It is known that any, even the most wonderful idea, can be spoiled by execution. And, on the contrary: you can approach the execution of any idea creatively and choose a form that will strengthen the idea and turn the performance into a masterpiece. We will talk further about the form in which you can present your speech, namely: the ability to hold the attention of the public and attract it.
The husband returns home under the influence. There is a bicycle in the hallway. The bicycle falls and hits his pelvis. Rumble, noise. The wife and children run out of their rooms. “What, you can’t sleep without a folder?”
Let's say that you have carefully prepared to compose your speech, it has an interesting, exciting beginning, all the ideas are presented simply and clearly, an inspiring conclusion that encourages action... Is success guaranteed? Yes and no. There is another important point - the form of information provided. It is known that any, even the most wonderful idea, can be spoiled by execution. And, on the contrary: you can approach the execution of any idea creatively and choose a form that will strengthen the idea and turn the performance into a masterpiece. We will talk further about the form in which you can present your speech, namely: the ability to hold the attention of the public, how to interact with the audience and ways to attract attention.
Part 1. How to attract attention
The average person’s attention span remains on one topic for about 20 minutes, that is, it is advisable to change the topic of conversation every 15-20 minutes, make lyrical digressions, tell jokes, and temporarily switch attention. At the same time, the audience gets the impression of relaxation. As you know, the best rest is a change of activity. By changing the topics of the message, it is possible to maintain the impression of novelty and ease of presentation of information. Therefore, when working on a speech, it is advisable to think in advance about the means of interaction with the audience, how to hold the audience’s attention in order to control the attention of the audience.
Sometimes our performance takes a significant amount of time. What if we are now giving a very important piece of information and we need every listener to perceive it and hear it? To do this you need to attract attention.
Before we start talking...
Before you start speaking... you need to pause for 5-7 seconds and look carefully at the listeners (example from the movie “The Great Debaters”, final scene). The pause allows them to tune in to their perception. At the same time, an element of curiosity arises: how will the speaker standing in front of us begin his speech?
Personal rapprochement
The speaker begins his speech by pointing out what he has in common with his audience. So, speaking to the teachers, the lecturer said that he had worked at the school for many years and was glad to have the opportunity to speak to his former colleagues. This brought him closer to the audience, arousing their interest and attention to the performance.
Surprise
We unexpectedly announce something during a speech. This attracts attention in the same way as when we are walking down the street and suddenly we hear either the squeaking of brakes, or someone screaming, or something else unexpected. We talked about how to become a successful speaker, but March 9 is Yuri Gagarin’s birthday. “What does Gagarin have to do with it?” you ask. And he is the first person to fly into space. Everyone does something for the first time at some point. For some people, the first performance is like Gagarin's first flight into space. Therefore, I will now tell you about the secrets that will help you prepare a successful speech.
I once conducted a training in public speaking in Stary Oskol. In the middle of the training, one participant speaks and says something that gave me goosebumps in surprise. " I really like your training. Everything is so fun, interesting, so many practical games and exercises. But there is one significant flaw in your training...” At this point he pauses. I immediately think, what’s wrong? Usually everyone likes the training. But here they say the exact opposite. There is surprise on the faces of the participants. And then this speaker states: “After so many practical tasks and exercises, the business for diapers and pampers will be significantly reduced, since we already feel much more confident!” After that, I breathed a sigh of relief, and all the participants laughed. Their attention at that moment was completely riveted to the speaker, who managed to attract them so unexpectedly.
Provocation
You can create disagreement with the information presented for a short time and use this period to prepare the audience for constructive conclusions. Working in a network business has no prospects. It is becoming increasingly difficult to sell the products of network companies. People don't have money... How many times have we heard similar phrases. Let's check the facts. Is this true?
In this example, we first made a provocative message that there was no prospect of work in our business. Those who have been involved in network marketing for a long time know very well that this is not so. And naturally, this causes a reaction - this cannot be! Listeners become extremely attentive. And then we begin to constructively present our material. It is good to use provocation when the speaker has excellent command of the topic. He first states something that causes disagreement among the audience, and therefore attracts their attention, and then, together with them, he comes to constructive conclusions.
Hyperbola
Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration. Remember the classics? A rare bird will fly to the middle of the Dnieper. Although anyone who can swim can cross the Dnieper. In a network business, every person can easily become a millionaire in a month. True, if you work 200 hours a day. We will talk to you about more real things.
