When Big Is Better
When I am working with teams or individuals helping them with their public speaking/presentation skills they are surprised when I point out that it is actually easier to speak in front of a large group of people than a small group of people. It seems counter intuitive as for almost everyone, the bigger the number the more trepidatious they become. In reality it should be the other way around, they should be far more cautious as the number of people they will be speaking to decreases.
Imagine this scenario, you find yourself speaking to a group of somewhere between 10 and 20 people, none of whom you know and you have a message that you need to convey to all of them. You can see all of them and they can see you and each other. One member of the group is not entirely enthralled with your presentation and lifts their eyes or shakes their head, demonstrating disapproval. This person hasn’t said anything out-loud, or directly disrupted your talk. However, they have been spotted by other members of the group who, up until that point, have been perfectly happy with what you are saying and how you are saying it. The influence of this one dissenter has caused some of those assembled to doubt their original feelings and instead have joined the silent chorus of disapproval. In a much larger group, that person’s disgruntlement will go completely unnoticed.
The method for speaking to a small group is a little bit different than when speaking to a larger group. It helps enormously if you can know or learn the names of all of the people in that group. That way you have the option to, at a given moment, address them directly. When you have done this for two or three times to different people, you will establish some authority. It indicates that you are likely to do the same with other people, at any point, so they remain fully engaged with your presentation. I have written in past blogs about faking eye-contact, if you are uncomfortable with it when speaking. This works effectively with a big group but less well with a small group. For a small audience you need to make actually eye-contact which needs to be rotated and held. It makes each individual know that they are seen and included. This way you gain everyone’s full attention and remove the risk of someone inadvertently turning the audience against you. If you are asking questions, to individuals, you can quote their answers as part of your presentation and look at them, in the eye, when you do. Now you have control of the situation and you can deliver your talk as planned.
Taking Back Control
Having control of the group you are speaking to (in a nice way) not only helps you it also helps the audience as they are receiving a top notch talk from someone who appears, for all intense and purposes, to be comfortable and confident, which is all that is needed. When you have control of: your emotions, your eye-contact, your body language, your voice, your content and your outcome; all the necessary boxes have been ticked!
When speaking to a big group, you will still need all of the above list of controls, but not in exactly the same way.
Want to feel more confident when speaking to a group, whether large or small? Ashley Boroda’s presentation skills training can help you develop the skills to communicate with confidence and make a stronger impression on your audience.
