Your Public Best - Lillian Brown [68]
Eye Contact
When you establish eye contact with your listener, you create a bond of communication. You can establish eye contact in many different ways and in many different circumstances. When you are introduced to a person, you do not look him in the necktie, you look him straight in the eye. It is even possible to establish eye contact with the people surrounding you in a crowded room. As a public person, you can scan the room, decide that these people are your friends, and that you personally communicate with each one using eye contact.
During a prolonged conversation, you should vary the technique by occasionally looking away to break eye contact or by looking in first the right eye, then the left. You can tell when you are communicating with a person by the look in the eyes, and you can also tell when he or she has tuned you out and is no longer listening to you. The person who never looks you in the eye appears to have something to hide.
When speaking to a large audience, slowly move your eyes from person to person, moving from the left side of the room to the right. Then, look from the front to the back. During the course of your speech, everyone in the audience will feel that she or he has been included. Those in the last row in the balcony will not be able to see your eyes, but they will know that you have included them in your glance by your head movements.
Taking Questions
Finish your speech before you take questions. You break the thought pattern and momentum of your speech if you have to pause to take questions from the audience. If someone raises his hand or asks a question before your speech is done, acknowledge the interruption with a nod and simply say, “I’ll be happy to take your questions at the end of my speech.”
When you do take questions, listen carefully to them, and give thoughtful answers. Good questions give you an opportunity to reemphasize your basic premise and to gauge the receptivity of your listeners.
Do not hesitate to say that you do not know the answer to a difficult or irrelevant question. Gently disagree with a false premise. Answer obviously hostile questions calmly or with mild humor.
At the appropriate time, terminate the questioning in a polite yet decisive manner, thanking your audience with a smile.
Coping with the Unexpected
The more speeches you give, the more you realize that something can always go wrong. You will frequently be faced with an unexpected situation. Your audience will judge you by and react to the manner in which you handle the emergency.
At all times, keep your composure and stay in control of the situation as you decisively solve the problem. It is useless to show anger, resentment, or blame someone. Philosophically accept the unexpected, even as you are devising a solution.
Among the things that can happen are: Film or tapes can be erased or lost, microphones can develop odd noises, a baby can cry loudly, or, if you are outdoors, an airplane can fly overhead and drown out your words, or a motorcycle can roar down the street just at a critical moment. Be prepared to accept such happenings with good grace and patience.
Several typical situations you may have to cope with are discussed below, along with suggestions on what to do about them:
The microphone goes dead just before you start your speech. After the audio person has made his or her last panic-stricken but futile efforts to get the mike working, simply indicate that you can get along without it. Move off the platform, down closer to the front of your audience, and ask everyone to move up close around you to fill up the seats in front. Smile. Keep in control of the situation. Deliver your remarks in a more personal, conversational way, perhaps even taking off your jacket or sitting down. Project your voice so that the people in the back rows can hear you clearly. (Actors can do it; so can you.) Keep steady eye contact with