photo credit: Midnight-digital

Losing Your Audience

Losing the audience after giving a killer opening is something I see many speakers doing on a regular basis. Whether the speech is given at a convention, a business meeting or a Toastmasters club, it is very common for speakers to deliver a fabulous opening, and then get very, very boring extremely fast. I know because I have been there, so what I hope to teach you today is that there is one reason that this happens and a one solution you can implement to fix this problem and improve the overall quality of your speeches.

The Reason You Are Losing the Audience

One reason that speakers give fantastic openings but then fall flat during the rest of their speeches is that they are spending too much time on their opening and they neglect the rest of their speech. I see this bad habit all the time. Speakers will spend a huge amount of time trying to come up with a dazzling opening, and then spend very little time writing and practicing the rest of their speech. This causes their speech to start off very well, but then they lose connection with the audience and people walk away without getting much out of the speech.

How I Lost the Audience 

One of the ways you fix this problem is to learn how to practice your speech. I remember when I first started speaking; I would take my entire written speech and try to practice from beginning to end. Doing this, I would start practicing my speech from the beginning, find something wrong, correct the mistake, and then start practicing from the beginning again. This method of practicing caused me to go over the opening far more times than the body and more importantly the conclusion of the speech.

How to Fix the Problem

What I should have done is practice each section of the speech initially before the final read through and then when each section was perfected, I could practice it as a whole unit. This is exactly how performers get ready for their theater performances. They don’t try to do the entire performance in one sitting; they work on each act and scene as a separate unit, and then piece it all together much later in the process.

How can you make this work for you? When you are working on your speech, think about each section a discrete unit to be delivered to the audience. Then appoint an equal amount of time to work on each section in both writing and practice. Then when you are giving your speech, you have spent equal time on each section. Doing this will make the speech more even and if you have practiced enough, then you should wow the audience during the entire presentation.

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