Public Speaking Audience - Stories Help

Stories can be a very effective way to get and keep a public speaking audience's attention

Use Relevant Stories

People like stories. They have grown up listening to and watching them. To be effective the story should relate to your message. Start your story in a way that engenders anticipation, participation or curiosity e.g. No-one will talk about this for publication but.... Keep the story brief, you want to leave the audience wanting more. To add more interest use conflict, dramatic action or suspense in the story.

Over use or inappropriate use will distract a public speaking audience and you could lose your audience. Use the techniques discussed in this article to support your speech. In public speaking it takes time and effort to be interesting and keep the audience's attention. But the results will surely justify the time and effort.

Public Speaking Audience - Be Visual

The next technique to use keep a public speaking audience interested is:

Visual aids

Using visual aids or holding things up will make your speech more interesting and gain the audience's attention. Select aids that make your ideas clear vivid and effective. For an article to be used at best advantage it must be able to be clearly seen by everyone. The objects and visual aids used should make good sense and be in line with the points being made. Listeners like visual aids because they deliver variety from too many words.

PowerPoint slides can be a very effective visual aid when used correctly. The novelty has worn off, so they now need to used carefully to keep a public speaking audience interested. Simply the advice is don't be too gimmicky, don't use too many words or too many slides.

Public Speaking Audience - Facts

To succeed in public speaking you will need to use facts to support your ideas and provide information. The next technique is about how to keep a public speaking audience interested when using facts.

State facts in an interesting way

Facts can be dull and they are cold; they do not touch the listener's heart. Listeners will quickly lose interest if bombarded with them. However, facts add weight to your speech. Use facts that are clear concrete and interesting. State them in a way that makes them easy to grasp e.g. don't say: The death rate in China is high, instead use, Every time you breathe someone in China dies.

A public speaking audience will appreciate the extra effort you have put in for their benefit.

Be Quiet To Keep The Public Speaking Audience Interested

It does take a little more effort to keep a public speaking audience interested in your speech but the rewards are worth it. The next public speaking techniques to keep them interested is:

Use Pauses

In public speaking, as with conversation, your audience will almost always react to silence. It quickly increases their attention, they wonder at the reason for the silence. Use a pause when you wish to emphasize a particular word or idea. A pause gives the public speaking audience time to digest your point before you move on. It also provides a "breather" for your audience as it is hard work to be attentive when being spoken to non-stop.

A pause become ineffective if it is as the result of poor preparation. Another key to keeping a public speaking interested is a properly prepared speech.

Public Speaking Audience - Asking Questions

Here are techniques to get and keep a public speaking audience's attention.

Rhetorical questions

A rhetorical question involves the public speaking audience and makes them think about the answer. The speaker intends to answer the question, but it arouses curiosity. Be prepared for an unexpected answer from the audience - if the answer is right give thanks. If it is wrong you have an excuse to repeat the highlights of your presentation. To be most effective the question can not be too obvious or else it will not get the public speaking audience'sattention. They need something like - "Do you know how long it takes a fruit fly to crawl across a banana?" rather than "Who thinks fruit flies are dirty?"

Public Speaking Audience - Keep Their Attention

A public speaking audience will rarely pay attention to your speech automatically; their attention must be sparked and maintained by the speaker. Many factors may cause an audience to become distracted and for their attention to wander, such as boredom, other members of the audience, noise inside or outside the room.

In public speaking a content rich speech that will benefit the public speaking audience in some way is the number one factor in keeping the audience's attention. But even with a great speech the audience's attention can wander but with some application these techniques you can maintain and arrest their attention successfully.

There are a number of simple techniques that can be used that will make it easier to maintain their attention, but be careful with overuse.