Active listening is a skill that can help you communicate effectively, build rapport, and resolve conflicts. It can also help you assert your authority in a presentation, by showing that you are confident, respectful, and knowledgeable. In this article, you will learn how to use active listening to enhance your presentation skills and influence your audience.
Active listening is a way of paying attention to what someone is saying, not just hearing their words, but understanding their meaning, emotions, and intentions. It involves using verbal and non-verbal cues to show that you are engaged, interested, and empathetic. Some examples of active listening cues are nodding, eye contact, paraphrasing, summarizing, asking questions, and giving feedback.
Active listening helps you to understand your audience deeply and to process your response. It helps to understand unspoken words (body language ) and to seek clarity from the audience. It builds positive rapport between you and the audience as they appreciate your interest in their contribution
Active listening is important for presentations because it can help you achieve several goals. First, it can help you tailor your message to your audience, by understanding their needs, expectations, and concerns. Second, it can help you build trust and credibility, by showing that you respect and value their opinions and feedback. Third, it can help you handle objections and challenges, by acknowledging and addressing them calmly and confidently. Fourth, it can help you persuade and inspire your audience, by demonstrating that you have a clear vision, a strong argument, and a compelling call to action.
Active listening plays a vital role in presentations as it boosts audience involvement and comprehension. Focusing on audience questions, comments, and non-verbal signals enables you to customize your message, address concerns, and ensure clarity.
Before your presentation, you can use active listening to prepare and plan your content and delivery. You can do this by conducting research, surveys, interviews, or focus groups with your potential audience, stakeholders, or influencers. You can also use active listening to rehearse your presentation with a colleague, a friend, or a coach, and ask for constructive feedback. By using active listening before your presentation, you can ensure that you have a clear purpose, a relevant topic, a suitable tone, and a logical structure.
During your presentation, you can use active listening to engage and connect with your audience, and to adapt and adjust to their reactions. You can do this by using eye contact, gestures, facial expressions, and vocal variety to convey your enthusiasm, confidence, and sincerity. You can also use open-ended questions, polls, quizzes, or stories to invite participation, feedback, or questions from your audience. By using active listening during your presentation, you can create a positive atmosphere, a dynamic interaction, and a memorable impression.
Usually during longer sessions it is always advisable to have open ended questions or some questions which are linked to the ppt but some could be just out of the blue which catches the audience by surprise. The motto being to bring back the listener who were lost in the middle and keep the active listeners engaged.
I love the opportunity to do “live coaching” or an open floor Q&A session as a break out- following my keynote. This is a great way to apply active listening with an audience.
After your presentation, you can use active listening to follow up and reinforce your message and your authority. You can do this by sending a thank-you note, a summary, or a recording of your presentation to your audience, and asking for their opinions, suggestions, or testimonials. You can also use active listening to evaluate and improve your presentation skills, by reviewing your performance, identifying your strengths and weaknesses, and seeking feedback from others. By using active listening after your presentation, you can maintain a relationship, a reputation, and a record of your success.