Rewire before you fire

If people ignore your arguments, stop looking at the mirror and listen.

Practicing alone at home is as ideal as testing under laboratory conditions. Clever communicators familiarise themselves with the audience because they know that such a field experience is their chance to tune in and read the mood. You can even do this before the speech. Academics are still analysing the influence of the mirror neurons in our brain, but one thing is clear: showing a genuine interest in the audience increases their willingness to listen to you.

How to rewire

1. Open your mind and talk with members of your audience before the presentation.

   (e.g. open or fill in the blank questions to make people feel more comfortable)

2. Build a quick profile.
   (e.g. Rick Middleton’s model: gender, generation, nationality, education and emotion)

3. Complete your presentation by making the audience feel felt early.
   (e.g. address their mood and motivations before or during your speech)

Exercise

Take the slides of one of your recent presentations. In what kind of mood was the audience before you presented? What could we have done to make them feel extremely angry, bored or cheerful? How would this have impacted their attention and engagement during the presentation?

Learn the techniques. Boost your confidence. Make your point.
Click here for training opportunities.