Mission: Connection.
Your job is not just to compile material and merely repeat it back to your audience. Your ultimate job, your mission if you choose to accept it, is to connect with your audience. That means you need to: stay focused on the audience, be aware of their body language, adapt to their needs and keep them with you.
I have said this in many different ways throughout my book. That’s because it is the single most important thing to remember as a speaker. Sometimes you get so caught up in the momentum of the presentation you forget it. I know you worked hard putting the speech together and heck! you only have so much time to give all that great information you put together… but if you’re just pouring it on the audience and they have their umbrellas up it does not matter how much your pour or even how great the data is. They must be with you, paying attention. And don’t think, well they are like this with everybody, or only a few people are really bored. Each presenter sets the standard and the behavior for his or her audience. You are responsible for getting your audience to pay attention. So do it. Be radical if you have to. Sit down on a chair, wave a white flag of surrender, and ask your audience what you can do to help them get this information. Don’t attack them. Take responsibility. It’s your speech. Go get ‘em Tiger!