Litotes
Litotes is the opposite of hyperbole, a deliberate understatement. When we downplay the significance of a fact and then show how things really were, the real picture seems more attractive. Would you be happy if you received one dollar in addition to your income? Network business provides just such an opportunity... Only the amount of income is, as a rule, much higher than you expected at first.
Comparison
Weigh the pros and cons, and then make what you think is the right decision. Everything is learned by comparison, therefore, when people hear that somewhere someone has begun to compare something with something, their attention instinctively sharpens. I propose to consider all the pros and cons of my proposal, let's see together what you gain and what you lose by accepting it.
Not a formality
For example, tell about your own misconceptions, prejudices, your mistakes and their consequences. At my trainings, I often talk about my mistakes, either in public speaking, or in achieving my goals, or in handling money. This builds trust, increases the self-confidence of everyone present and shows that anything is possible in this business.
Humor
Funny examples, jokes, funny stories from life give listeners the opportunity to think and relax. If you have a couple of anecdotes that illustrate the theme of your speech, you will always win. It is especially important when the anecdote is on topic, when it illustrates the topic of the speech. And people will remember the content of your speech for a long time. By remembering the content of the joke, the audience remembers the content of your lecture. For example, some speakers, when talking about the ethics of network business, cite the following anecdote as an example: “ Osya Abromovich entered into an agreement with the Odessa Shipping Company for the repair of the ship. Some time passes. The commission comes and admires how beautiful everything is, how the railings are polished, what a miracle it is. They come to look at the other side of the ship, and priests! Everything there is rusty, nothing has been done, they say: “Osya! Abromovich! How so?" “Why so? I don't understand. That’s how it’s written – Osya Abromovich on the one hand and the Odessa Shipping Company on the other.”
When leaders of network companies talk about sales secrets, you can often hear the following anecdote: “ Two new Russians meet. “I bought an elephant. You won't believe it! In the morning he wakes up the whole family, prepares breakfast, takes the children to school, cleans everything in the garden, protects the house. It’s simply a miracle!” The second one says: “Sell!” - “Are you crazy?” - “300 thousand!” - “No” - “800!” - “Well, come on...” The next day the buyer comes running and says: “Your elephant screamed all night, tore down the entire fence, scared the children, the neighbors called the police!” - “Uh-uh... you’re scolding an elephant in vain, so you won’t sell it to anyone.” After this, you can talk about something important in sales, about some secret, a special method. And people will definitely remember him.
Collect and collect jokes for your speeches. You just need to make sure that the joke does not offend anyone present; inept humor gives the opposite result. An ironic remark or joke related to the content of the speech is effective when the audience does not feel well about the speaker or the ideas he is presenting, or the speaker wants to defuse the tense atmosphere of the meeting. However, it is necessary to remember that it is best to joke about yourself or the audience’s attitude towards you, but in no case hurt what is dear to the listeners.
Stories
Examples and everyday stories are very important. They help bring speech closer to reality, instill trust in listeners in the speaker and the information presented. If after each block of information you tell a story illustrating this information, the effect of the speech will be maximum.
Metaphors, parables, legends
Metaphors, parables, legends - some kind of story on a topic that has a moral. They are interesting to listen to. This is at the level of a fairy tale, it is absolutely safe, and a person learns something.
Novelty
Listeners follow with intense attention a performance in which the material being presented constantly reveals new content, information unknown to the listeners or an original interpretation of known facts, fresh ideas; the speaker promises the audience to provide the latest information on the essence of the topic that has not yet been published anywhere. Immediately capturing the attention of the listeners, the leader announced to them that he would share his impressions of his three-year stay in Paris.
Taking into account interests
In this case, the lecturer touches on the issues that most concern the audience. This incident occurred when a rule was in force: young people who applied to the registry office were required to listen to a series of lectures on family and marriage issues. The classes were held in the evenings, they were boring, and the people, tired after work, “served” them as a duty. They didn’t listen to lecturers, read newspapers, did crossword puzzles, played “battleship”, etc. And so, another teacher entered the audience of future husbands. The public pays zero attention to him. After waiting a little, calming the most noisy ones with his gaze, he began: “Impotence... (the listeners instantly quieted down) threatens men at any age.” Everything that followed was listened to with great attention. After all, no one wanted to be disabled in this regard the next day.
