31Pamela Slim P R E S E N T S :

W A Y S T O Inspire Y O U R

A U D I E N C E

31

1U S E

music

Music is a great way to set the mood when people first walk into a room, or right before a big presentation starts. Think carefully about the crowd you are present-ing to when choosing music. One may love rock/pop tunes, where another would chuckle at you for using outdated 80’s music. Personally, I will use Eye of the Tiger until the day I die.

Soft music can be used during breaks to bring warmth to the room, and also to signal a beginning and end. When you are ready to start up again, turn down the music and speak up loudly to get everyone’s attention.

You can also play music at the end of a training class or presentation, to set an upbeat tone for when people mingle, or walk out of the room.

2C H A N G E T H E

shape O F T H E R O O M

The shape of a room has very significant connotations for the tone of the class.

Square shapes (tables in rows) present you (the speaker) as the authority.Clusters of tables (with 5-8 people per table) encourages group interaction.Circular or half-circle shapes connotes community and openness.

There is no “right” or “wrong” shape, just the one that fits the tone you want to set.

Regardless of the shape of the room, remove any piece of furniture that stands between you and your audience. I would love to leave lecterns behind in the 20th century.

3F I N D I N G Y O U R

root

Before you set foot in the room where you are going to present, remember why the topic is important to you.

• How is it related to your body of work?• How will people’s lives be changed by the application of this information?• Why do you need and want to get this information out into the world?• What fires you up about the topic?• In what way is sharing this message part of your mission on earth?

If you don’t feel a connection with this message, the audience will feel it immediately.

Remember, there are many people who can teach or present on this topic - but at this moment, it is just you, your audience, and a golden opportunity.

S I T O N T H E

floor

4Nothing changes the power dynamic in a room like sitting on the floor. Some peo-ple will be shocked, some slightly uncomfortable, but everyone will be intrigued.

You as the presenter can sit on the floor. You can encourage participants to sit on the floor, provided that no one has physical limitations that would prevent them from doing so comfortably.

You can go crazy and have groups of people lay down in a circle with their heads touching. Just make sure not to do it in my home of Arizona or they may run you out of the state. ;)

A presenter sitting on the edge of a stage connotes open, relaxed dialogue. Just remember to keep your energy level up in your posture and your voice.

R E S E A R C H T H E

audience I N A D V A N C E

5The more you learn about your audience before the event begins, the better off you will be. You can gather information from the event organizer, but sometimes they aren’t totally tuned into the real needs of the audience. If you can talk to a few people who will be participants at the event, that is outstanding.

Good things to find out include:• How much they know about the subject• How the subject impacts their life or their work• How not knowing the subject gets in their way• What specific challenges they have related to the subject • General information about them, like age, profession, job title, etc.

Make sure you ask permission to reference their comments in your live talk.

If you are running your own classes, send a survey to participants before class begins.

When your presentation starts, the more you integrate your audience research into your presentation, the more connected, and respected, the audience will feel.

D O A

fishbowl

6If you have a larger group, a great way to simulate individual interaction with all participants is to call up a volunteer or two to “model” a certain skill or interaction.

You can call them up on stage to sit down with you and have a conversation.

You can walk over to an audience member and ask them some questions, passing the mic back and forth (Do you notice what Oprah does? Wait, that assumes you watch Oprah).

You can sit in two chairs in the middle of a circle of people to demonstrate a par-ticular technique.

A fishbowl feels intimate to the group, and they usually feel like you are also coaching or teaching them. In the same regard, it can be very uncomfortable for the person in the fishbowl, so never push someone to come against their will (un-less you are training self-defense in my MMA class).

M O V E T O

polar opposites

7This is a very fun exercise that can be used as an icebreaker, or to get a group fa-miliar with each other. It is very physical, so it is great for getting the blood moving if people have been sitting for awhile.

In order for this to work, you have to have enough physical space let people move around safely.

If you are able, you can pull chairs back, or find an open spot like a hotel hallway or an outside patio (that is what I did on my book tour).

