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Creative Ideas for Interacting with Your Audience
Communication is essential to every part of our lives today. As a writer, student, executive, teacher or a corporate trainer, one has to therefore engage with one's audience. How can one accomplish that? A smile and greeting helps regain composure. The faces of expectant people waiting to hear you out can be unnerving. PowerPoint bullets help in getting the clues. Once one has her eyes on the key words, one can speak on the subject elaborately. Of course, the substantive part of the presentation will depend on one's prior knowledge on the subject. One can get clarity and stick to the time limit of the presentation if one practices several times before making the actual presentation. Making eye contact with the audience is my first way of speaking to the audience. Never let go of that. Remember you are speaking to the people sitting in front of you. Losing eye contact means losing interest in the audience. The second trick I use is to ask a question at the very outset. I have used this often, especially when the composition of the class or seminar room is diverse. I ask a question, usually a thought provoking question and look for opinionated responses. This is a good way of gauging the intellectual depth, perspective and even the political position of the audience. This, in turn, facilitates in restructuring my presentation or lecture. I may have thought of something before I started but the response from the audience has got me thinking differently. Then it would be wise to go with the flow and let one set of responses initiate a debate, then pick up threads from there to initiate another one and so on. Before one realizes, hours may pass without ever worrying about having any dull moment. The boring monologue is easily replaced with an interesting discussion. Discussion is something the audience love. Everybody wants herself to be heard so audiences love it when the mike is placed in front of them. Popular television shows like "We the People" or "The Buck Stops Here "on NDTV 24* 7 thrive on generating lively discussions with the audience and the panel experts. All this is achieved rather deftly by smart moderators who always have the strings of the discussion in her hands, taking charge now and then, steering and directing the direction, allowing people to speak, keeping an eye on time and covering as much within the given timeframe. Humor is an element that can be used anywhere specially while interacting with the audience. I use this often and it works. A little joke here and there about oneself will do no harm. In fact they work because the audience accepts you as "one of them" a person who is far from perfect, grounded and therefore real. This in turn helps you gain their trust. Once they laugh at you, they begin liking you and eventually believe you. It is not my agenda to convince my audience. I am open to debate and dissent and for this, one has to appear "open". For that, a careful choice of words and avoiding certain words does the trick. Words like 'Negro', 'servant', 'man power' are best avoided. 'Perhaps', 'probably', 'maybe', 'somehow', are words that help qualify an expression, a view or opinion without appearing as absolute truths. These in turn provide the much needed room for accommodating others' opinions and engaging in debate. The audience always appreciates such space. I remember my Professor in College doing something unique in class. He asked each student randomly to name the states of the Republic of India. That was easy for any Masters' level student. The moment a student referred to the states of the North East as "North Eastern states" without naming them separately as Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Sikkim, the Professor established his point and went on to deliver a complete lecture on "marginalization". His way of engaging with the students was to make them realize how potent marginalization is as is evident from our everyday usage of language but we don't realize it. By making us conscious of our spoken word, he actually taught a very difficult sociological concept rather lucidly that I remember till date. On another occasion, one of the panel members in a conference I attended asked the audience to stand up and stretch their legs and hands. Initially the audience was hesitant but when she explained that this would supply fresh oxygen to the brain and facilitate better participation in the conference, the audience did that immediately. In a few moments, the otherwise sleepy room during the post lunch sessions looked energized filled with peoples' voices and suddenly came alive. The use of props can also pep up an otherwise gloomy audience. Much like the game of "situations" we used to play during school and college competitions, one can use a prop say a "duster" or a "marker" and ask the audience of the variety of uses it can have. People from the audience can really come up with the most bizarre, hilarious and diverse responses and that is fun. One can drive home one's point while undertaking this exercise simultaneously. Last but not the least, ready wit, presence of mind and good vocabulary are quintessential while interacting with one's audience. A basic level of integrity with one's audience without giving them any airs about oneself is ultimately the most useful way of interaction that pays off under all circumstances.
Editor's note: Most articles submitted to Chillibreeze go through a selection process. Only 30 percent of submitted articles are accepted for publication on the Chillibreeze.com featured article list. All accepted articles are edited and proofread for glaring errors of punctuation and grammar. Sentence structure is changed in certain cases and sometimes, entire sections are rewritten. If you notice any errors that have slipped through the cracks, do let us know! (Email us at info at chillibreeze dot com). Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in January, 2012. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.
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