Problem situation
The method is that the speech begins with a request to the audience to recommend ways to solve a briefly stated problem. Thus, the doctor at the beginning of his speech said that some diseases do not appear immediately, but only over time. Then he turned to the audience: how to fight them? The listeners became thoughtful - their attention was attracted. It helps to create a problematic situation by asking a question to the audience. Dear friends! Please tell me why more and more people are starting to work for themselves and become individual entrepreneurs? And what caused this?
Personal complicity
The speaker invites listeners to mentally become a participant in a specific event and appeals to the listeners’ imagination. “Imagine that you are in Paris...”, “Each of you has been in a situation when he was told “no”...”, etc. This technique evokes figurative ideas and makes the message better perceived.
Personal empathy
Occurs when a speaker enthusiastically describes events that affect the feelings and interests of the audience. The speech begins with a story about a tragic episode in the life of one or more people, evoking a feeling of personal empathy in the audience. At the same time, an interested silence arises in the hall.
Improvisation
An impromptu deviation from a pre-planned performance plan significantly enlivens it. The reason for improvisation may be something that happened during or before the performance. “When I was on my way to meet you, an interesting incident happened to me...” or “Some people sit further away in hopes of getting a good night's sleep. It’s better to sleep in front, because I often ask those sitting behind me what they think about what they heard!” It is important to observe the measure: the retreat should be quite short.
Go to dialogue
Questions to the audience stimulate the thoughts of the listeners, and force the especially lazy ones to listen to the speaker. After all, it’s inconvenient to helplessly gawk when he turns to you with a question. Another way: “Who among those present probably had the thought: why doesn’t the lecturer say anything about...? I answer..."
Proposing hypotheses and assumptions
This is done, for example, with the words: “What if we assume that you earned $1,000...”, « But what happens if you become the president of the company...", "Let's imagine that..." etc.
Videos, slides, posters, graphics
Perception is also activated by the demonstration of materials on the topic of the speech. Another focus of excitation appears in the cerebral cortex - the area responsible for processing visual information.
Logical organization of speech
It also helps maintain attention - consistency, consistency, validity will make your speech more easily perceived by listeners.
Expressiveness of speech
The expressiveness of the speaker’s speech – changing intonations, colorful verbal images, original comparisons, apt expressions. You can also use dramatization of speech: an emotional and visual depiction of events related to the topic. This technique was used by the ancient Greek orator Aeschylus in his speech against Demosthenes in the famous dispute about the Golden Crown: “Imagine: walls are collapsing, hail is falling, houses are in flames, elders and wives, forgetting forever that they were once free, and rightly indignant not so much at the tools as at the perpetrators of their troubles, they cry out to you, begging you with tears: give a wreath to the destroyer of Greece..."
Conviction and emotionality of the speaker
If he is sincere, these qualities not only keep the listeners' attention on the problem, but allow him to infect those gathered with his attitude towards it. Eastern wisdom says: “You are a speaker, you cannot convince anyone if you don’t have in your heart what comes off your tongue.”
Moderate speech rate
Such that the listeners have time to follow the speaker’s train of thought, assimilate what is said, and write down, if necessary. It's good to use pauses for this.
It is important to note that after each technique of attracting the audience’s attention there should be a block of important information. Otherwise, very soon these techniques will no longer work.
The speaker does not work in an ideal environment, when nothing prevents him from realizing his plan. One can hardly hope for ideal circumstances, if only because people get tired and distracted, even if they are interested in the topic and the speaker. Therefore, when working on speech, it is advisable to think through means of controlling attention in advance. It is advisable to outline in advance the places where one or another method of activating attention will be used. Hint: it would be appropriate and expedient to use a means of attracting attention at each junction of speech construction, that is, when moving from part to part, from topic to topic, from one thought to another. For example, after a speech, you should ask a question, the answer to which should be the thesis, that is, the entire future speech; or formulate a problem that the speech will be devoted to solving.
When arranging the material, especially if the speech is significant in volume, it is necessary to evenly alternate logical reasoning with emotional components, which, according to M.V. Lomonosov, “most of all they serve both the movement and the arousal of passions,” and there is enough of them in stock.
