Energising a Lacklustre Audience – Breaking the Silence in the Crowd

Imagine preparing day and night on your script, rehearsing the delivery elements, and mastering your content – only to experience a quiet, low-energy audience in front of you. While the former elements are internal factors within your control, external factors (such as the audience) may be more difficult to manage. What makes this more challenging is the likely impact such an audience may have on your presentation?

One of the driving forces of a speaker’s energy on stage is the energy they draw from the audience members. An active, energetic, and enthusiastic audience profile can help a new communicator feel welcomed and energised for their presentation. In contrast, a lower-energy audience profile may require more from the speaker (in terms of audience engagement). However, the outcome of successfully energizing a lacklustre audience is a rewarding goal to achieve!

If the thought of a low-energy audience worries you, check out our article today to learn more about managing that energy on stage!

Lead Your Audience (Gently)

As we shared, the speaker and the audience share a symbiotic relationship, drawing energy and enthusiasm from each other. The focus is thus on an internal aspect that we can control – ourselves! Communicators can take the lead as masters of the stage to coax their audience to rise out of their shells. In doing so, they take the lead in encouraging more participation and enthusiasm from the audience members.

One of the key tools to boost the audience’s energy is vocal variety. The modulations, twists, and turns of the vocal elements make for a dynamic experience for the listeners. Start the speech/presentation session with a strong volume profile and a slower pace. This combination of both vocal elements ensures that the audience’s interest is piqued while their attention is maintained to the end. The name of the game is “gently” – we are not rushing the audience and carefully guiding them in their energy increase.

Find the Button

It may be tempting to jump to the automatic response that the audience may be ‘tired’ or ‘bored’. In reality, there may be myriad reasons to explain why the audience is experiencing lower energy. Instead, we can explore what the audience may be interested in – from the perspective of content and structure. Start by observing the audience’s reaction to specific aspects of your presentation and elevate those segments that elicit a positive response.

From the angle of content, set the relevance bridge to the audience by showing them how the content can be applied to their daily lives immediately. Identify concerns, incorporate stories, or initiate discussions to seal this understanding. From the angle of structure, you can consider pattern-break activities such as audience surveys, group activities, or even check-in sessions to ensure the audience is following the content well.

Create & Foster the Community

The audience may be uncertain in their interactions, especially those meeting each other for the first time. This can be a strong contributing factor to them holding their enthusiasm in their interactions. It is thus important to consider the various traits of the community in the audience before you. Are there any existing power dynamics or tensions? Are there individuals who are keeping more to themselves? Understanding these perspectives will guide your delivery and content arrangement on stage!

A key method to foster this community is to offer the audience a socialisation phase. While this is often utilised in a training context to encourage ownership in learning, this same phase in a presentation can be a foundation for energy in the audience. This can be in an informal form (e.g., self-introduction) or even in formal settings (e.g., substantive discussions based on a given prompt). You can then help your audience feel more comfortable with each other!

Boost your Audience’s Energy!

While an external factor, the audience can determine our comfort on stage. The aim is to try and create an open, energetic, and welcoming environment for the audience to participate. Doing so also ensures that you create the optimal conditions to deliver your presentation with energy! Try the three steps above for your next presentation and bring the delivery to the next level!

WATCH: “How To Manage Someone Who Fell Asleep While You’re Presenting!?”

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