Master Your Pitches and Presentations – Two Signs Your Audience is Disengaged
Imagine this scenario…
Today’s the day for the big presentation you’ve been dreaming about. You’ve done everything right – thoroughly researched, clarified your message, and your practiced delivery.
Nothing can stop you now. With confidence, you step up in front of your audience make your case and…
…it bombs completely!
Weeks of preparation down the tube…and you’re scratching your head wondering what in the world happened.
Doing all the right things does nothing if you cannot master your pitches and presentations.
Powerful Presentation Secret Revealed
What do dynamic, effective leaders know that you don’t?
They know how to win at reading their audience’s body language and make adjustments for maximum impact. In other words, they have fantastic non-verbal ninja moves.
Research indicates that while 7% of the words used in a presentation are effective, an astonishing 65-93% of body language makes the difference between a presentation that WOWs and one that fails.
You can watch Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk on power posing and nonverbal cues, but I’m suggesting there are other nonverbal indications tied to leadership effectiveness – Presentation Presence.
Ready to avoid another post-presentation meltdown?
Presentation Mastery Techniques
- Eye-Blocking
Our brains are wired to detect threats. When we feel threatened or turned off by something we see, we will shield or block our eyes. Pay attention to your audience. If they stop looking at you or blink excessively, your message is not resonating.
Think about it. People make eye contact with those they trust. If you were to look at 50 professional head-shots with the intent of hiring one of the candidates would you hire the one sporting dark sunglasses?
Eye-blocking is a nearly universal sign of disengagement a speaker may receive. When your audience is open-eyed, they are engaged with you, trust you, and respect you.
The next time you notice some eye-blocking going during your next presentation, reassess your message and change your course to re-engage the audience.
- Squinting
Squinting is close to eye-blocking but sends the message of suspicion. Ever notice that a stand-up comedian will sometimes call out an audience member and bring them into the joke? They have seen someone is squinting at them, not believing what is being said.
A good speaker does the same. There is an old clip of Tony Robbins speaking. He spots Al Gore squinting/questioning something he said. Robbins pulls Gore into the speech briefly and includes a quick 2000 U.S. presidential election joke.
You can turn negative squinting into positive re-engagement by paying attention to your audience and picking up on the cues.
- Master Your Pitches and Presentations – Two Signs Your Audience is Disengaged - January 30, 2019
- 5 Ways to Influence with Leadership Presence - July 28, 2018
