Contrary to the popular belief that your audience wants you to succeed, I believe it comes with a condition — you have to deserve it. I have seen many speakers who interpret the reassurance as an excuse to be sloppy in their presentation. They abuse the kindness of their audience and end up wasting their time. Hence I usually take the tougher route and demand the speaker to be vigilant in their preparation whether the audience wants them to succeed or not.

What separates a good speaker from a great speaker lies here. A great speaker cares about the audience more than they care about him. A great speaker always put their audience first and they will do everything to make sure that their audience’s needs are well taken care of. This includes researching on their audience’s needs and expectations, tailoring a message that fits their needs, coming up with an impactful introduction to ensure listening, designing activities that accomodate the various learning styles they have and making sure that they take home something useful that can make a difference.

Having said that, I do not want to scare off the rest of you who are truly sincere about doing a good job with your presentation. For beginners, it helps to know that you have the support of your audience. That was how I started anyway. As my friend Nancy Tierny explained, “[For beginners] who are especially nervous about speaking to a group, it actually can be helpful for them to know that the audience isn’t going to come after them with torches and pitchforks if they don’t have a strong opening or it they mess up…”

She also gave an example which you can read here

So at the end of the day, the applicability of the advice (your audience wants you to succeed) depends on where you are at in your speaking development. If you are a beginner, it helps to know that you have the support of your audience. As David Brook, 2000 World Champion of Public Speaking mentioned in his spealomh program “Connecting With Any Audience”:

All speakers go through three phases of development. The first phase is when you are most concerned about yourself. That’s where everyone starts.

Hence it is understandable that having their approval is important. However as you progress, you got to put your focus on other more important things…

The second phase is when you’re most concerned about your message. And that’s where average speakers stop. You see, good speakers are comfortable with themselves, and they’re comfortable with their message. But great speakers are most concerned…with their audiences. Great speakers know that you must make your audience your primary concern.

FYI, it was this video below that sparked the comment from Nancy. Enjoy the video if you haven’t.

Cheers,
Eric Feng
Your Public Speaking Coach

P.S: Want answers from experts to ALL your pressing questions on public speaking? Dying to get hold of a cheat sheet that can help you win audience over in no time? In a hurry to become a speaker superstar? … … … NO YOU CAN’T until you get yourself a complimentary chapter of The FAQ Book on Public Speaking right now. (Download Free Chapter Now!)

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