Brandit With Robyn: Make Them Listen! Performance Tips for Speakers

Speaker performance tips to help make your audience listen!

Have you spent hours preparing for an important speech only to have it fail to connect with your audience? Raise your public speaking game by incorporating my performance tips to help engage your audience and leave a lasting impression.

The worst review any speaker can receive is to be called boring. Creating engaging speech content is the first step to engagement.

The second step is to bring life to your presentation through performance. What you say is often less important than the way you say it.

Seven Cs For Success

1. Confidence – preparation, presentation, owning the stage
2. Credibility – being seen as the expert
3. Content – relevant, resonating
4. Connecting – read the room to engage
5. Context – know the room's physical properties
6. Control – microphones, music, slide show, video
7. Communication – putting it all together

Connecting – Reading the Room

Reading the room helps understand the mood of the audience. Non-verbal cues signal whether their emotional level is high or low. When people nap, it's time to adjust your delivery style.

Other Posts in This Series

How to Write Speeches That Move People!

Speech Presentation Options for Successful Speakers

Tech Check Tips For Public Speakers, MCs, Comics, and Funeral Eulagizers

Observe their demeanour before you begin. Should you open with a high-energy or low-key delivery?

Don't get me wrong! After you connect, you can manipulate engagement levels using performance techniques.

What does that mean? The answer may be different from what you expect.

Bill Gaither is a Grammy-winning (10) Gospel singer, songwriter, recording artist, and event producer. His group, The Gaither Vocal Band (BGV), performs before sold-out audiences worldwide.

They were in Calgary and had just received a standing ovation from 6,000 enthusiastic fans. After the concert, I had arranged to interview Bill for an article I was writing for the Calgary Herald, our daily newspaper.

They had opened the concert with a beautiful acapella arrangement of a traditional hymn. The intense harmony sent tingles up and down our spines.

I asked him why the BGV opened with that song. Bill explained that the culture of audiences in northern US states and Canada differ from those of southern states. The first tends to be quieter and more reflective. In the South, failing to open with an up-tempo, hand-clapping, foot-stomping song would risk losing the crowd's attention.

He was quick to explain the BGC would perform the same songs for each audience but in an entirely different order. In other words, the leader read the room to determine the best way to engage the crowd.

Body Language

Audiences read your body language from the moment they see you. How you look and act may affect their impression of you more than what you actually say.

Body language, or non-verbal communication, is a series of indicators. No one thing is definitive.

Should you bound onto the stage or walk with a slow, confident, determined gait? What tone do you want to set?

While Body Language may be distracting, it's not definitive. The goal is to support rather than detract from the content of your presentation. In a nutshell, there are nine areas to focus on.

1. Walking

2. Facial expressions

3. Eye contact

4. Active listening

5. Gestures

6. Head movement

7. Voice

8. Posture

9. Stance

Body Language Expert

Media across Canada call on me to interpret the body language of political leaders during national TV debates during elections. Leaders can win or lose voter confidence with a flip of their hair, turning their back on an opposing candidate. Click for TV and Radio Interviews

For a deeper explanation of Body Language, check out my post, 'Do You Know What Your Body is Saying?'

Eye Contact

The eyes are the window to the soul. Make eye contact with 2-3 friendly faces as you begin your address. Add a personal touch by including someone in the front row.

Next, divide the room into five sections: the front right side, the back right, then the front and back left side. With a larger audience, include a section in the centre.

As you progress, find friendly faces in each section of the crowd. When you make eye contact with each person, count 1-1,000, 2-1,000, and 3-1,000 in your mind. Don't linger! You will creep out your audience, who will think you're staring.

Change up the pattern by alternating sections, which will help people feel you are speaking only to them.

Speech Craft

Your voice and your chest cavity are instruments that have percussive capacity. It allows you to produce a variety of tones and inflections.

Speak from your abdomen, not from your throat or mouth. Imagine your voice coming from your belly button, not your vocal cords. Project your voice using your diaphragm to push the air out, not by forcing it out of your throat or mouth. Think of your voice as a stream of air that flows smoothly and steadily.

