The CEO of your organisation is delivering the annual address, at length dealing with the company’s performance, initiatives and the way forward. Its been 20 minutes, you are nodding your head in agreement, but deep within your mind is pondering over the ‘more important things’ like- “what’s for lunch today?”!

How often does this happen?  You are physically present while a speaker is delivering his speech, but mentally elsewhere.

I often tell my mentees ”It is the job of a good speaker to get his audience to listen to him!”. If he isn’t able to garner their attention, then he fails as a speaker. More often we have professionals who get on stage, only to have the audience ‘hear him/her out’.

So how do you get your audience to listen to you ?

A powerful speaker is one who is delivering a speech, say before 100 people, and each one of them feels like

 “He’s personally talking to me “or “ I can totally relate to him”

This happens when you adhere to some fundamentals in Public Speaking:

• Relatability– The key to be an effective speaker is in the audience’s ability to relate to you. People form opinions/perceptions of the speaker even before a speech starts. Assume you are delivering a keynote speech before a new audience; they are hearing you for the first time. Even then, perceptions are formed in the limited time they see you in the room. It is absolutely pertinent to have a warm and welcoming persona the minute you enter the venue, interacting and socialising with those around. It helps break the ice. Once you begin delivering your speech, you need to speak ‘their language’ (dealt with in the previous blog article (Read here) , including addressing WIIFM( What’s In It For Me).

Come to think of it, most speeches are delivered before a relatively known audience – it could be at office, an industry conference amongst peers or a social gathering. In such places it is important to build the right perceptions, more so if you’re in a leadership role (building perceptions as a leader is a vast topic in itself). Leadership is an act, not a position and that should reflect in your demeanour and your speeches. If you begin to speak from ‘your position’ without establishing common ground or showcasing the ‘human element’, people fail to connect with you.

• • Address the Pain– At any given point in time when you are addressing an audience, it is important to understand the prevailing scenario, the challenges faced by your audience or the mindset they are in. It is more pertinent in today’s times when we are in the midst of an unprecedent COVID-19 pandemic. Your speech needs to address the pain, instead of ‘beating around the bush’. Often speakers take their sweet time before getting to the point and in the process lose out on the audience attention.

• • Storytelling– The most effective way to connect with your audience is through stories. Relevant stories/examples play a pivotal role in keeping your audience engaged during your speech. In fact it isn’t a bad idea to start your speech with an anecdotal story, it is one of the ways to hook them to your message, more so if it’s a speech at a professional gathering where the audience is expecting you to use a lot of jargon.

• Stage Time– The most vital aspect to keep your audience glued to your speech is to value stage time. If you are allotted 15 mins, learn to wrap up within the allotted time. Its always good to have your audience wanting to hear more of you. The next time they would be even more attentive, if you set a precedence of being a ‘speaker who sticks to time’.

A speech which addresses these elements will help create a connect with your audience, with each of them being EAGER TO LISTEN TO YOU!