Speaking Tip of the Day: The Audience~ One Pair Of Eyeballs At A Time

So now you have your speech written and it’s time for you to face an actual AUDIENCE.

UH OH! THEY’RE WATCHING!

But “Uh oh!!!” I can hear you whining and screaming from here. “That means I have to get up there all by myself, face a huge sea of people, who probably won’t like me or anything I have to say! Yikes! Even a root canal or a white hot poker in my eye  sounds better than that!”

So how can you possibly ever learn to be at ease in front of any audience?

TRY THIS: ONE PAIR OF EYEBALLS AT A TIME

Next time you have to get up in front of an audience to give a speech or presentation, try this technique:

STEP ONE: DIVIDE YOUR AUDIENCE INTO THREE SECTIONS

• Divide your audience into three sections: Right, Center and Left

STEP TWO: PICK OR PLANT A PAIR OF EYEBALLS

• Start in the Center Section and pick one face to talk to. Yes that’s right. One face, with one pair of eyeballs.
• If you can, try to pick a face that looks receptive and is smiling at you, not someone who is scowling, falling asleep or text messaging.
• If you have to, plant a friend or colleague in each R, C and L sections as a sure bet. Tell them to give you a big smile and do the “two thumbs up” sign every time you look at them.
• Trust me. It works. With your friends out there smiling an making you feel like a superstar, how bad can that scary speech be?
• Unless of course they start text messaging, tweeting or scowling too. Before your speech impress upon your planted friends in each section the need to FOCUS!-FOCUS!-FOCUS! YEAH, ON YOU!

STEP THREE: TALK TO THAT PAIR OF EYEBALLS

• Now, talk to that Center Section pair of eyeballs and deliver just ONE of your key points.

• Next, turn to the Right Section of your audience, find just one other face, yes, another pair of eyeballs. Then deliver your SECOND POINT to them. 

• Finally, turn to the Left Section, find a third face, uh huh, that’s a third pair of eyeballs (you’re really getting the hang of it now aren’t you?) and deliver your THIRD POINT to them.

STEP FOUR: KEEP ROTATING SECTIONS

• Keep rotating, delivering each one point of your speech, to one pair of eyeballs, per section, at a time.
• You will find that this technique really reduces your speech down to a manageable audience: one person, one pair of eyeballs at any moment in time during your entire speech.
• Instead of wanting to flee those five hundred eyeballs on you all at once, you have now reduced the number of eyeballs down to only one pair.

EVERY SPEECH, NO MATTER HOW LARGE THE AUDIENCE, WILL BE EASIER!
 
This approach to public speaking should feel much more comfortable for you because it is, in fact, how you talk to people every day in your life!

This technique will also improve the quality of your gaze and make it more natural.
If you use this technique, you will look more at ease and your speech will also feel much more personal to your audience.

EVERYBODY LIKES MORE POWER AND CONTROL

When you really stop and think about it, approaching your speech this way, you have much  more power and
control up there. YOU get to PICK which pair
of eyeballs gets EACH ONE of your precious jewel points. Yeah. Blow off those
scowlers out there. It’s your show!

And even if your friends bail out on you or have to leave the room unexpectedly for any reason, you just find another face with a friendly pair of eyeballs and deliver your point to them. It’s no more complicated than that. Really.

TRY IT! YOU’LL LIKE IT!

So try this approach next time you give a speech or presentation and see if it doesn’t change how you feel about that big, huge, scary audience out there!

You really can make your speech only one pair of nice looking, happy and receptive eyeballs at a time!