The key to having an attentive and involved audience when you are speaking is to make sure that you have researched the group you are speaking to. If you are addressing the needs, desires, and challenges of the group then they will be captivated.

I am sure you have been at an event where the speaker seemed to be speaking directly to your challenge or concern at the time. You were probably hangin the the speakers every word and wondering how he or she knew what was going on in your life.

This will be true for you when you have researched your audience properly and you address their challenges, needs and desires. But the truth is sometimes we misevaluate and things don't go as well as we would like so what do you do then?

The Only Thing You Can Control is Your Preparation and Response

You cannot control the audience. If people are fidgeting, going to the bathroom, talking to the person next to them, or sleeping there really is not anything you should or can do about it. Certainly do not call out or chastise the audience member. Just find the people who are interested and talk to them. It would be nice if everyone was kind and respectful but they often are not and it is not your job to control them or their behavior.

You can control how the room is set up. Make a plan for how you want the chairs arranged and the room set up if you are able to have any control over the room set up the sound equipment, and how you prepare for the event. Make sure you check the room set up and the sound before people arrive or have someone do that for you.Check your audio set up before you speak. Be relaxed and prepared and everything will be fine. Practice your workshop or speech the night before. Don't take yourself too seriously and be Ok with a mistake by remembering that when you make a mistake and move on the audience will like you better because they will see you are genuine.

NLP Exercise to Relieve Pre-Speaking Jitters and Fear

If you find that you have some jitters before you speak this simple yet powerful exercise will work to relieve the stress.

Close your eyes and place all of your fear in your left hand. Picture what it looks like, what color it is, what shape it is, how it feels, if it is hard or soft and focus on expanding it. Make the fear as large and strong as you can make it in your hand.

Next imagine calm, confidence, knowledge, success, and positive energy in your right hand. Let the positive energy intensify in your right hand and picture its power increasing.

Take and deep breathe and raise your powerfully positive right hand above your head then bring it down to smash the fear in your left hand. You can make a noise as you do this or do it silently. Be sure to exhale as you smash the right hand into the left hand. You have now allowed your power and confidence to destroy any fear or anxiety that you had.

Fear of not being perfect holds many coaches back from speaking and sharing their coaching skills and knowledge with people who want to and need to hear their message.

As coaches we know better than to allow this thinking to hold us back but it is so hard to see when it is your own fear that is paralyzing you. Plus, fear of public speaking is very common so we can always find someone to understand our fear and agree that we should avoid public speaking.

You Do Not Have to Be Perfect
You don't have to be perfect to achieve success as a speaker! Your presentation does not have to be flawless, you do not have to tell jokes, and in fact you can even screw up and still have a successful presentation. All the audience cares about is that they get some benefit from the experience. As long as your audience believes that they have received some value from you then in their minds you are a huge success.