Punch it!

Fellow speaker,

World Champion speaker Craig Valentine suggests you can get your audience more involved in your speeches if you let them "beat you to the punch" and anticipate what you are going to say. You do this by:

1. Finding the place - find the place in your speech where what you are saying is so clear that the audience simply knows what will happen next, search through old recordings of your speech and listen for where the audience is calling out or laughing before you've said your next words
2. Giving it space - put in a long pause before that place in your speech to allow the audience to fully think out what you are going to say next, listen and watch for their reaction that tells you they are "already there before saying your next words

For example, you could ask, "Do you want to get lucky?" Your audience will be thinking this is a sexual reference and as they think about it they will start to chuckle or react otherwise. Follow this up with, "That's not the kind of "lucky" I'm talking about!"

Punching,

Tim Wilson
Professional Speech Coach
Free speaking tips at: http://speakingquicktips.blogspot.com