Not your performance, their performance. The Audience must go out and apply the information you have given or they wasted their time. Even worse, YOU wasted their time. As speakers it’s our obligation to supply practical methods for the crowd to make our words and ideas reality in their lives.
1. Design an Easy to Remember Outline. Some people will take notes, others will not. Create your presentation so that the main points are unforgettable. You’ll need to limit those points to five or less and tie them directly to the purpose of your talk. (This is covered thoroughly in the Instant Speaking Success System.)
2. Furnish Handouts When Appropriate. When the setting allows use handouts that let the Audience follow along. Some feel that fill in the blank type handouts are elementary. That’s possible for elite business meetings. The average Audience member likes handouts because they feel involved in the message.
3. Provide Leave Behinds. Set up a table in the back of the room with extra materials that will help people apply the message. This can be a sheet with all your major points and sayings. A couple of pages that pinpoint some specific ways to take the talk to a higher level. Books and tapes that encourage deeper development. Make sure your contact information is on all resources, so you can be called for questions or future engagements.
4. Brainstorm Ideas. In smaller crowds you may be able to interact with the Audience and create ideas on the spot. Say, “Before we leave it’s critical that we come up with five ways to make the information real in our daily lives. Let’s quickly brainstorm five ways to take this information and use it for transformation.”
5. Challenge the Group as You Close. One of the easiest ways to foster application is to tell the crowd exactly what to do. “Before you walk out of this room you need to commit to one of the following ways to apply this message. Write down the next fours concepts. After you finish writing them down, circle one or two that you will begin working on tonight.”
6. Encourage Follow Up. Ask the people to write you their success stories after they have applied the information. This will do two things. First it will allow the individual and you to see how powerful the principles are that you present. Second, the letter can be used as a testimonial. There is nothing more powerful in your marketing arsenal than a letter that tells the story of a changed life.
Paul Evans is the executive creator of http://www.InstantSpeakingSuccess.com and http://www.PresentationPowerSecrets.com His 20 years of public speaking experience help over 24,000 speakers around the work each week through his free public speaking ezine.
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