Many business people find it hard to speak to a large audience. But this is an important business skill – especially when talking to shareholders, investors or important client or stakeholder groups. Here are a few tips on how to make an impact.
Don’t use PowerPoint Speakers using PowerPoint often rely too heavily on their slides. Slides often contain too much information and distract the audience. If you do need to use slides, show pictures and images that illustrate what you are saying without words.
Make eye contact Look at as many members of your audience as you can in the eye. This creates personal contact and raises the interest level for everyone watching and listening to you. Look at individuals in a large audience and keep your eyes moving around the room. If you focus only on one or two individuals you can lose contact with the rest of the room.
Avoid a script You will come across best when you speak without notes. To do this, research your subject matter and note down key points. Use your notes to familiarise yourself with the flow of what you want to say. Then distil these notes into key words on a single page. You can carry the picture of this page in your head so that you know where you are in the flow of your speech. Then put the page away. You no longer need it.
Triplets, triplets, triplets English is very good at putting things into sets of three which then come across very powerfully. This is because contrasting three variables presents the most elegant way of suggesting complexity while keeping your message simple, clear and concise. The phrase "Tom, Dick and Harry", for example, tells the listener that you are referring to absolutely anyone and everyone.
And then use the power of three You can also use the power of three to set up, satisfy or surprise expectations about the flow of your speech. Your audience will immediately grasp the logic of a flow from 1 to 2 to 3 or from A to B to C. However, you can surprise, engage and delight your audience by going from A to B to D or from 1 to 2 to 4.
Do you know the British words for these?
Elevator, cookie, apartment, trunk, parking lot, fries, potato chips, (baby) pacifier, garbage collector, main street, truck, math, sidewalk, gas, eraser.
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