CONNECTING WITH YOUR AUDIENCE Part 1 by John Lizzio

In the early 90’s I presented to The Board and senior staff of a North Queensland Sugar Mill. After the presentation, the Chief Chemist approached me. “Lizzio,” he said, “you’re going to get the job. However, don’t think that’s because you know more about sugar or communication than other people. You’re going to get the job because the Board and the Senior Staff believe that you actually believe what you’re presenting.” 


Speaker’s Internal State for being Centered 

• Be Congruent - There needs to be a synergy between ‘who I am’, ‘what I believe’ and ‘how I present’. 

• Be Confident - Confidence comes from Congruence and Preparation.
• Be a person of Personal Integrity in your speaking - Aim to convey the message ‘this is what I believe’. On any subject, there are many points of view, many different perceptions. Know where you ‘stand’ - this is my opinion, my point of view, my perception. It may not be how it is for you and that’s ok, What I am sharing with you is ‘how’ it is for me.
• Have Sincere Conviction - Connecting with your audience is the difference between our audience ‘being present at’ versus ‘engaging with’. Remember always; ‘that is the difference that makes the difference’. 

Speakers External State for Engaging with the Audience 

• Eye Contact is essential - On a particular Sunday, I was preaching in St Monica’s Cathedral with about 400 present. After the service when we were outside a person who had been sitting in the very back row said, ‘You were speaking to me. You were looking right into my eyes’. Actually I hadn’t seen him, however, I realised I’d been looking at every part of the congregation.
• Share a Personal Story - Be courageous and reveal who you are, this is me. This is who I am. I am sharing a personal experience that has helped shape who I am.

Create a WITH Relationship Both in Life and in our Public Speaking - there are 3 kinds of relationships. We can do things ‘to people’. We can do things ‘for people’. We can do things ‘with people’. Whichever we choose either knowingly or unknowingly will be, ‘the difference that makes the difference’. 

• We can talk ‘to’ our audience: We will be personally disengaged from them. We will not be real. There will be a disassociation. We can present our information as if it is only ‘for‘ our audience: A ‘for’ speech rather than engaging with, will alienate and separate us from our audience. It will sound as if we do not personally need the information for ourselves rather it is for our audience to be different, to change.
• A ‘for’ speech will most often develop a ‘preachy’ tone that sounds like “I am telling you this for your own good. Both ‘to’ and ‘for’ can disengage and alienate an audience.
• How does a ‘with’ presentation engage the audience?
• By having eye contact with every person in a small audience. In a large auditorium, looking at every eye and every part of the room will be essential.
   
• By changing our tone, tempo, volume and intensity, keeping it in synch with our gestures and our changes in facial expression and body language.

Conviction to Convince and Persuade 

I believe one intention in speaking is to have a conversation with our audience that seeks to convince and persuade. Both words come from Latin: 

• Convince = con vincere - to win with, to win together
• Persuade = per suasio - through sweetness 

Both words suggest seeing things from the listener’s point of view. 

For what Purpose? 

Catherine Cooper Norwood, one of Australia’s great trainers, now retired, was very strong in stating that these 3 words, ‘for what purpose’ could be the most important in the English language. She asks: Why Am I Speaking? What do I want to achieve? My audience is my most important consideration. My purpose is to engage them by having a conversation ‘with’ them so that they will not just be ‘present’ but also ‘engaged’ with me, and my subject. 

Speak in Phrases 

In our day to day conversation with one another, we speak in phrases with appropriate pauses between the phrases. So too in public speaking; it is essential to speak in phrases and pause appropriately in between.