The Top Three BOO BOOs We All Made!
It has been a while since I play the role of the audience. Last night was one such opportunity. The presenter was an intern from Shanghai and he flew in with his boss to States. His presentation was titled "Life in China" with the aim of sharing with us his experiences. He did relatively well but hit several boo-boo which I thought reduce the effects of his presentation. And these boo-boo weren't really new. Speech coaches and Public Speaking books/e-books/blogs have warned us against committing these seemingly innocent crimes, at the expense of losing your audience. But you know what, people still do it. All the time. Instead of reinterating the points, I shall get you into the head of the audience (since I was one yesterday) and perhaps illustrate why you should avoid these boo-boos.
Boo Boo #1: Not telling us why we should listen to you
Never assume that just because you have an audience, they are obliged to listen to you. We may love you (that's why we came in the first place) BUT never take advantage of the trust we have for you. This is extremely a turn-off when I have to do the work i.e. figure out how it is relevant to me. We are a bunch of selfish ego-maniacs. We love ourselves so much! And we don't care about your experiences UNLESS it teaches us something that we can use for OURSELVES. So here's a word of advice: If you want to share your experiences, please do. But always include a message, something that will benefit us, your beloved audience!
Boo Boo #2: Ignoring us throughout your speech
We get bored easily. Period. If you keep talking about you, you, you, you, you... we will switch off. We want to be part of your speech. We really do. Get us involved. It could be as simple as asking us a question. It gives us a chance to hear ourselves talk. It could be as simple as playing a mini game with us. It gets us up the seat. Entertain us please! Make us love you. We really want to. But if you keep ignoring us and our needs, we will do the same.
Lucky for him, he allowed us to ask questions at any point in his presentation and guess what, we did! In my opinion, that was his saving grace!
Boo Boo #3: Going overtime
No matter how good you are, NEVER EVER go over time!!! Unless we paid you thousands of dollars to teach us something and you are about to share with us the ultimate secret to earning another ten million. If you want your audience to love you, end earlier than expected! It tells us that you respect our time. It makes you special coz' most speakers don't observe that. And guess what, the next time you give your speech, we will be there to support you!
Boo Boo #1: Not telling us why we should listen to you
Never assume that just because you have an audience, they are obliged to listen to you. We may love you (that's why we came in the first place) BUT never take advantage of the trust we have for you. This is extremely a turn-off when I have to do the work i.e. figure out how it is relevant to me. We are a bunch of selfish ego-maniacs. We love ourselves so much! And we don't care about your experiences UNLESS it teaches us something that we can use for OURSELVES. So here's a word of advice: If you want to share your experiences, please do. But always include a message, something that will benefit us, your beloved audience!
Boo Boo #2: Ignoring us throughout your speech
We get bored easily. Period. If you keep talking about you, you, you, you, you... we will switch off. We want to be part of your speech. We really do. Get us involved. It could be as simple as asking us a question. It gives us a chance to hear ourselves talk. It could be as simple as playing a mini game with us. It gets us up the seat. Entertain us please! Make us love you. We really want to. But if you keep ignoring us and our needs, we will do the same.
Lucky for him, he allowed us to ask questions at any point in his presentation and guess what, we did! In my opinion, that was his saving grace!
Boo Boo #3: Going overtime
No matter how good you are, NEVER EVER go over time!!! Unless we paid you thousands of dollars to teach us something and you are about to share with us the ultimate secret to earning another ten million. If you want your audience to love you, end earlier than expected! It tells us that you respect our time. It makes you special coz' most speakers don't observe that. And guess what, the next time you give your speech, we will be there to support you!
posted by Tripp at 8:44 AM
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