Care For Your Audience

“Pander” is a harsh word; it’s one I hope never applies to me or you in our dealings with our audiences. But I do think that it is important for speakers to genuinely care for their audiences and to show that they care. In a longer format setting such as a half-day or full day training session, you as the speaker should be concerned if your audience members are too hot or too cold. Perhaps everyone just had a restroom break 40 minutes ago, but you can tell more people want one now. Fine, give it to them.

A speaker who genuinely cares about an audience is constantly reading the audience’s faces and body language for signs of confusion, discomfort or other concerns.

If you really care about your audience you will show up at least an hour early to the meeting or conference room so that you can have real conversations with audience members about their needs and concerns. It also means you don’t dash off the second your speech is over; instead you stick around to talk with people and answer every question.

And of course the best way to show an audience that you really care about them is to prepare and deliver great content in a memorable and engaging manner. Showing and demonstrating that you care about your audience always takes a little longer, but your audience will reward you every time by caring about you in return.