How to WOW an Audience Every Time, Fast Company, Sept. 1999, Curtis Sittenfeld, pg. 84-86.

To put some flair into speakers' performances, Martha Burgess, cofounder of Theatre Techniques for Business People Inc., teaches acting practices. She believes that energy makes speakers visible to their audience and gives them presence. In this time of mass media bombarding us with messages and fast moving advertisements, speakers need to add flair to their message, pulling their audience in with the energy they convey.

To achieve energy and transfer it to an audience, Burgess teaches an exercise to trigger this energy. Choose an image, a 'trigger' or stimulating image. Then, 5 times a day for 6 weeks, run in place till you're breathing heavily, stop, shut your eyes and focus on this image. After 6 weeks, you can energize yourself by focusing on the image alone.

Understanding your audience is also important. Each group has a 'learning line' that defines how they learn. Their learning can be mental, emotional, or physical. Paying attention to the groups 'learning line' can be helpful, but not more important than one's own power, according to Jennifer Scott who works with Burgess. She says that people assign power to the audience and their appearance, but that "true power comes from within."

Because audiences remember less than 10% of what they hear, and more of what they see and do, Burgess teaches nonverbal language to help audiences remember more. Through 'shading,' the speaker can silently enforce what he/she just said. After saying something, the speaker reinforces it with a very positive silent statement that makes their message more positive.

'Pre-editing' or writing out what you'll say, then picking 1-3 words per sentence and attaching emotion or pictures to them, is another nonverbal way to get audiences to remember more. Write the words down, then pause before or after each of them to help the audience remember the important parts of your message.

I've learned that people appreciate speakers who put themselves into conveying their message, who know their stuff, and show enthusiasm for it. Every month we have a different guest speaker 'expert' at our Master Gardener meetings. According to Master Gardener responses on the evaluations of the speakers, the personable and enthusiastic speakers who know their material are the best rated. They convey their energy about the topic to the group, and the Master Gardeners take on that energy and enthusiasm and learn more because of it. Speakers who are anxious and talk as though they are reading a script are rated poorly. Luckily, we've had very few of these. It's so uncomfortable for me to sit through these presentations, knowing what the evaluations will look like.

We've learned through our transformative learning class, that putting oneself into teaching is more important than technique. The techniques taught by this Theatre Technique group may seem like too much technique. But, once these practices become fluent and part of the speaker, they could contribute to the message that the speaker is conveying.

Melinda Re's comments on this article made sense. She mentioned the importance of getting psyched up for a presentation, gearing up energy, and going in confidently. She also brought up how being 'on' and considering herself a performer may have contributed to burnout. I've heard some people who say that being in front of audiences is energizing. Others need to energize themselves to go in front of an audience.

I think it's important to learn more about presenting to an audience and how to best reach them, whether it's in a classroom, in front of a large group, or face to face with an individual. I agree that energy, a positive attitude, and stressing certain words can help in giving a good presentation, and that the power to convey our message comes from ourself.

Relating to the audience, finding out where they're at, and what they want, shows that you care about the learners. Coming in with energy and enthusiasm is important. It's nice to set a warm, friendly tone no matter the topic or group. We need to be focused and prepared.

-- Anonymous, September 15, 1999