In our modern age, the problem of lack of information does not arise: the Internet, various media can provide an answer to any question. It is difficult for the audience to become interested in all known facts or events that are not related to the experience of the listeners. What tricks to use to win the public's attention?
Of course, the audience will immediately “reject” an orator who does not know the topic of the speech well, who is confused, does not have the elementary skills of this art. But, as practice shows, such skills are still not enough for the audience to listen "with their mouths open."
The first and foremost piece of advice is to answer the question, what exactly do the listeners want to know? When preparing for a speech, it is important to have an idea of the audience, and most importantly, of its common interests. Talking about unnecessary, abstract topics will inevitably make the audience bored. A clearly defined purpose of the speech, beginning with the phrase "I want …", will force the listener to turn his attention to the speaker.
There is a magic word in public speaking "Once upon a time …" that will bring the attention of the audience back. Therefore, it is extremely important to supply your speech with examples from life, real stories.
The material is always better assimilated, which, in addition to auditory perception, is also presented visually. Hence the irreplaceable helpers in the performance - a marker and a board. Drawings, diagrams should be extremely simple and understandable, here you don't have to worry about artistic skill.
Use a slide presentation only when necessary. The "pitfall" of such a speech is that the speaker is only an application to the presentation design. The success of a presentation depends on how firmly the contact is established between the audience and the speaker, which is difficult to achieve using slides.
A monotonous speech of the speaker, completely reproduced from a piece of paper, will have a strong effect - the listener will fall asleep soundly. To avoid this, it is better to sketch the text of the speech using key phrases and cause-and-effect relationships between them. A similar diagram can be used as a hint.
The audience's attention can be distracted by various trifles, for example, constantly sliding glasses can easily "turn" the listener into a spectator.
The last important piece of advice is not to be afraid of your own fears. It is quite natural for a speaker to feel anxious before speaking. The audience is not obliged to greet him with "bread and salt" and is more often indifferent or wary. But if the speaker comes out to the audience with a bad mood, well-being, a negative attitude or very frightened, then his speech is doomed to failure before it has even begun.
