Is Your Audience’s Mood Aligned With Your Presentation?
“All of us are born with a set of instinctive fears, of falling, of the dark, of lobsters, of falling on lobsters in the dark, or speaking before the Rotary Club, or the words ‘some assembly required.’”
– Dave BarryYou know that people have different moods. But, did you know that audiences have different moods also?
on the mood of your audience, they may be receptive to your presentation, or they can be turned off by your message.
It behooves you to determine your presentation’s mood, discern your audience’s mood, and learn how to align your audience’s mood to your presentation’s mood.
If your presentation’s mood matches your audience’s mood you will have maximum engagement with them. However, to the degree your presentation’s mood is not aligned to your audience’s mood, you will have less engagement with them.
Determine Your Presentation’s Mood
You are making a grave mistake as a speaker if you don’t determine the mood of your presentation. Is your presentation cheerful, melancholy, or humorous? Is it reflective, gloomy, or whimsical?
Determining the mood of your presentation can be as simple as looking at its content.
For example,
If your presentation is about the life of a famous person, you might say your presentation is reflective
If your presentation is about the slow decay of someone’s life, you might say your presentation is gloomy
If your presentation is about your Uncle Ed and about all the crazy things he did in his life, you might say your presentation is whimsical
The point here is that determining your presentation’s mood will determine the mood you want your audience to have. If you don’t want your audience to have that mood, change the presentation to the mood you want them to have.
Determining your presentation’s mood is only Step 1. Step 2 is to discern your audience’s mood when you start your presentation.
Discern Your Audience’s Mood
Discerning your audience’s mood is a bit more complicated than determining your presentation’s mood.
You have three methods to discerning your audience’s mood – one before your presentation and two during your presentation.
Before your presentation starts, see how the audience enters the room, how they sit down, and whether they are and how they are conversing with other attendees.
Are they smiling and laughing, do they have frowns on their faces, or is everyone quiet. This will tell you a lot about their mood.
The sooner you can discern your audience’s mood, the more time you have to align it with your presentation’s mood.
The second two methods to gauge your audience’s mood are body language and the sounds coming from them.
If you are to reach your potential as a speaker, you must become a serious student of body language, including facial expressions. Body language is key to assessing your audience’s mood.
For example,
If the people in your audience are frowning, a safe bet is they are not buying what you are saying
If the people in your audience are smiling, they probably agree with what you are saying
If the people in your audience are squinting their eyes, it probably means they can’t understand what you are saying.
These are just a few of the many body language mannerisms. But, I think you get the idea.
For a great book on body language, I recommend reading and applying the book Body Language by Julius Fast. It is a best seller that has stood the test of time with over 3 million copies sold.
The third method of determining your audience’s mood is to observe the sound coming from them. This includes applause, “Hmmn’s,” and gasps, to name a few.
Applause means your audience appreciates what you are saying. “Hmmn’s” means they are skeptical of what you are saying. Gasps can mean anything from your audience being pleasantly surprised or being aghast. You will have to try and read their mood “on the fly” during your presentation.
If you are still confused about your audience’s mood, a great way to discern it is to ask questions about your topic. Audience answers will quickly pinpoint your audience’s mood.
So, you have determined your presentation’s and audience’s moods. But what do you do if the second one is misaligned with the first one? That’s step 3 – change your audience’s mood.
Change Your Audience’s Mood
Remember, you will transfer full knowledge of your presentation when your audience’s mood aligns with your presentation’s mood. If they are aligned, great! You are off and running. However, what do you do when they are misaligned.
When they are misaligned, there are many things you can do to bring them to be more closely aligned. Below are a few:
Ask questions that mirror your logic to bring around your audience to your way of thinking.
Tell stories (personal stories are best) that support your presentation and appeal to your audience’s emotions
If you sense disagreement in your audience, you can ask for their opinion on your topic. Their opinion may not align with what you are saying, but it does make the audience feel better that you are asking for their opinion
In past articles, I have talked about flexibility as being key to your speaking power. Flexibility is greatly needed when your audience’s mood is misaligned with your presentation’s mood. You have to be willing to change your presentation while you are delivering it.
In this article, we have explored the importance of knowing your presentation’s mood, discerning your audience’s mood, and how to change your audience’s mood to align more with your presentation’s mood.
Make sure your audience is in the mood!
Call to Action
During presentation preparation, always determine your presentation’s mood
Use the time right before your presentation and during your presentation to determine your audience’s mood and whether their mood aligns with your presentation’s mood
Ask your audience questions, tell stories (personal ones are best), and ask your audience’s opinions to better align your audience’s mood with your presentation’s mood.
“The goal of effective communication should be for listeners to say ‘Me too!’ versus ‘So what?’”
– Jim RohnFrank DiBartolomeo is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and award-winning speaker, presentation and interview skills coach, and Professional Member of the National Speakers Association. He was awarded Toastmasters International’s highest individual award, Distinguished Toastmaster, in 2002 because of his outstanding work in public speaking and leadership.
Frank formed DiBartolomeo Consulting International (DCI), LLC (www.speakleadandsucceed.com) in 2007. The mission of DCI is to help technical professionals to inspire, motivate, and influence their colleagues and other technical professionals through improving their presentation skills, communication, and personal presence. Frank can be reached at frank@speakleadandsucceed.com and (703) 509-4424.
Don’t miss Frank DiBartolomeo’s latest book!
“Speak Well and Prosper: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Better Presentations”
Available now at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com