Part 2. How to maintain constant audience interest
To maintain constant audience interest, there are several methods:
Inductive method
The inductive method is a presentation of material from the particular to the general. The speaker begins his speech with a particular case, and then leads the audience to generalizations and conclusions. A good example is D. Carnegie’s book “How to Win Friends...”...
Deductive method
The deductive method is a presentation of material from the general to the specific. At the beginning of the speech, the speaker puts forward some provisions, and then explains their meaning using specific examples and facts. Used to clarify complex problems. For example, in order to work successfully in our company, you need: this, this and this. And then open each item separately. In public speaking training, I conduct one exercise in which I show the entire course of public speaking, and then break it down into elements, which allows you to quickly master the skills of successful speaking.
Step method
The stepwise method is a sequential presentation of one question after another. Having considered a problem, the speaker never returns to it.
Historical method
Historical method - presentation of material in chronological order, description and analysis of changes that have occurred over time; used in speeches where it is necessary to indicate exact dates, use formulas and numbers, show the dynamics of an event or the sequence of processes.
The use of different methods of presenting material in the same speech allows you to make the structure of the main part of the speech more original and non-standard.
Part 3. How to work with an audience in the hall
If your speech is designed for 10-15 minutes, you simply will not physically have time to demonstrate the entire arsenal of interaction with the audience. But if you perform for a long time, then it’s good to think through some techniques.
Dialogue with the audience
Dialogue with the audience - asking questions to the audience during the speech. This allows people to be involved in a discussion, a conversation, a conversation. Thus, it turns out that the listeners are “here and now”, and your speech does not turn into a simple reading of the text. Using dialogue with the audience turns the performance into a conversation with everyone, and this increases the sense of importance of each listener - he feels like the creator of today's performance. When addressing a specific person, do not forget that at the moment when you listen to the opinion of one person, you need to pay attention to everyone. Let your body be turned towards the speaker, this shows attention to him, and your eyes monitor others. For what? So that other participants do not feel disadvantaged. This way you control the process.
Brainstorm
One type of dialogue with the audience is brainstorming. You give some task and write down all the answers on the board. When all the answers are written down, everyone feels important - their opinion was not missed, but noted.
Built-in questions
Embedded questions are questions that do not require an answer. Questions that the speaker himself answers immediately. When you ask a question during a speech, the audience also begins to think about the answer, this is how human thinking works. As soon as a person hears a question, his consciousness automatically begins searching for an answer.
Hands
Hands are your instrument. If you want the audience to do something, you should not only talk about it, but, if possible, show it with your hands. For example, if you want listeners to stop making noise or talking over each other, you say: “Quiet!” and show the “Quiet!” sign with your index finger at your lips. If you say: “Quiet! Hush!” without showing it with a gesture, it will take 2 times longer than saying “Hush!” and confirm it with your hands. Speak and show with your hands at the same time. If you want questions to be asked, you ask, “Who has questions?” and show your hand raised up. You tell them to ask questions and demonstrate how to show that there is a question.
Demonstration
You tell and show. Not only with your hands, but with your whole body. You portray something during your performance. You create images and pictures using your body. People not only listen to your speech, but also see it.
"Aquarium"
“Aquarium” is when you invite one or more people onto the stage to demonstrate some idea or observation to the audience in the audience. This really enlivens the audience. And most importantly, they are better aware of the material you present. For example, some speakers create such a “fishbowl”, which is intended to demonstrate that there is no need to persuade people. The more you persuade people, the more resistance you teach. One person is called onto the stage. They are asked to place their feet shoulder-width apart and maintain balance when they are pulled towards them and pushed away from them. When you pull a person towards you (physically), in order to maintain balance, he needs to deviate in the opposite direction. And the harder you pull, the more he resists. But if you push a person away from you, then he, on the contrary, is attracted to you. This clearly conveys the message to everyone present: there is no need to persuade people. The more we persuade them, the more they resist.
Paired tasks
If you want the audience to actively participate in your speech, come up with tasks for them. Let them consult with their neighbor to the right or left about what they would do in a given situation - this will enliven the audience. If you are talking about compliments in your speech, then you can give the task: turn to your neighbor on the left and tell him a compliment, turn to your neighbor on the right and tell him a compliment too, turn to your neighbor behind and say a compliment. If you are giving a speech on the topic of money, you can give the task to consult with your neighbor to the right and left, what to do in a situation if you are asked to borrow 100 USD? The tasks can be different, the main thing is that they are thought out, relate to the topic of the speech, or physically entertain the audience.
