You have been asked to speak on something of interest. You go away and prepare the content, structure it into a format that everyone can get, understand and make sense of. You spend hours practicing it at home, in the office and at the speaking venue / room and are ready to deliver it. As you await to speak and get the attention of the audience, what do you need to do / say to them so that they sit up and listen to you and hopefully take something from your talk that could ultimately change their lives or at least make them remember you as a great speech writer and speech orator? Here are five things you want your audience to do before you speak to them: 1. Turn off or turn down their mobile phones 2. Take notes 3. Look forward to the end 4. Ask questions 5. Do an action plan Turn off or turn down their mobile phones Nothing can be as upsetting or disruptive to a speaker, indeed to an audience to hear a mobile phone going off. It can throw everyone and everything off, taking time for recovery and getting back to the point. Ask the audience to turn down or turn off their mobile phones, adding that should one go off, the person who owns it has to stand up and tell a joke, sing a song or sing Happy Birthday to you! Take notes Do remind your audience to take notes. Anything that is important to them, should be written down as they will forget about it once your speech is over. You could provide them with a copy of your speech or if this is not appropriate, you could provide them with pens and paper. But even reminding them to take notes is good enough. Look forward to the end Inform the audience of your speech duration or if there will be a break between it, tell them when this will be. Audiences like to know what the plan is, how long they have to be in the room for, how long they have to listen to you. By telling them the \’agenda\’ or at last how long your speech will be, will make them listen and become more attentive. Ask questions Let the audience know your rules re; answering questions. You might prefer to leave questions to the end or let them ask during your speech. The latter will add a lot more time to your speaking time effecting what was said in the last section. I suggest asking questions at the end, encouraging them to ask any question, no matter how silly it is. There is always someone else in the audience who has the same question. Do an action plan Ask your audience to think about or take action during and / or after your speech. What can they learn that has the potential to make their life easier, more exciting, more eventful. Can they make money or save money from your speech content? Can they look or sound better with their family and friends. Encourage them to write down one thing that can improve / change their life after they leave the room…
