To my American readers, how was your Thanksgiving weekend? Bet you are having turkey sandwiches for lunch right now! The last time I had the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving was in late 2005 when I was studying in States. And I love it. I mean what’s not to love anyway. Just check out how sumptous-licious the turkey was!

And to my Chinese readers, Thanksgiving is very similar to Chinese New Year’s Eve where we have all our family members and extended families, cousins, cousins’ cousins over for a six hour meal. And instead of turkey, we have suckling pig or roasted chicken, which tastes very much the same to me. They are all farm animals.

Anyway, to mark Thanksgiving, I decided to write a short entry addressing a rather controversial question - Should we thank the audience after a speech?

The reason why I say it is controversial is because there isn’t really a consensus to this question. Both sides have their own takes on why they should thank or not thank the audience. And they believe their stand quite vehemently as well.

No, We Should Not Thank The Audience!
In Toastmasters, members are advised not to thank their audience because the audience should thank them instead, for all their efforts on preparing the speech. Personally I think this is quite a weak reason. Though I am on the side of not thanking the audience at the end of the speech, it is for another reason.

Why waste the conclusion of thanking them when you can leave them on a high? Or create an impact so that they remember your message? Having said that, I am not asking you not to thank your audience. You should. They gave you the opportunity to be listened to so at the very least, you should thank them. However, please don’t do this at the start and end of your presentation. It shows that you are an amateur.

Here’s a suggestion. Show gratitude or appreciation near to the end of the presentation, before you move into your closing. Make sure that what your audience remembers last ties in nicely with your message and your presentation.

During the National Achievers Congress in 2007, Roger Hamilton shared with over 2000 people on how we could get rich effortlessly. In the last 10 minutes, he got everyone to stand up. With the background music of Black Eyed Peas’ “Where Is the Love?” playing, he spoke – with enthusiasm and conviction – about his vision of worldwide wealth: where every one of us plays a part in fighting poverty. You should experience the atmosphere he created in the auditorium. It was one full of inspiration and hope! That’s something you don’t get everyday… what’s a “Thank you” compared to that?

Yes, We Should Thank The Audience!
Now if I am going to end the entry just like that, you will think I am being biased. So to play nice and fair, I have included a download link to an interview with Ms Magaret Page, an etiquette expert and speaker. This interview was conducted by Talking Toastmasters (Bo and Ryan) a few months back. And yes, they were also the same people who interviewed me last month.

So anyway, go listen to the audio (it’s at 1′17″) where Ms Page will offer her insights on this topic of thanking the audience.

Download Ms Maragret Page’s Interview

Since this is Monday, I have decided to also put up some pictures that were taken during the Thanksgiving dinner in 2005. Just to tide you through the day. Enjoy your turkey sandwich!

Cheers,
Eric Feng
Your Public Speaking Coach

P.S: If you want to hear how I got grilled by Bo and Ryan in Talking Toastmasters, click here.

P.P.S: Get ready to feast on the pictures.

That monstrous drumbstick you see on the plate… that’s mine! (grins) I was the happiest man on the table that day.

And that’s my friend Tze Ling pretending to chop firewood for the evening.

Check out the spread! And the chic table cloth.

And while we are feasting away, poor kitty cat could only drink tap water.

We are very satisfied people after the Thanksgiving dinner. The two children that Julia and I were holding up were kids of our generous hosts. You will see them in the next picture.

We are one big family!

Check out my dear friend Jaron… he’s having a time of his life at the basement.

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