How can you encourage listeners to be more engaged during your speeches?

Engagement soars when we make it about them. Skip the lecturing, ditch the podium, get personal, ask bold questions, tell captivating stories, and make it impossible not to lean in to your every word with thought provoking questions. Bring that passion out!

Being authentic and transparent. People can tell when you aren't being authentic or organic. The audience will be more engaged if they can understand and relate to what you are speaking on.

In speaking to audiences large and small, I've found that posing probing, insight-generating questions throughout your talk that get attendees thinking deeply about their own personal or professional situations and what they want to improve -- can uplevel your impact tremendously. In fact, the specific question you pose at the start can make or break the success of your talk. One tip is to ask your audience this question - "What is the ONE key challenge that you hope this program will help you with, that if it did, you'd say to yourself "This was the BEST investment I've ever made in myself!" Take answers from the audience and make sure that you do indeed cover some aspect of the core issue they desperately want help with.

An audience is often hesitant to engage with initial questions. Here are some tips to break through that barrier and increase engagement: - If you get awkward silence after a question, don't be too quick to move on and give the impression that their engagement isn't expected. I'll usually wait and look around, then crack a joke, followed by rephrasing the question or giving a prompt. - Reward the brave individuals who respond to your early questions--this could be verbal praise or a small item. This can also increase eagerness to participate. - Make the first question or two easy to answer--maybe something everyone can shout out together. Once people see it is okay to speak out, subsequent responses will come more quickly.

I try to always include a little humor in my speech. Making people laugh can help open their minds and hearts and they can better absorb important data and information I share.

While most people are somewhat aware that they need to vary their voice, and are aware of the different tones etc, I find that they still struggle with practically applying this information. A way to think of it is like this (especially if you have watched videos of yourself before, and know that you do come across as monotonous), OVERdo it. Every bit of it. For people with very little variety in their voice, I tell them to talk as though they are talking to a baby, over stress, change the pitch, rate and tone. Also, high energy, if channelised well, can be great for engaging the audience.

In my experience if you be yourself and if you’re passionate your tone will change naturally as you are presenting your content.

From personal experience, I noticed varying your tone and pace have been a very powerful skill to let listeners engage and listen carefully and get emotionally attached to complete listening till the end.

Leverage the power of intentional pauses. Create a rhythmic flow by strategically inserting brief silences after impactful statements. You will allow listeners to: * Absorb information, * Add emphasis to key points, * Invite active reflection from your audience * Elevate the impact of your message * Create a more engaging and memorable experience. To refine this technique: - Practice varied pause durations to understand their audience's responsiveness. - Adapt pauses based on the complexity of the content to ensure optimal comprehension. And, of course, seeking feedback and adjusting the rhythm accordingly will fine-tune the effectiveness of this engagement-enhancing strategy.

Do yourself a favor and research the impact of voice tone. It is AMAZING the effects tone can have. This is true as well of facial expressions. We have more power and influence than any of us give ourselves credit. In competitive cheerleading facial expressions are vital to be considered a top performer. We used to say "If you feel stupid, you are probably doing it right." Public Speaking is a different way of delivering inspiration or eliciting response from a crowd, but the end goal is similar. Dramatize your facial expressions, hand gestures (lots of them), and your inflection to show and tell the audience the feeling you want them to get from your message.

Case studies are an exemplary tool for engaging audiences. They transform abstract concepts into tangible, relatable examples. We inherently process information more effectively through real-life instances. In deploying case studies, I adhere to a straightforward framework: establishing the case study's relevance, identifying the central issue, detailing the intervention or action taken, and outlining the resulting outcome. While the latter three elements are quite straightforward, the critical aspect lies in seamlessly integrating the case study with the current presentation. This connection, though it may seem apparent, is essential for reinforcing the subject matter's applicability and resonance with the audience.

I always ask the person who invited me to speak to tell me about the expected audience. Who are they? What are they most interested in. Then I tailor my “stump speech” to the audience. It doesn’t take that long to look up stats or find something that will particularly resonate with them. Something that shows that I “get” them.

Sharing personal stories that resonate with the topic is one effective way of engaging your audience. Each time I give a talk and I begin to tell them some of my personal encounters that relate to the issue(s) being discussed, I tend to get: 1. their rapt attention, as each person begins to reflect on episodes similar to what is being shared, 2. a more relaxed mood (they would feel freer) as opposed to an uptight situation hitherto, 3. and inexorably, an interactive session as many would want to participate by either sharing their own experiences or ask questions to learn more and have more takeaways from such related experiences.

Besides huge skillset in whatever we are doing - we also, when presenting something to clients/audience/CEO's etc - we need to be awesome and interesting story tellers. That is one of those skills which is lacking, atm, in mass. Communication is as important as tech skills.

It's important to share experiences and examples that listeners can relate to and find relevant - listeners want a connection to the speaker or the topic, not necessarily a lecture.

