How to Keep An Audience Engaged from Start to Finish
with Aleya Harris
Ever worried that your audience might nod off during your presentation? Fear not! In this critical episode of The Flourishing Entrepreneur, I dive into essential strategies to keep your audience engaged and attentive from start to finish. Whether you're presenting at a conference, leading a workshop, or delivering a virtual speech, these techniques will ensure your audience hangs on every word.
Key Takeaways:
Dynamic Stage Presence: Discover how to use your body and space effectively to bring energy and dynamism to your presentations. Learn to move with purpose and use your physical presence to emphasize and enhance your message.
Voice Modulation Techniques: Explore how to modulate your voice to maintain interest and improve delivery. I’ll share tips on how to project your voice and use tonal variations to keep your content lively and engaging.
Audience Interaction: Gain insights into how to make your talks interactive and inclusive. Learn practical ways to involve your audience, making your sessions memorable and impactful.
Why Listen: If you're looking to elevate your speaking skills and ensure your audience stays alert and engaged, this episode is packed with actionable advice. By mastering these techniques, you'll not only prevent your audience from falling asleep but also transform your presentations into captivating experiences.
Tune in now to discover how to captivate your audience and make every presentation a standout success!
About Aleya Harris
Aleya Harris is the spark for your spark™. A trailblazer in purpose-driven story crafting, she is a marketing executive and ex-Google Vendor Partner who brings her dynamic experience to her role as the CEO of The Evolution Collective Inc. Aleya is an international award-winning speaker, the founder and lead trainer of Spark the Stage ™, and the host of the award-winning Flourishing Entrepreneur Podcast. She is also the author of the upcoming book Spark the Stage: Master the Art of Professional Speaking and Authentic Storytelling to Captivate, Inspire, and Transform Your Audience. Her unique approach as a Strategic Storytelling Consultant has revolutionized the way businesses communicate, transforming workplace cultures and market positioning. With her dynamic energy and proven methodologies, Aleya guides clients to unlock their potential, articulate their radically authentic stories, and achieve unparalleled success.
Watch the Free Masterclass
Join Aleya's free masterclass "Unleash Your Authentic Voice: How to Captivate Any Audience with a Signature Talk." Learn to become a professional public speaker by mastering storytelling and confidence. Inspire any audience with your unique message and style
Register at https://www.aleyaharris.com/masterclass
Sign Up for Spark the Stage™
Spark the Stage™ is a 6-week on-demand and live-taught course that helps entrepreneurs and executives become radically authentic professional speakers who can deliver a compelling signature talk from the stage.
Enroll at https://www.aleyaharris.com/spark
Work with Aleya to Craft a Better Story
If you can't communicate who you are, your company will make less money. An unclear strategy, confusing brand, or undefined workplace culture will repel ideal clients, visibility opportunities, and career-making connections. Work with Aleya Harris, a strategic storytelling consultant and seasoned marketer, to develop an authentic story that differentiates you from the competition and builds stronger relationships with your target audience.
Schedule a call at https://www.evolutioncollective.com/
Book Aleya to Speak
To book Aleya to edutain your audience at your next event as a keynote speaker, please visit www.aleyaharris.com/speaking to check out her speaking topics, reels, and why. Click "Schedule a Call" to secure the speaker with "that something new" you've been looking for.
If you are a Corporate Event Planner, Employee Experience Professional, Head of Marketing, Learning & Development Professional, Executive Assistant, Speakers Bureau Destination Management Company, or Destination Management Organization who is looking for a top-quality, energetic speaker, you should definitely hop on a call with Aleya.
Connect with Aleya Harris
Speaking & Media: https://www.aleyaharris.com
The Evolution Collective Inc.: https://www.evolutioncollective.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleyaharris/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyaharris/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thealeyaharris
Links Mentioned on this Podcast
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[00:07] Aleya Harris: Oh, oh, oh. I'm awake. I'm awake. I'm awake. That is not the reaction you want people in your audience to have when you are on stage and people are falling asleep or you see that doze where they're like, they're even trying to keep, like, the rest of their face as professional as possible. As their eyes close and you can see it happening, you're like, oh, my God, I am boring this person. And then you try to make excuses when you're on stage, like, oh, I'm sure it's not me. It's like, it's my time slot. I'm after lunch or, well, you know, this is a technical presentation. They just probably don't understand what I'm saying. Yeah, no, you're boring. You need to be more engaging. And that is what we are going to talk about doing on today. We are going to talk about how you can keep your audience engaged while you're on stage. And I'm going to actually just straight up read to you chapter 25 of my book spark the stage, which at the time of this recording is coming out in just a few days at the time of the release. It's coming out tomorrow. So it's coming out on September 19. If you're listening to this after September 19, just go and buy it. You can go to aleahairs.com book to buy it. You can also go to Amazon and type in Spark the stage. Maybe spark the stage, Alayah Aleya, and go buy the book. But I'm going to read you straight up from chapter 25, so you'll know what's some of the juiciest things that are in the book, and you'll get some help on how to not make people fall asleep. Okay. All right, let's go.
