Eight actions are necessary if you want to give your audiences an experience that will be unforgettable for all the right reasons. Last week, I gave you four tips. If you missed them, check them out here
, then get ready for the remaining four below:
- Be inclusive.?Call on a wide variety of participants, not just the ones you know or the ones who are front, center, and convenient to you. And if you ask for volunteers to share, for instance, a story, then before making the request, qualify the ask by specifying the number of people you’re going to call upon to speak as well as the length of time each is expected speak so those who are not selected are not surprised and do not feel slighted and so those who?are?selected don’t go on ad nauseam. It sounds like this: “I need to hear from two volunteers. How many of you have a client success story that makes you smile all day long? Take 2 minutes to tell us what happened.” And with subsequent sharing opportunities, make sure you call upon people from whom you have not already heard. “Let’s hear three examples of X. And I want to hear from participants who’ve not already shared.” It’s easy to call on those who are closest to you, but expand your field of vision, avoid focusing on only one section of the room or one group of colleagues, and get volunteers from all over the room no matter how inconvenient it may seem, e.g., the participant has to walk from the back of the room to come up to be part of a demonstration with the speaker or the moderator has to walk a country mile to reach the far left corner with the handheld mic. (And a note to participants: If there is a runner with a mic and you want to share, please oh please oh please wait for the person to get to you with the microphone before you start talking! If the event organizer thought having hand held mics available for participants was necessary, then that means … well … folks aren’t going to hear you unless you’re using one of those mics! Or better yet, speaker, make an announcement: “Thank you for volunteering to share. Please wait for the mic to reach you.”) So — back to the original point — make everyone feel like they are part of the presentation.
- Make space for silence.?If you ask the audience a question, then give everyone time to think before they verbalize an answer. If you ask the audience to complete an evaluation, then stop talking, and let them do just that. If you keep talking in either instance, it’s nearly impossible for them to successfully focus and complete the task you’ve given them while simultaneously listening to you or trying to block out your voice. The same goes for a slide with a lot of text on it. First, that’s poor slide design; you should have no more than a few words on a slide or embrace my preference, which is having next to no text but a gorgeous image instead that jogs the speaker’s memory as to what is up next for discussion. But second, and more to the point, the audience can read silently faster than you can read/summarize the slide aloud for them. Make space for silence. It really is golden.
- Consistently look and sound unstoppable.?Look and sound like the role you want to portray; establish your credibility. Shoulders back, head up, eyes laser-focused; adopt these practices with your?body language
?every single time you speak. Every single time no matter where you are and no matter to whom you speak. Eliminate the “uh’s” and “um’s” otherwise known as?filler words
. Make statements that sound certain, not flimsy. For instance, say, “I know,” not “I think.” (Get additional guidance on power words at this?link
.) Eliminate?high-rising terminals or uptalk
?so every statement you make does not sound like a question. You must give the impression you are the most confident and powerful speaker there is, and when you do that, you will be unforgettable.
- Give a call to action (CTA).?After you present, move the audience to extend its thinking and its engagement so they remember you and your message and so they take action long after you have finished speaking. For instance …
- If it’s a webinar, invite them to commit to have a conversation with a colleague about what they learned in your session and to post to the chat the initials of the colleague’s name.
- Provide a QR code to a register for an upcoming event that will have more sessions about your topic.
- Have them subscribe to your newsletter where you discuss the topic in greater detail.
- Ask them to list in the chat the one thing they will do differently as a result of your presentation.
As you think about your CTA, make sure it makes sense and is a true extension of your message. And give no more than one or two CTAs, not three and four. In a presentation setting, if you give them too many options for their next steps, then you may run the risk of them taking no next steps.
And a word of caution regarding selling from the stage: It’s a delicate dance if you are at the front of a room that’s fill with your ideal client and you’re a business owner. You’re salivating, thinking of all the prospective sales sitting in front of you! You want to throw up the doors to your store and tell them about every magnificent item on your shelves that you have to offer! However, remember what everyone came to get — information, not a sales pitch. Sure, let people know how to get in touch with you, invite everyone to schedule a discovery call with you, tell them where they can buy a copy of your book — you get the idea — but avoid overwhelming the audience with information about every single one of your offerings.
Take your audience members from listening to acting, and when you do that, you inspire your listeners to do more, be more, and realize how incredibly dynamic they are. You … YOU did that, my friend!
Stand out the next time you're on the mic! Take advantage of more ways to improve your presentation and communication skills by subscribing and listening to the five-star rated?Own the Microphone
?podcast. You will get real strategies from Bridgett McGowen and her guests on how to own the microphone and deliver a message people love.?
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