If you struggle a little bit with nerves as a speaker, a really helpful tip or strategy is to quite simply ‘make a friend in the audience.’ This tip is not just for nervous people because there are many different reasons for acting on this piece of advice.
It starts before the event begins
Let me give you an example of how this works. Let’s say you are presenting at 11 am, because of this you make sure to get to the event early. After entering the foyer you walk around and introduce yourself to some people who will be in the audience.
As you walk around you meet a woman called Mary and start by asking a few questions: “G’day tell me, who you are, why are you here?” “Is your business a part of this event?” Then you continue the conversation to find out a little bit more about Mary to discover whether or not she is in your targeted audience. If Mary is in your target audience make sure to ask “What are some of the challenges or issues that you’re facing at the moment?”
There are a couple of reasons to ask this question. First and foremost, it’s nice. If you’re nervous, it may calm you down by finding out that the people in the audience are human and they’re not monsters, and they’re just lovely people who have a nice conversation with you as well.
Secondly, asking a target audience member about their current challenges helps to reinforce that you’re on the right track in terms of the content of your presentation. If the person replies “Our biggest issue at the moment is finding staff”, then you can turn around and say, well, “I’ve got a whole section in my presentation about this, and I’m going to talk about it today. I’m going to share how you can make your business one that’s really highly desirable for new talent.”
Conversations lead to confirmation
Having this kind of conversation is also really helpful when you go on stage. For example, you walk up on stage and after talking for a short while you say “Look, earlier on folks, I was talking with Mary over there.” “Where’s Mary? You ask her to stand up and point out where Mary is in the audience.
Then you go on to say “Hi, Mary, thanks. Mary is wonderful. Now, Mary told me about this, this, this, and this, and that’s what I want to share because I think that that’s a problem for all of us. “Is that right?” And when the audience answers “Yes”, you know you are onto something.
What you have done by talking to Mary before going on stage and recalling your conversation during the presentation is very, very strategic. You have shown that you have been out there talking to the audience’s friends, talking to their community. You also have proof that this topic is an issue. Mary has now become your biggest fan and your biggest advocate, by the way, but all of a sudden you have ingratiated yourself with the audience.
A sophisticated and simple technique with an impact
This a very very sophisticated but easy technique to help you to get straight through to the audience, to break down any barriers that might have been there. You may want to have two or three people that you do this with. In this way, you can say “Oh, Mary I also spoke to George from Cronulla. “George, where’s George?” “Oh, there you are, George.” “Great. and again, utilise that throughout the presentation.
A lot of speakers just get on stage and have no interaction, no real engagement with the audience, because they just kind of press play and their presentation happens on autopilot.
Conversely, when you make a friend in the audience you show that you’re actively engaged with your audience. It’s very, very cool. If you don’t do it already, make sure to implement it. It will put your nerves at ease, but it will also really build on your engagement with your audience.
You’ll be amazed at the difference this makes. Find a friend, find two, find three friends in the audience. And you are well on your way to being a better speaker.