Physical education minute
Physical education lessons have been known to us since school, when the teacher interrupted the lesson, raised all the students and offered to stretch their arms: “We wrote, we wrote, our fingers are tired, now we’ll stretch them and start writing again" You can use similar tasks for the audience in your speeches. This greatly enlivens the audience and increases the energy in the room. For example, the “Chips, ketchup, Coca-Cola” technique, known to many participants in my trainings and seminars on public speaking. When everyone does it, there is a lot of laughter, joy, and fun in the hall.
In one company, at a grandiose seminar, the organizers of the holiday came up with a motivational dance for all listeners. Groovy music turns on. The presenters lift up all the spectators in the hall, begin to dance and say: “Now we are distributing tickets to the company’s next seminar,” and dancing show how they are distributing tickets. Then they dance and show how they invite people to a company seminar. Those who come to the company's seminar achieve success in business - hands up and jumping on the spot. And then the sponsor arrived and gave everyone motivation (slapping their hands on their buttocks). When you do such warm-ups in the hall, it greatly energizes the listeners, all participants receive maximum pleasure and enjoyment.
Resume
So, it’s not enough to prepare an interesting, exciting speech. It is also important to consider the form of information provided. Since it is known that any, even the most wonderful idea, can be spoiled by execution. And, on the contrary: you can approach the execution of any idea creatively and choose a form that will strengthen the idea and turn the performance into a masterpiece. We talked about the form in which you can present your speech, namely: the ability to hold the attention of the public, how to interact with the audience and ways to attract attention.
The above techniques for maintaining attention are, of course, best used when your presentation is long. There simply isn’t enough time for them in a short speech. It will be better if your speech includes different interaction techniques. This alternation further attracts and holds the attention of listeners.
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Founder of the business community “New Generation of Speakers”
P.S. Remember, speakers are not born, speakers are made!
They write and talk a lot about the “personality of the speaker”, about what is required of him, what he should be like (eruditeness, culture, etc.). But we don't mean a real person speaking in front of an audience. We are talking about constructing the image the speaker needs, about a certain impression that the speaker makes on the audience with his speech. He can act as a leader or tribune, as a person who seems to be consulting with the audience, informing the audience, as a commentator on events, etc. It's a matter of strategy.
And here, first of all, it is important to remember the types of audience attention.
In the case when attention arises independently of will and consciousness, they speak of involuntary attention.
Involuntary attention occurs whenever:
1. a person encounters something unusual, unexpected, interesting for him;
2. in the field of vision or hearing of a person comes what excites him, cares, and corresponds to practical interests and needs;
3. a strong, varying intensity or contrast stimulus acts.
Involuntary attention does not tire, since it arises “by itself” and does not require nervous expenditure. However, it is not stable and easily switches to another object.
By focusing on some object or process consciously, through an effort of will, listeners organize voluntary attention.
Voluntary attention occurs when performing obligatory but uninteresting work. It is accompanied by nervous costs and tires.
If attention arose as a conscious, volitional one, but then is maintained without any effort on the part of the listeners, because they are captivated by the performance, it is a manifestation post-voluntary attention.
Post-voluntary attention does not tire and can last for a very long time (for example, ancient speakers who were listened to for 5-6 hours).
Very important address to the listener. Many people find it difficult to know exactly how to address their audience. If earlier the address was long and florid, with exaggerated respect, with multiple listings of those present, now the situation has changed. In recent decades, address, like speech itself, has become simpler, unvarnished, and more businesslike.
Contact with listeners is established in a frank and friendly manner, however, depending on the situation, with a predominance of trust or maintaining a distance. The address, if possible, should take into account the composition of the audience: dear colleagues, respected friends, dear colleagues. If the listeners are unknown, then honorifics are perceived as exaggeration. Treatment should be respectful, but not servile.
The rather frequently used address “dear present” is rather colorless. Based on this, we can conclude that the listeners are just “present”.
The address is not necessary at the beginning of the speech; it can be used in any part of it. In particularly expressive places it serves to improve contact with listeners. During the speech, the address must sometimes be varied.
The address always serves to maintain contact with the listeners, and in order to use it correctly, some more experience and a kind of subtle instinct are needed.
