Public Speaking

Connecting with the Audience 

 

In my public speaking experiences, connecting with the audience is the most vital part to a speech. A speaker needs to connect with their audience within the first sentence of their speech or they will hopelessly lose the majority of the audience if not all of them. How can you quickly gain the attention of people you may not even know? Well for starters, NEVER begin your speech with, "Today, I will be talking with you about the topic of public speaking." That is inevitably boring and most people will relax into their seats and begin daydreaming. A better way to begin this would be to instantly connect with your audience through the use of a quote, a statistic, a question, or a personal experience. Here are some examples of how to better this introduction: 

 

Quote: “A good speech should be like a woman's skirt; long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest.”  ― Winston S. Churchill

 

Statistic: 74% of people suffer from glossophobia, otherwise known as a fear of public speaking. 

 

Question: Have you ever given a speech in front of a large audience and completely stumbled over the words you tried to say?

 

Personal Experience: I remember two years ago when I began my first speech course with Professor Tom Walton and how nervous I was to stand in front of my peers and give a speech.