GREETINGS!!!!
The previous two entries discussed the 1st Annual Jacksonville Women in Business Expo. Both lead up to how I was able to COMMAND the attention of my audience in such a way that I was nearly intimidated by the SUCCESS of my very unorthodox approach!!! Want to know what I did??!!!
How did I COMMAND the attention of my audience?!
I simply asked my audience to LISTEN
(and I also requested that they ask their neighbors to do the same)!
Talk about audience participation! WOW! That approach blew my socks off! You wannna know why???
They actually did it!
Of all of the many interesting and informative speakers that the room had seen that day, my style of presentation was extremely effective in that between 90-95% of those within the room at the time were actively engaged in what I was saying throughout various aspects of my presentation. How Do I Know?!!! I WAS WATCHING THEM!!!!
SO! Now you’re curious! You REALLY really want to know how I did it! I did exactly as I said… I ASKED THEM TO LISTEN!!! Of course, that sounds too simple, and maybe it is, but… IT WORKED!
Within the setting of an expo where the stage takes up 5% of a room set up to prioritize vendor tables, how does the presenter ensure that her voice is being heard?
Here’s what I did:
- I PREPARED!
- I SHARED!
- I MARKETED!
- I EXECUTED!
Of all of the various materials that I had set up on my vendor table that day, what was most important to me was the topic that I was asked to speak on. WHY? Because that’s what I was asked to do! The BEST thing I could do was to EXECUTE! Proper execution for me meant that EVERYONE should be able to SHARE in the information that I was asked to provide, SO… I typed it up! I printed it out! AND… directly before my presentation, I distributed the info to EVERYONE within the room! This meant that prior to my arrival on the stage, my audience was already engaged with me. They were already in anticipation of… whoever gave ’em that paper! Ever better than that, I had visitors to my table market FOR me!!!! I HAND WROTE the TOPIC, TIME and LOCATION of my presentation on labels and ASKED my table visitors to append the message to their person as a reminder to themselves and others that there would be a presentation occurring on said TOPIC, at said TIME and LOCATION! Voila! I even SHARED details of the presentation (by way of my handouts) with anyone who might not have been able to listen in!
AGAIN, by the time I EVER stepped foot on that stage, I had already gained the attention of my audience!
I COMMANDED their attention by asking my audience to….
“SssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHH!!!
Have the Lady next to you…
SssssshhhhhhhhhhHH!”
I had them to PLAY with me! And they DID!!!
In what ways have YOU commanded the attention of YOUR audience???
PLEASE SHARE BELOW!!!