HEY! Listen to me, please!

Well, hi again everybody! In today’s class we didn’t actually do much but there is a topic we discussed about which I think is quite important: drawing people’s attention when speaking in public. So how can we make sure that people are listening to us?

You could talk about a topic which really attracts attention, but anyway, if you speak during a long, long, long time, although it may be an interesting topic, the public will surely end up tired of listening and will get distracted with whatever happens in the room. So in order to draw the public’s attention there are some things you can do. The most effective one is to make an interactive conference, where you involve your public in the topic you are talking about. You can ask questions, give “live” examples using the people in the room or whatever other thing you may think of which can lead to a more enjoyable conference, just let your creativity flow. The best way would be to interact with those people who you think aren’t paying attention, because this way you force them to listen to you.

Body language is also really important. If you can move around the room you should do so, because maybe your words aren’t drawing someone’s attention, but if you move, he/she will end up looking at you just because, in some way, you are “disturbing” him while moving around. And this way you make people listen more actively, due to the fact that they have to follow you with their eyes.

It’s also important to look into your public’s eyes instead of looking to a paper (please, if you can, try to avoid reading things) or to the infinite. If you do so, the people you are looking at will feel as if you are only talking to them, involving them more in the situation. 

To sum up, if you want to hold a good conference and to make people listen to you, you should make it as interactive and dynamic as possible, and you must feel the connection with your public.

Thanks for reading my blog! I hope you find my posts rather interesting or valuable.