One of the great satirists, S. Johnson, once said about his contemporary: “He is not only boring in himself, but his very appearance makes those around him sad.” This statement can be considered fair to many speakers. Very often everything becomes clear after the first sentence spoken, and if it is unsuccessful, then it becomes impossible to attract the attention of listeners.
This is why the problem of the “image of the speaker” arises. We do not mean a real person speaking in front of an audience. We are talking about constructing the image the speaker needs, about a certain impression that the speaker makes on the audience with his speech.
Addressing the listener is very important. Many people find it difficult to know exactly how to address their audience. If earlier the address was long and florid, with exaggerated respect, with multiple listings of those present, now the situation has changed. In recent decades, address, like speech itself, has become simpler and more business-like.
Contact with listeners is established in a frank and friendly manner, but with a distance. If the hearers are unknown, the address should be respectful, but not servile, and to use it correctly requires some experience and a kind of fine instinct.
In addition, it is very important attunement to the listener,
to the audience. Both their underestimation and overestimation should be avoided. It is always easier to speak when addressing a homogeneous audience. It is much harder to speak in front of a heterogeneous audience.
Some speakers, having brilliantly mastered academic speech, do not speak popular language, which prevents them from easily adapting and communicating freely in any audience.
You should always put yourself in the position of a listener, especially if there is a certain opinion in the speech. It is important for the speaker not only to imagine the listener, but also to feel him. What are these people like who are listening to me? What do they think, what do they feel, what do they know, what would they like to hear, and what should I tell them? Will what I have to say be new to them or am I banging on an open door?
As conditions maintaining attention to the performance, the following are traditionally distinguished.
- 1. Content of the speech- new information unknown to listeners or an original interpretation of known facts, interesting ideas, analysis of a problem.
- 2. Availability of information- presentation of the material taking into account the cultural and educational level of listeners and their life experience. Remember: many people only hear what they want to hear.
- 3.Empathy and trust- they arise when the speaker enthusiastically describes events that affect the feelings and interests of the audience, connecting the subject of speech with his own experience, his own thoughts.
- 4. Relaxed manner of presentation manifests itself in posture, gestures, facial expression, and the sound of the speaker’s voice.
Gestures coming “from the heart” enhance the effect of speech and make it more expressive. After all, during a speech you have not only listeners, but also spectators. It is best when the posture and gestures when performing are calm, and not careless and defiant. When the listener sees a figure rushing in front of him, he becomes irritated. Gestures are the fundamental basis of any language. Don't be afraid to use them, but remember:
- 1) about 90% gestures must be done above the waist. Gestures made with hands below the waist often mean uncertainty, failure, confusion;
- 2) Elbows should not be closer than 3 cm from the body. A smaller distance will symbolize the insignificance and weakness of your authority;
- 3) gesture with both hands. The hardest thing is to start using gestures.
- 5. Conviction and emotionality of the speaker, which not only keep the attention of listeners on the problem, but also allow them to infect those gathered with their attitude towards it. Eastern wisdom says: “You, the speaker, will not convince anyone if you don’t have in your heart what comes off your tongue.”
- 6. Pauses- It is during pauses that comprehension of what has been said occurs, and the opportunity to ask a question arises.
It must be remembered that a person can listen actively for an average of 15 minutes. Then you need to pause or make a slight digression and bring up some interesting fact.
As special techniques, that allow not only to hold the attention of listeners during a speech, but also to convey to them the main idea, experts in public speaking call the following.
- 1. Dramatization speeches are an emotional and visual depiction of events related to the topic.
- 2. Repeat- repeated repetition of the same word or phrase in order to highlight the most important thing in the phrase.
There are a large number of basic types of repetitions: verbatim repetition (“no one, absolutely no one has the right to this!”); partial repeat (“I reproached my opponent once, I reproached him a second time”); extended replay.
For example, Cicero did not limit himself to a meager statement of fact: “Everyone hates you, Piso.” He continued further, detailing: "The Senate hates you<...>, the Roman horsemen can't stand the sight of you<...>, the Roman people want you to die<...>, all of Italy curses you."
Let's give another example of extended repetition.
“Please take my position on this issue seriously. Then, only then, only then is it possible to find a common solution.”
However, it is very important to remember that a small dose of repetition is encouraging, but too much repetition is lulling or discouraging. Oratory consists of presenting a repetition as if it had just been born;
- 3. Citation- references to authorities that decorate the speech, if quotes are not abused.
