Respect your audience

May 1, 4:38 PMLA Presentation and Communications Skills ExaminerFrank Adamo

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I just came across another "aid" to reducing one's fear of speaking in public.  How many have heard that if you are nervous when speaking, visualize your audience in the nude or sitting on toilets (I heard that for the first time last week). It is difficult enough for some presenters to see eyes staring back at them while they're giving a speech, let alone something as extreme as seeing people nude.

If you were giving a presentation to a group of people, would you want them visualizing you giving a presentation in the nude or while sitting on a toilet?  I think not.  Actually, I heard another speaker telling us a story about this professional speaker.  He was scheduled to speak at an event, but he had a family emergency.  He then called his friend to see if he could speak at this nature society event.  Expecting that the society was a wild animals group, he said he loved animals and he'd be glad to take his place. He had to rush there, and as he entered, he saw the Nature Society sign.  He was in the right place.  He had been communicating with the emcee by cell phone and as he approached to doors to the facility, he heard his name being announced by the emcee. He rushed up on stage, thanked the emcee and turned to face the audience and he was speechless.  It was not a facility for animals—it was a nudist colony.

So, before you begin to visualize your audience in the nude, one day it might just happen and you may be totally speechless. Rather, visualize them as sitting up straight and listening to you intently.  Visualize them as giving you a standing ovation.  Visualize them.  If you like, visualize them in casual clothes and attentive just as your friends would be if you would invite them over for a Sunday afternoon BBQ. 

What you want to do is to converse with your audience—not merely prsent.  Enjoy youself as if you are hosting a BBQ.  If you show your audience respect and merely conversing with them, you will have a much better chance to calm your nerves while speaking to a group of people.