[01:48] Yuliya Patsay: Welcome to the Flourishing Entrepreneur podcast with Aleyah Harris. If you're looking for actionable ways to overcome communication and differentiation challenges by sharing radically authentic stories, you are in the right place. Listen in and learn how to stand in the power of your unique narrative to transform your personal life, business, and workplace culture. And now, your host, award winning international speaker, strategic storytelling consultant, and japanese whiskey lover, Ruby Corll's mom, Alayah Harris.
[02:37] Aleya Harris: Use your tools to master the stage. Chapter 25 of Spark the stage by me, aleyaharris. All the tools, techniques, and technology in the world are nothing without the head, heart, and hands to use them wisely, kindly, and mindfully. Rashid Ogunlaru. And I'm sorry, Rasheed, if I pronounce your name wrong, I'm sorry, as we move into the stagecraft piece of this book, I want to draw your attention back to the definition of a professional speaker. A professional speaker is a performance artist who makes money by clearly communicating helpful ideas from the stage, virtually or in person. Please note the performance artist peace. That's what we're talking about now. Performing if I were an audience member and I wanted to read a blog post about you were talking about, I would just read the blog post. I don't need you to sit and read it to me. I need you to perform the words, act out the story, show me, engage me, and make me feel something. In addition to the slides on the screen and your content, your tools are your body, the your voice, and the audience themselves. All four things will make you more compelling when you use them correctly. Use every part of yourself to communicate, including your words, energy, tone, and body. All of your tools help articulate your controlling idea and your main points so your audience can reach the transformation they need, and you can serve them as much as possible. Your body your body is one of your best illustrative tools. By changing where your body is in space and thinking of how you can use it in a 360 degree fashion, you can become more dynamic on stage. Using your knees to get low, turning your back to the audience for a moment, and stretching your arms out from side to side are great ways to illustrate your message and unpack your controlling idea. Here are a few of my favorite tips for using your body on stage like a pro, soften your knees so you don't look like ain't robot. A slight bend will help your movements appear more natural, allowing you to move gracefully and fluidly across the stage. Remember that your body includes your fingertips and your toes. Extend your arms, use your feet, and articulate through your body like a dancer. Match your movements to your stories and your voice. If you're talking about something grandiose, you want to have big arms stretching out, reaching up, reaching up to the sky. If you're bringing the presentation to a more emotional place, you might have your hands on your heart, close to your chest, or on your stomach. Don't shy away from bringing the drama. You're really just one beat away from dancing on that stage. You're constantly moving, filling the stage with your energy. Don't be afraid to take up space. Use commonly understood body language for your benefit. Practice posing in the mirror to see what your body language communicates. How will your audience perceive you? If you cross your arms, put your hands on your hips, throw your arms up in the air or stand with your legs. Far apartheid. Don't resign yourself to just standing and shuffling behind a microphone. It's not fun to do and it's not fun to look at the stage. To best use the stage, think in 3d speakers commonly move from left to the right and often forget to move forward and backward. Moving further away from your audience creates a feeling of separation, depth or expansion. Imagine stepping further and further away from the back of the stage as you spoke about how each step you took to solve your problem took you further from your goal. That connection between your movement and your words paints a picture that helps the audience better comprehend your point and empathize with your feelings. As you consider moving backward on the stage, make sure to find and stay in the light, the physical light from and from spirit, the light from spirit and the physical light all the lights. As you move back of most stages, the light often drops off and you will just look like a shadow. Standing in the shadows robs you of the connection with your audience. It's distracting and it will make any photos or video come out less than ideal. Moving forward on the stage can illustrate similar points to moving backward. When you move as far forward as possible, you will encounter a place most speakers don't think to use but wear a bit of magic happens. The stage's edge at the stage's edge is an invisible wall between you and the audience. Often this is the barrier between the sage on stage and the plebes in the seats. However, I encourage you to be the speaker leading a group experience, not someone seeking to feed their ego with the spotlight. What would happen if you leaned in and broke through the invisible barrier safely? You can engage and connect with your audience to show you are all in it together. Breaking the barrier also captures your audience's attention and makes your presentation more dynamic. While I encourage you to lean forward while on the stage, I do not encourage you to leave. Speakers leave the stage and don't use a mic because they think it makes them appear to be just one of the people, when in reality it makes it difficult to hear and see them. The audience wastes their brainpower on searching for the speaker rather than focusing on the content and how it relates to their life experience. Also, people come to listen to an empathetic leader. By getting off the stage, you diminish their investment of time and money. If movement on stage doesn't come easily to you, use the five slide switch rule. Every five slides, slowly move your way over to the other side of the stage. Click through five more slides, then slowly move your way to the other side of the stage. That way you're still moving. If it's not natural for you to move, you at least know you're keeping people's interest during your presentation by moving your body in space in a more structured way. Your voice since I'm a