5 strategies to defuse the audience

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

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Three steps to take before you answer the question

From the earliest age we’re trained to answer questions - and as quickly as possible. But in many presenting situations, it’s not the best thing. We work with many organisations who are involved in community consultation. They may be presenting proposals for new projects that the community don’t want (for example, a new road or windfarm) or suggesting changes to a much-loved city square. That means presenting to highly-charged public meetings and handling emotional Q&A sessions.

In handling emotionally-charged questions, don’t rush to answer. Instead follow the Question Cycle. This is adapted from Jerry Weissman’s book In the line of Fire. It’s an excellent book on handling Q&A, but most of his examples come from IPO presentations (when companies present to potential investors prior to launching on the stock exchange) and presidential campaign debates. His methodology requires a little adaptation for dealing with the more emotional situations of community consultation.

Here’s my adaptation of the Question Cycle:

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How to handle a difficult audience #2

In my last post, I discussed what you could do to set yourself up as the leader at the beginning of a controversial presentation.

There’s a second thing that you can do at the beginning of a presentation to reduce the likelihood of audience members getting upset and annoyed. Acknowledge the issue that people are concerned about upfront. Barack Obama did this with elegance and a touch of humour at a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee last week:

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.

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How to handle a difficult audience

We work with many public sector agencies who are often in the firing line in meetings with the public. Knowing how to handle concerned and angry people in the audience is an important skill.

Remember back to your school days. You can probably remember a teacher who you and your fellow students respected. There was no way that you would play up in their class. There was probably also a teacher who you knew you could run rings around (or if you weren’t that sort of child – your classmates could).

You want to be like the former – teachers who were instantly respected and seen as leaders. So set yourself up as the leader from the first moment of the presentation. Here’s how you can do this: [Read more]