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How to Interact with Audiences
One of the consistent surprises for me in the keynote speaking world has been the reluctance of speakers to engage in significant audience interaction, despite the real benefits to both audience and speaker in doing so. Some speakers want to give their canned speech and leave, of course; it saves wear and tear on the speaker. Speaking can be a grueling profession and minimizing the interaction with audiences is one way to save on the gruel.
Other speakers don’t want to introduce the element of chaos that bringing an audience into a talk will potentially create. What if they ask a question I can’t answer — or don’t want to answer? And some speakers want to keep control of timing and agenda and don’t want to relinquish either to an unruly mob.
But those speakers are all missing the bigger point. If you are speaking about a serious topic with the ambition of changing the world — of spreading your message as far and wide as it will go — then allowing the audience to get active in some way will ensure that they buy in to — and remember — your messages rather than simply hearing it and moving on to the next thing.
So in this blog post and several to come, I’ll identify ways in which you can think about engaging the audience effectively for their benefit and for the propagation of your message. I’ll phrase the interactivity challenge as a series…
