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Many presenters worry about their own anxiety. But the best
presenters also worry about their audience’s anxiety.
That’s right. Audiences get nervous, especially in business
settings where lousy presentations can suck our lives away.
At Speechworks we call it “audience angst.” As a presentation is
about to begin, business people in the audience know that they’re giving up a
valuable part of their day. “This is an hour of my life I’m not
going to get back,” thinks the CEO as the pitch is about to start.
With that in mind, it’s the job of the presenter to make the
audience comfortable that the presentation is going to be valuable.
How to do that? Focus immediately on the listener’s most burning
issue and be passionate.
Start by focusing on audience
needs
The worst way to begin a presentation is with a bunch of irrelevant
background information. “Before we focus on what we all know is the
most important issue, I’d like to give you a little background on
our methodology for this project.”
Uggghh. Can’t you just feel the
audience's "angst meter" rising?
The best way to alleviate audience angst is to start the
presentation by proposing to address the listeners’ most important
issues. If the CEO is worried that you’re project is going to be too
costly, then you need to start by addressing that issue. Begin by
saying, “The issue before us today is whether this project is going
to be able to come in under budget.”
If you’re speaking to sales people and the only thing they really
care about is how to grow their revenues, then you need to address
how you can help them accomplish their goals. Start the presentation
by showing that you understand the issue that they want to hear you
discuss. How about this? “The biggest issue that we have today is
how our sales force can make more money. That’s going to be my topic
today.”
And speak with passion
You also alleviate audience angst by beginning with passion and
energy. So many presentations are dull. And so many presenters
speak with no energy. When you start your presentation with energy,
it tells the audience “This is going to be different. It’s not going
to be the same old stuff.” As a result, the audience begins to
relax.
When you start your next presentation, try focusing less on your own
nerves and finding ways to alleviate your audience’s nerves.
At Speechworks we
help our clients learn how to communicate in a way that connects and
persuades. If you’re interested in becoming a great communicator
give us a call at 404-266-0888 or check out our website at
www.speechworks.net.
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