanted to get through his lecture.  He wasn’t audience-centered.

Don’t Ignore Questions

Business people often make the same mistake. When asked questions, they give listeners “the Heisman” by saying things like “I’m going to get to that issue soon.” Or “I’m going to take questions at the end.”

No!!!! 

When someone in your audience asks a question, answer it immediately.  Even if you must give a quick answer, never give the questioner the “Heisman.”

Adopt the audience-centered attitude that eluded my law professor.  Remember that you’re there to help your listeners.  Nothing that you have to say is more important than what the listeners want to know.

Joey Asher is President of Speechworks, a selling and communication skills coaching company in Atlanta. He has worked with thousands of business people in helping them become better communicators. He is the author of “Even A Geek Can Speak”, and “Selling and Communication Skills for Lawyers”.  He can be reached at 404-266-0888 or e-mail Joey Asher. His website is www.speechworks.net.