By Wes Ball, author of The Alpha Factor
First of all, understand that I get to talk about a subject that generally keeps everyone wide awake anyway: “How to create dramatic, sustainable business growth in any economy without discounting.” In fact, this subject keeps many top executives awake most nights even without me there to motivate them.
That said, there are ways to engage an audience (even of stuffy, top-level executives) that makes the entire event more entertaining and easier to apply later to real-world situations.
I have found that engaging the audience, even if I’m talking to 500 persons, has profound effects upon both retention and application of the principles I teach. For instance, if I have used a real person in the room to demonstrate the reality and power of how ego-satisfaction is the real core driver of customer decisions, it is much easier for participants to go back to the “real” world and argue with those who believe that price, product performance, and quality are the most critical decision factors. I have even interrupted a talk to create an impromptu panel from the room to argue with me about the growth principles I teach. By seeing and hearing their peers work through the ideas and their application, it is amazing to see how observers internalize the principles in a way that would take weeks of training in a traditional lecture and discussion setting.
Now, I treat every talk as an “active” training session. Even if I’m doing a “keynote” speech, I’m involving people in the discussion. For instance, I really like to walk around the room. I always use a wireless mic just because I never know where I’m going to be. Even when I absolutely have to stay on a stage, I’m all over it. I’m leaning out. I’m up and down the stairs. I’m popping out from behind a curtain. I’m getting the people in the room involved, even if it is just by having to visually follow me around.
When I’m out in the audience, I walk up to people I’m addressing. I get people to stand up and help me with an example. I have even been able to get owners of businesses to act out mini-dramas in front of their peers and be quite pleased to have done it. The secret has been in allowing them to take as much control as they desire within the boundaries I have set. They feel more comfortable (and safe) and they get to help me make the point in a way that makes them feel more valuable and helps others to enjoy the process more.
Someone asked me recently if I loved or hated PowerPoint. I could not honestly answer that. On one hand, it has made it much easier for almost anyone to do a talk. On the other hand, it has taken away much of the personal involvement that really drives retention of learning. I have found that, if I don’t use it, everyone who has grown to expect it feels lost. It’s as if they don’t feel they got anything, if they were not able to see the points on a screen. So I personally use PowerPoint and force personal involvement, as well.
That way they get their notes in a way they expect and they have lots of visual and audio examples that were played out with their involvement that come back to mind when that tough situation comes up at the office.
Involving the audience is not always easy. But the benefits are immense. If you have not experimented with intentional personal involvement in a speaking event, you don’t know what you’re missing. Give it a try, and see how much more fun your group has and how much more they take away with them.
Wes Ball is the author of The Alpha Factor – a revolutionary new look at what really creates market dominance and self-sustaining success. He is also president and founder of The Ball Group, a strategic innovation and marketing research firm. He has been a strategic consultant for 25 years, working with a broad range of companies ranging from the Fortune 100 to mid-sized regional companies.