A Tale of Two Talks

Talk #1: This meeting included everything I enjoy when I’m in an audience. The speaker presented material in a very interactive conversational way. It was interesting, well-paced, and there were plenty of opportunities to participate.

Talk #2: This meeting was the kind of meeting you start trying to figure out how to escape—sometimes within the first few minutes! This speaker spoke AT US, for over 30 minutes! No questions were asked. No one was invited to ask questions. Not once, did the speaker come up for air or check in with the audience.
What speaker lesson was I reminded of that day? That as speakers, we’re not just responsible for providing quality content, we’re also responsible for the presentation experience we’re providing our audience.

No one likes to be talked at. The only exception might be a training seminar or a class, where information is being delivered for educational purposes. Other than that, we need to remember that we have less than 10 seconds to capture people’s attention.

But that’s only half the battle!
Once we have their attention, we need to keep it.

The estimate of people’s maximum attention span is 20 minutes. Hmmm… TED talks max out at 18 minutes, and most are shorter. What’s the takeaway? The longer we’re speaking, the more opportunities we need to provide our audiences to reset their attention-span clock—or we’re going to lose them. Gratefully, there are plenty of ways.

• Build opportunities to change your vibe from speaker to listener into your signature talk: For example, if you’re sharing a PowerPoint, turn it off and tell a story. Or turn the tables by inviting questions so you can show your audience you care about what they have to say and contribute.
• Provide breaks: No matter how much variety your talk may have, people do best when they’re not sitting for too long at once. A brief 5-minute time to stretch, grab a drink, etc., is always appreciated. Make sure to emphasize that it is just for X minutes, and that you’ll begin promptly at X o’clock.
• Give them something to do besides stare at you: Ask them to write something down. It can be anything. Have them answer a question, create a list, etc.
• Create discussion groups: Come up with a topic, question, or idea, and break your audience into smaller groups to discuss it.
• Utilize polls, surveys, and quizzes: People love to share their thoughts and opinions, so take advantage of today’s technology and give them the chance. Zoom even has a survey feature built right into its platform.There’s one more great advantage to providing your audiences with more opportunities to interact. It provides you with a break too! Granted, it might not be a long break, but sometimes it’s great to simply be able to take a deep breath before you move right back into your content.Sometimes, speaking can feel like hard work, especially in the beginning when you’re creating your signature talks. Taking a few extra steps to make your presentation an engaging experience will make all the difference in the world. Your peeps will come away feeling like time spent with you was time well spent… and maybe even be ready to figure out what else you have to share.

  ‘Til we speak again….
  ~Beth