VoicePro® - We've Helped Others. Read On.

			When Christine delivered her presentation, it was obvious she was not connecting with her audience. Her eyes darted from her hand-held notes to the floor and back again. She never once looked at her audience. On the other hand, Bill made a valiant attempt at connection, but never quite achieved it. He was making eye contact with his audience, but his eyes didn't light more than a second or two on any one individual. A quick, unseeing glance and he was on to the next person. Christine and Bill were shocked when their peers told them that they looked as though they couldn't be trusted. Their shifty eyes gave every appearance of guilt and made their audiences squirm. We taught Christine and Bill how to: Take time to look at people and really see them. This simple act elicited immediate positive feedback. For example, one colleague commented, "When you make eye contact like that, I feel it makes a difference to you that I'm in the room." In the mind and heart of that person, a connection had been made. Through positive self-talk, change their view of the audience from a collection of hostile judges to that of an open-minded group welcoming what they had to say. Get out of their notes. Christine and Bill needed to minimize their reliance on notes, both electronic and hard copy, and cut down on detail. As a result, they were no longer glued to their content and could more easily engage the audience. Maintain an open posture that conveyed transparency — everything above board, nothing to hide. From the start, develop and prepare for a presentation that takes the interests and needs of the audience into account. When the speakers gave their listeners a personal stake in the outcome of the presentation, their attention was held to the very end. Making that all-important connection benefits both audience and speaker. Christine and Bill left the workshop looking forward to putting their new skills to work in their next presentation. They were no longer leery of facing an audience, no longer in a hurry to "have it over and done with."

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