- 4. Opposition- should be clear, but unexpected for the listener.
For example, the American politician R. Nixon had great success when in one of his speeches he announced: “Khrushchev shouted to the Americans: “Your grandchildren will be communists!” We answer this: “On the contrary, Mr. Khrushchev, we hope: your grandchildren will live freely.” ! "
5. Hint- an effective technique that clarifies and sharpens a statement.
For example: “I don’t need to explain to you in detail what consequences this event will have...”, “You already know where I’m going with this.”
- 6. Provocation- a statement that provokes disagreement from the audience (and therefore attracts its attention), and then allows the speaker, together with the listeners, to come to constructive conclusions.
- 7. Humor- a classic technique with which you can relieve emotional tension.
However, a sense of humor is a natural gift. And if it is not developed, you must at least be aware of it. It becomes awkward when you see a person on the podium who is making himself laugh intensely. When resorting to a joke, one should not forget the words of Pisarev: “When laughter, playfulness and humor serve as a means, then everything is fine. When they become the goal, then mental debauchery begins.”
All the techniques listed here interact with each other through various connections, and sometimes one tool is built into another. It should be borne in mind that it is not recommended to use them too closely, otherwise their effect will be dulled.
Many speakers use these means unconsciously, but when preparing a speech, you need to consciously integrate them into its structure. Oratorical techniques must be presented in full in the speech.
Many speakers like to use proverbs, sayings, catch phrases. Indeed, they not only decorate our speech, but... the main thing is that they are accurately, briefly and expressively able to convey the most complex meaning: “A man was angry with the master for three years, but the master didn’t even know”, “If the heart is black, then a golden tongue will not help”, “They kill with a knife in a deserted place, they kill with a word in public" etc.
Every day, countless speeches and presentations take place around the world. But, unfortunately, the vast majority of them do not arouse much interest among the audience. Only a few lecturers manage to truly win over their listeners and establish contact with them. This is not surprising, because for a presentation to be truly successful, it is not enough that it be carefully prepared. Your presentation should also be bright enough, because even a very useful but boring lecture will lead to the audience yawning.
It’s not for nothing that the art of oratory is called that way. In order to become a successful lecturer, you need not only to have talent for this, but also to devote a lot of time to special training and attend trainings. But we can still give you some general advice that will help you attract the interest of your audience, and ideally win it over.
Prepare properly for your presentation
Experienced speakers always think about what kind of audience they will have to speak to, because this determines how and what exactly should be said. In order to win over the audience and keep them for most of the lecture or presentation, you should speak the same language with them. Therefore, the age and gender composition of the listeners and, of course, social affiliation should be taken into account. If you are going to speak in front of children, then as an illustration you should take, for example, cartoon characters or the Harry Potter saga, but if you have a female audience, then examples from films will be more appropriate.
At the same time, you should not overdo it with animation effects, as they can distract listeners from the main topic of your conversation. And, of course, your video materials and slides must be prepared at the highest level.
Be sure to identify the main idea that should run like a red thread throughout your presentation and try not to go too far away from it.
Speaking about how to win over an audience, one cannot fail to mention the role played by good, and most importantly, well-timed jokes. Don’t rely on your ability to improvise, even if in ordinary life you have no problems with this, when you speak in front of an audience, your resourcefulness may let you down. Therefore, be sure to prepare a few humorous examples that you will keep in reserve.
The most depressing impression on the audience is made by a speaker who reads his speech from a piece of paper. Therefore, under no circumstances write it down in its entirety, and if you are afraid of getting confused, then it is better to prepare several cards with brief abstracts that you can look at when the need arises.
What to wear for a performance
How you look and what you wear is also very important. If you have to speak to an informal audience of youth, it is better if you are not very different from them in appearance. A cowboy shirt, a pullover, and jeans will get you in the good graces of your listeners, at least at first. If this is an official presentation of your company’s products at some forum, then a strict business suit is required. Women should avoid provocative necklines and slits on the skirt, since your appearance may be appreciated, but the topic of your speech is unlikely.
The first minutes are the most important
Whether you can win over an audience or not is essentially decided in the first few minutes. It is during this time that your listeners have time to form their opinion about you. If you can establish immediate rapport with a good joke or an impressive, bright opening, you can count on a friendly reception down the road.