By subtly changing the rhythm or pace of your delivery or the pitch of your voice, you can change how your message is received. Slight adjustments can shift the nuance.

Try the exercises below. Record and play it back.

My dog took the cat on a trip to the country to visit the brown cow.

Say it with your normal voice
Say it while holding your nose
Say it with as high of a register as possible
Say it with as low of a register as possible
Whisper it
Shout it
Say it using your natural voice
Say it with shoulders back, spine straight
Speak from your abdomen

As you replay the lines, differences will be noticeable.

Slow down! Speed kills!

Machine gunning your speech often happens when you're nervous. Or, you may be trying to wedge too much information into too short of time. Use a slower, natural rate of speech.

I write, produce, and voice radio and TV commercials. Replacing a phrase with a single word or simply flipping a sentence can make all the difference.

Is there a shorter way to make your point? When you share less information, people remember more.

How much should you slow down? Try this simple exercise.

Listen to Information, News, Jazz or Classical music radio stations or TV news anchors. When the hosts speak, talk along with them. You will be amazed at how slowly they speak.

Turn it Up

Slightly increase the volume of your voice. Please don't shout, but slightly increasing your volume will automatically boost your energy level and make it easier to be heard.

In a large room, periodically speak to the back row. The process will help project your voice.

The Power of the Pause

At one time, I was a high school Drama teacher. One skill that I taught students was the power of the pause.

Strategic pauses emphasize important thoughts. Pausing allows the audience to absorb what you want them to remember.

Putting it to Work

Please read the following story as you usually would and record it.

I walked down the path towards the village. Soon, children cautiously came towards me, showing normal curiosity.

However, they were different from the children back home. These kids had swollen bellies and sunken eyes. Their twig-like arms and legs made them look like crudely drawn stick boys and girls.

As they came closer, we understood why. They were starving. For months, the guerillas had been stealing what little food the villagers had.

Then, the kids saw it. The truck loaded with food caused them to stare in wonder as it rounded the corner.

Their eyes were opened wide with anticipation. There was a sparkle in their eyes, a sign of hope. - Robyn T. Braley

Now read it following using slashes as cues for pauses. One slash for a short pause, two a bit longer, and three for a longer one.

I walked down the path / towards the village. Soon,/ children cautiously came towards me, / showing normal curiosity.

However, they were different / from the children back home. These kids had swollen bellies // and sunken eyes. Their twig-like arms and legs / made them look like crudely drawn stick boys and girls.

As they came closer,// we understood why. /// They were starving. /// For months, the guerillas had been stealing what little food the villagers had.

Then, / the kids saw it. // The truck loaded with food // caused them to stare in wonder / as it rounded the corner.

Their eyes were opened wide with anticipation. There was a sparkle in their eyes, /// a sign // of hope. - Robyn T. Braley

Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse

There is no substitute for rehearsal. Go through your speech as often as needed. When your delivery feels right, record your speech on your phone. Listening to it will help polish your delivery and internalize your content.

I replay my talk through my car audio system on the way to speaking events. I also play it back through my earbuds on flights.

Check the Tech

Checking out the room before the event is always a good idea. Arrange to meet the tech person at least an hour before your event starts to check out the technology. Read my post, 'Tech Check Tips For Public Speakers, MCs, Comics, and Funeral Eulogizers.'

A squealing sound system has undercut many brilliant speeches. Even worse, messing with the technology trying to start your Slide Show is always a bad look.

I like to walk through the seating area to check the acoustics. If I'm using a cordless mic, I do mic checks. I want to see the platform as the audience will see it and hear my voice as they will hear it.

Know where you will be standing or sitting when introduced. Rehearse by taking the route to the podium or center stage.

After a rousing introduction, tripping over a mic cord or knocking over a glass of water on your way to center stage may not be the first impression you want to make.

You may come onto the stage from the wings or a front-row seat. I often start speaking from the back of the room and walk down the center aisle to the stage. It adds dramatic flair to the opening.