5 strategies to defuse the audience

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Sometimes your audience needs defusing. You may know ahead of time that the audience is likely to be hostile to your ideas, or there may be a big issue looming over them which distracts them from listening to your presentation. Or they may simply not be that interested in listening to you.

Whatever the issue, it’s best to acknowledge it in the opening of your presentation. Here are some strategies:

1. Acknowledge the audience’s concerns

If your audience is riled about something before you even start- don’t ignore it. For example, public meetings around infrastructure issues can explode in emotion, if the audience doesn’t feel listened to.

You may be familiar with the concept of “reflective listening”  or “active listening” in one-on-one conversation. You can apply the principles underlying active listenting when you’re talking to an audience. By acknowledging the emotions, you can reduce the likelihood of chaos.

However, you do have to have some sensitivity in the way that you do this. Avoid cliches like “I understand how you’re feeling.” That’s a recipe for them to fire back with “Oh no, you don’t - how can you know what’s it’s like to live here”. Add specificity, for example, “I can understand that the idea of huge wind turbines on the hills behind your home is very concerning.”

2. Find common ground

When you’re addressing a controversial issue, start by identifying what you have in common with your audience. Listen to Barack Obama as he touched on what we have in common in his now famous speech on race “A More Perfect Union”:

I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together - unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for our children and our grandchildren.

I have seen Nandor Tanczos, previously a Green Party MP in  New Zealand, do this effectively in a debate on drug law reform. He was arguing for the decriminalization of cannabis - but he reached out to all the members of the audience by identifying the common ground in the debate - that we were all interested in reducing the harm done by drugs.

3. Name the elephant in the room

If there’s an issue on everybody’s minds - address it head-on. Else your audience will be distracted from your substantive content.

The classic example of this is now Randy Pausch in The Last Lecture. For those of you new to the blogosphere, Randy Pausch was a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Professors at Carnegie Mellon were traditionally asked to give a speech entitled “The Last Lecture” in which they passed on their life’s wisdom to students. In Randy’s case it truly was his Last Lecture - he had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given 3-6 months to live (sadly he died in July). Every person in the audience knew about the diagnosis. If Randy hadn’t mentioned it right at the start, it would have been swirling around their minds and interfering with their concentration on what he was saying. Randy addressed his diagnosis head-on by showing slides of his CT scans to the audience. He demonstrated that he wasn’t feeling sorry for himself and said he didn’t want anybody else to feel sorry for him. Having dispatched “the elephant in the room” Randy was then able to get on with his presentation.

Note: If you haven’t yet seen The Last Lecture make the time to do so (about 70 mins). Once you’ve seen it you’ll want your loved ones to see it, so make it a family event.

4. Give them a reason for listening

If your audience don’t have an inherent interest in the topic of your presentation, then give them a reason for listening. Identify the benefit to them of listening.

Tony, my co-trainer at Effective Speaking, used to train sound engineers and radio technicians in how to carry out cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR). As they worked with electricity there was always the risk that one of their colleagues might get electrocuted. But none of them looked forward to the idea of doing CPR on their colleagues! Tony would introduce the session by saying “Imagine you come home from work and your wife or your child is lying unmoving on the the kitchen floor. In this session we’re going to look at what you need to do.” Having the skills to save your loved ones - that’s a benefit.

5. Acknowledge weaknesses

Barack Obama spoke to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee at a time that many wild rumours about him were circulating. Here’s how he started:

Before I begin, I want to say that I know some provocative e-mails have been circulating throughout Jewish communities across the country. A few of you may have gotten them. They’re filled with tall tales and dire warnings about a certain candidate for president. And all I want to say is — let me know if you see this guy named Barack Obama, because he sounds pretty frightening.

In Yes: 50 secrets from the art of persuasion, Cialdini and his co-authors report on a study of jury decision-making.

When jurors heard a lawyer mention a weakness in his own case before the opposing attorney mentioned it, they rated him as more trustworthy and were more favourable to his overall case in their verdicts because of that perceived honesty.

