Speech coach Nick Morgan suggests you look at five audience indicators of audience reaction when giving your speech:
- Open vs. Closed - Open: nodding, smiling, sitting towards you - Closed: eyes turned away, body turned away, crossed arms, frowning, shaking the head, negative comments to others
- Powerful vs. Subservient - the powerful person will be above or higher than the less powerful people around them
- Engaged vs. Disengaged - Engaged: sitting still, strong eye contact with speaker, shoulders turned towards speaker - Disengaged: squirming in seat, little eye contact shoulders slumped down and away from speaker - a powerful person may disengage by clasping their hands behind their head, leaning back in their chair, letting their eyes wander to the left or right of the room, but with a powerful person this does not always indicate a problem with the presentation
- Allied vs. Opposed - Allied: mimic speaker's behavior - Opposed: do the opposite of speaker's behavior
- Committed vs. Uncommitted - Committed: close the distance between you, shake your hand, lean forward - Uncommitted: minimize body movements or move away from you
Tim Wilson
Professional Speech Coach
Free speaking tips at: http://speakingquicktips.blogspot.com
