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Speaking – Tip 1

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Your audience will reflect your energy

If you’ve watched the X Factor or any show where the contestants are expected to entertain the audience and be judged on it, you may be familiar with the uncomfortable feeling an obviously nervous contestant causes.  The contestant is uncomfortable and so are you.  Similarly you might be familiar with the opposite feeling where you are drawn in to the entertainment and the sofa commentary halts for just few minutes.

It’s different from liking or not liking a performance – a great singer can sing a song you don’t like – it doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable (well, unless the song itself has it’s own history for you), you just don’t like the song.

Whether this reflection is due to our mirror neurons as discovered by Vittorio Gallese et al, or something entirely different, it is a phenomenon a speaker should appreciate and use.

Simply, when you’re speaking the audience will tend to reflect your energy.  Bring the pace and energy down for something that needs consideration or sympathy, take it up when you want engagement or motivation.

Of course you can read the audience energy too – are they engaged, on the edge of their seat when they should be, and sat back looking thoughtful when you’d like them to be?  If not, are they reflecting you?

It’s not the only consideration, but it is speaking tip number one.  I first heard this tip from Nicholas Bate during one of his Instant MBA workshops – it was one of those ‘of course’ moments for me… thank you Nicholas.

Be remarkable,
Mark