Do you have audiences you need to defuse? Let us know in the comments.

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Will Smith’s keys to a great presentation

Leo Babauta from the blog Zen Habits recently posted his Top 5 most inspirational videos on YouTube. I hadn’t come across this remix of a speech by Will Smith (the remix is by TeamJonny5 - I’ve edited it slightly). It’s only 1 min 19 sec so take the time to watch it because in this short snippet Will Smith showcases the elements of great speech design :

OK, it’s not a corporate or business presentation. But I bet if I asked you in 6 months time “What are Will Smith’s keys to life?” - you could tell me.  That’s because it’s got great design for stickability. What makes this speech so memorable that you can use when you plan your next business presentation?

1. Key Message

Will Smith has a clear key message:

“Running and reading are the keys to life”

It’s short. It’s concrete - you can visualise running and reading. It’s easy to grasp, it’s easy to repeat. The fact that it rhymes may be the reason why. In Yes: 50 secrets from the science of persuasion Cialdini and his co-authors cite research that shows that rhyming phrases are processed more easily. That’s not unexpected - but more surprising is that rhyming phrases are also seen as more accurate!

So see if you too, can make your key message rhyme.

2. Repetition

He says his key message twice near the beginning and uses it again to wrap up. When we’re writing we’re taught not to repeat ourselves - but repetition works great in an oral presentation. In a longer presentation, you can say your key message even more often. Ending with the key message is a great wrap-up which gives the presentation a sense of completion.

3. Flagging

Will Smith tells us to pay attention to his Key message: “I want you to listen closely, I’m giving you the keys to life.” I call this technique flagging, because it’s like you’re waving a flag to your audience to say - pay attention to this next bit -it’s the most important. In a business presentation you might say something like: “Here’s the most important thing I want you to get today.”

If you don’t flag your key message, there’a a risk that it will get lost, like a needle in the haystack of your words.

4. Simple structure

Will Smith has a very simple two-part structure for this speech:

• Running - why it’s important
• Reading - why it’s important

The purpose of structure is to make a presentation easy to follow and understand for the audience. Don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be.

Of course, the speech doesn’t just have great content, Will Smith also delivers it with passion. He’s really intent on getting his message across to his audience of screaming young people.

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Lessons from Cialdini #2: How to persuade using the power of the negative

Pop psychology culture says focus on the positive. But if you do, you’re missing out on huge persuasive power.

In Yes: 50 secrets from the science of persuasion Robert Cialdini and his co-authors explore the concept of “loss aversion“. Loss aversion means that most people would rather avoid a loss than receive a benefit. You can use the power of loss aversion by thinking carefully about how you frame your messages.

This was demonstrated by researchers from the University of California. They told one group of homeowners that they could save 50 cents a day by carrying out energy efficiency improvements in their home. They told a second group of homeowners that they would continue to lose 50 cents a day if they did nothing. The second group were 300% more likely to carry out the improvements.

How can you use the psychology of loss aversion to persuade your audience:

1. Frame benefits in terms of loss

Let’s say you’re presenting to the senior management team of your organisation on the need to implement a new software system. Rather than talk about the time savings (a benefit) talk about the productivity loss that the organisation will continue to suffer if the software is not introduced.

2. Remind your audience of the problems they’re facing

We were working recently with a project manager in charge of implementing organisation-wide change. She was concerned that the management team weren’t doing enough to drive the project forward. She started her presentation by reminding the management team of a recent project that was behind schedule and at risk of failure because they weren’t driving it. Getting the audience to connect with current problems is an effective motivational tool.

3. Engage your audience with the consequences of doing nothing

We often work with public officials involved with emergency management. One of their major roles is motivating the public to “Be Prepared” for a major earthquake or flood. The most effective way of doing this is to paint a picture of what life might be like immediately after an earthquake for the unprepared - worried because they can’t contact members of their family, hungry because they have no emergency food supplies, unable to wash because of lack of water.

So don’t dimiss the power of the negative in your next presentation.

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