I love good slides. I even teach power point deck building from time to time - but most of the time, when I talk, I talk without visual aids of any kind. The reason? 1. There's less things that can go wrong. :-) 2. It's easier for me to improvise if needed. 3. There's less things to distract the audience. Especially the third one is relevant. I've seen wonderful presentations done by wonderful presenters, who had thought to themselves "I'll use this funny gif that illustrates the point in a fun way!" without considering the fact that a 3-second gif becomes a constantly-repetitive visual distraction if what you're saying takes more than 3 seconds (which it usually does). Visual aids are good. But don't let them distract!

Desde nuestra Escuela de Conferenciantes insistimos en que la presentación ha de ser un apoyo, nunca una guía para tu charla y mucho menos ir leyendo. Jamás! Si vas a usar presentación, que sean imágenes impactantes y sin texto. Pruébalo!

Slides, videos, charts, and graphs are expected. To enhance engagement, these must be done unusually well or significantly add to the message. Physical props and demonstrations are less common and may be far more interesting.

Visual aids and props will promote the people engagement as through those things the listener will have clear visualization and physical feasibility of the topic. Since proven scientifically that, more the senses involved during any study or session, the more clear it becomes. Also the progress and benefits can be more realistically understood.

If you are presenting and its a PowerPoint DON'T read it word for word - summaries it, call things out. DON'T read it word for word...

Don't agree to participate in a panel or program that is not diverse. Mention this to the organizer "may I assume you plan to add [gender] and people of color to this panel?" I have male friends who say "I don't want to be on a manel." During your talk, if you incorporate audience questions or ask for feedback, or a show of hands on a topic be sure to say things like "I want to hear from everyone." "We haven't heard from any women on this subject yet." etc. Be sure your presentation itself is representative. Consider your examples, your research, even your stock art: People are more likely to engage and respond when they see themselves represented in your work.

Including everyone into the conversation and appreciating diverse mindsets helps the speaker to understand the concept from a broad perspective.

Representation matters. When you are speaking to a diverse group of individuals, bring in examples, stories and ideas that are inclusive. Small things like the pictures chosen on a presentation to the music being played before and after speaks volumes. It can signal, “you are welcome here!” Or those small things can shout, “you don’t belong, you’ll have to adapt who you are to hear the majority voice message.”

It's crucial to adapt your speech to the context and the audience. Whether it's a keynote address, a tech event, a fireside chat, etc. understanding the setting and the audience demographics is key. This understanding helps you tailor your content and delivery style to suit the specific event and audience. While it might be challenging to resonate with every individual listener fully, aim to deliver a speech that touches everyone at some level. By acknowledging and valuing diversity, and by being adaptable in your approach, you can deliver a speech that not only conveys your message but also builds a sense of community and inclusivity among your listeners.

I definitely agree. It is so disheartening to me when I attend a conference or meeting and not see a person of color on a panel. Diversity of perspectives and experiences are fundamental when representing an organization or speaking to an audience. In this day and age, it is baffling that organizers are not more aware of this. I want to feel welcome and connected as an audience member.

I always tell my clients that no audience member will bring more energy than you do or be more about interested in your content than you are - so bring all your enthusiasm for your topic. Also be prepared and confident. There are few greater turn offs than a speaker who begins by telling their audience they’re nervous. It reeks of lack of prep and/or confidence. Finally, view your speech or presentation as a gift that you carefully selected and prepared especially for your audience. This will create enthusiasm that will spill over into your performance, and you can honestly begin with the attitude of, or even the words, “I’m so excited to share this with you today!”

The one thing I always go on with is an aim to interest them enough to get them to want to actively pursue more insight at the end of the session, this then frees you up to think more about how you engage. Depending on audience size of it's a small room, I might actively ask questions or their opinions of people in the audience, of its large actively look people in the eye during the session from stage to make personal connections. And don't forget to include pauses, dramatic or not, when you have moments of silence, people will stop what they are doing and wonder why it's gone silent, capturing their attention from whatever else they might do. End of the day, every speech is an opportunity to engage and entertain.

Remember that your audience will include people who enjoy participating out loud, and those who would rather participate anonymously or not at all. And that's okay. Don't ever force people to participate — that can feel like being called out in front of the class by your 5th grade teacher. Nobody likes how that feels. Instead, try to provide opportunities for audience members to participate in ways that feel comfortable to them. Using anonymous polling software like Mentimeter is a great way to give people ways to participate without raising their hands or speaking up (which is nice for those who don't feel comfortable doing so). And for those who like to speak up and be in the spotlight, offer those opportunities, too!

In my experience, one of the things that really makes audiences engaged is showing up authentically. With our genuine emotions, questions, insecurities. Not trying to play a role, not pretending to know everything. Just showing up as who you are, fully owning your story and experiences. That honesty, that vulnerability, is one of the things people give me most positive feedback on after any speech.

Ensure your message is short, relatable and retell-able. Whatever be your message; you should build a short story and deliver it effectively...We all love telling and hearing stories. 😊