There are two options:1) Have people line up single-file facing you.• Ask them “polar opposite” questions one at a time like (“chocolate or vanilla,”

“Celine Dion or AC/DC” or “Phoenix or San Francisco.”) • Indicate the direction they should step, based on their answer (i.e. “step left for

chocolate or right for vanilla).• It is great fun for people to see how the group breaks out

2) Have people move to one of 4 corners of a room.• Ask them questions where they choose 1 of 4 answers like “Do you live in the

Eastern, Western, Northern or Southern part of the U.S.?” or “Which do you resonate more with, mental, physical, emotional or spiritual?”

• Have them move to the corner of the room that represents their answer

B U I L D S O M E T H I N G

together

8When you get a group building something together, it can energize the whole room, and beef up participation.

It could range from simple to complex tasks.

• Building a paper airplane• Writing down an answer to a question on a piece of paper and holding it up• Building an artistic thing as a team bonding experience• Building a plan with post-its• Building a human pyramid (make sure you have liability insurance before you

ask them to do that)

R E P E A T Q U E S T I O N S

back

9Nothing is more annoying to an audience member than not being able to hear a question asked by another audience member.

It often sounds like this:

Presenter: “What is your question?”Audience member: “Wahm wahm, wahm wahm, wahm wahm.” (Just like the teacher from Charlie Brown)

When you repeat the question back, you ensure that:• You understood it correctly• You were listening to the person asking the question• The audience gets the gist of a question.

You might have to do quite a bit of paraphrasing, since sometimes on the way to asking a question, people tell you the story of their life, that of their Aunt Jezabelle, and their thoughts about the current state of the economy.

T E L L

stories

10Nothing brings us closer to our ancient roots than telling stories around a camp-fire. Think of that when you weave great stories into your presentation.

If you want the audience to get to know you better, you can tell a story about yourself. If you want the audience to connect with the work you do, tell stories about your clients, or customers.

A good story gets your audience’s imagination, emotions and curiosity going. But remember, just like the stories your Uncle John has told around the holiday table for decades that make everyone hysterical, they get better with detail, and practice.

P L A Y W I T H

distance

11If you are in a larger room, it is imperative that you move your body to different sides of the room so that you acknowledge everyone in the audience.

Have you ever been to a presentation where the speaker didn’t look at one side of the room? Everyone starts to get very uncomfortable, then mad. These days, they will take to the back channel and tweet up a storm about how boring or arrogant you are.

If you have someone who is a little disruptive in the audience, you can very subtly walk towards them to show both connection and a tad of dominance. It is rare that someone will continue to heckle if you are smiling and standing right in front of them. If they continue, I highly recommend the study of martial arts, or a body-guard.

R E F L E C T

them

12If you have had a good, interactive presentation, you will have heard questions and comments from the audience. Hopefully you all have shared some laughs. Refer-ence that interaction as the presentation builds, which will demonstrate to the audience that you respect them, and are in this together.

“Just like Suzanne said, the devil is in the details.”“Remember what happened to Abe when he forgot to save his document.”

Equally important is to reflect images that look like your audience in your visu-als. We have all been victim of stock photos that look like a carryover from Mad Men. The world is full of diverse people, and so are most of your audiences. When people look at your presentations and say ‘that person is just like me,’ it increases connection and believability. The opposite is also true. (See long-ass discussions every time Fred Wilson writes a post about the lack of women or people of color in technology. It matters.)

L E A V E A P I E C E O F

paperW I T H E - F O L L O W U P

13

These days, it is not really pragmatic to leave behind “copies of your slides” after a presentation. They are expensive to reproduce, heavy to carry or ship, and most people will throw them away anyway.

If you can provide an electronic copy of notes and references, everyone can relax, and Mother Earth will heave a sigh of relief.

A nice in-between option is to print a postcard with key takeaways, then include instructions for getting more detailed information by download. (Moo.com is my go-to source for quality printing).

If you read through this PDF, it means this technique worked for you!

M O S T I M P O R T A N T L Y ,

BE GRATEFUL.

Pamela Slim is a seasoned coach and writer who helps

frustrated employees in corporate jobs break out and start their own business. Her

blog, Escape from Cubicle Nation, is one of the top career and marketing blogs

on the web. A former corporate manager and entrepreneur herself for more than

a decade, she deeply understands the questions and concerns faced by first-time

entrepreneurs. Her expertise in personal and business change was developed

through many years consulting inside corporations such as Cisco Systems,

Hewlett-Packard and Charles Schwab, where she coached thousands of

executives, managers and employees.