speaker and a podcast host, hello, I love using and modulating my voice. Think about where your voice is coming from in your body. When you speak from your diaphragm, your voice will boom. Pushing air out through your nose and focusing it through your face might sound a little bit more high pitched. When I think about how to best match my voice and the tone to the needs of the presentation, I employ my old vocal training and become intentional with how. I use my tongue, throat, lungs, and mouth to vary the listening experience for the audience so they stay engaged and better understand the content. If you're easily short of breath, I recommend doing breathing exercise like a singer would to increase your lung capacity. You could also try hot yoga. Again, a personal fave or aerobics make most of your presentation come from your diaphragm, not your throat, so you don't have to speak yourself hoarse. If you find yourself shouting, ask the av person to turn up the mic. Always use a mic. If the room has two people or 2000 people, use a mic. The audience point to people, wave to people. Talk about one side of the room to the other side of the room behind their backs. Use the people in the audience as engagement tools. When you do that, it takes a big experience and makes it feel more engaging and personal. If the room is small enough, most likely less than 500 people. Ask for three names of folks in the front few rows at the beginning of your presentation and use them throughout. I usually say something like, hey, what's your name? Jerry. You seem like a cool cat, Jerry. Loving the hat. Then when I talk about a point later in the presentation, I could say something like, well, we can't all have cool hats like Jerry, but I do try to look my best. Connecting directly with a few people makes the whole room feel connected. The key is always to be complimentary and never disparage anyone. Be careful of even good natured teasing that someone could perceive as bullying. I also employed the classic raise your hand if technique to encourage group participation and to break the steady drumbeat of my voice. Always ask the audience to raise their hands for something that will make them look good, good, or neutral. If others see their hands raised. For example, raise your hand if you would love to get a million dollars right now, no strings attached is excellent. Raise your hand if you're deeply in debt. It's not okay. Always validate. Always encourage. Say things like, oh my gosh, you guys are so smart. You raised your hands and you knew that. I didn't know that until last year. Let me tell you a story of how I learned that. Before the presentation starts, I mingle with the organizers and the people in the room and I ask them things like, what have you all been up to so far at this conference? Or what are you planning on doing next? Or what's been your favorite part of this conference so far? I'm gathering intel, and I use that intel on the stage. The more personal you can make an experience, even if you haven't edited your slides. With that personalization, the better your presentation will go. Control the experience from the moment you enter the room. Depending on the event. Manage the energy of the room from the moment you enter until the moment you leave. I encourage you to start with a grund entrance. Plan the music you'll walk up to on the stage. It hypes you up and it hypes up the audience. I provide the song that I want to be played and allows the vibe to change before I even open my mouth. Controlling the transition into your stage experience means it doesn't matter what the speaker before you did, how good they were, or how their content landed. You get to reset the room, you control the energy, and you control the stage. Your grand entrance could be small, like choosing a great song, or grandiose, like being carried in on a litter like an egyptian queen, or employing acrobats and jugglers. How creative you get depends on the event, your budget, your brand, and your content. Dare to be different. Spark steps assess your stage presence take some time to reflect on your current stage presence. How comfortable are you moving around the stage? Do you feel your body is expressive and aligned with your message? Identify areas for improvement and set goals for enhancing your stage presence. Practice dynamic movement. Find a space to move freely and practice your presentation. Focus on using your body to illustrate your points. Incorporate movements like bending your knees, extending your arms, and shifting your position on stage. Record yourself, if possible to review and adjust your movements for maximum impact. Experiment with voice modulation. Record yourself reading a section of your presentation. Play with different vocal tones, pitches, and volumes to see how they change the delivery of your message. Practice speaking from your diaphragm to project your voice clearly and confidently. Engage with your audience. Plan interactive elements to incorporate into your presentation. Think about how you can involve the audience, whether by asking questions, using names, or encouraging group participation. Practice these interactions to ensure they feel natural and engaging. Control the room's energy. Decide on an entrance strategy that aligns with your brand and content. Choose a song or create a grand entrance that sets the tone for the presentation. Practice your entrance to ensure it flows smoothly and captures the audience's attention from the start. Inside of my spark the stage course, I show students exactly how to move their bodies on stage. They even get a chance to ask questions and submit videos for review. If you would like more support on how to stand in your power in front of an audience, sign up for Spark the stage at www. Dot al eyris.com spark. That's aleaharris.com spark. And there you have it. That was chapter 25 of my brand new book, Spark the Stage. Go on ahead to aleaharris.com book or Amazon or anywhere you buy books to buy your copy today. That was just one of the chapters. This thing has, what, 280 some odd pages? No, no, no. Oh no, that's too many. 259 pages. Sorry, 260. Sorry, was just looking. 260 pages. It's new. It's a new book. I didn't know how many pages. 260 pages. And it's chock full of advice like that. But it goes all the way from building confidence to crafting your signature talk to getting your radically authentic stories out into the world. It carries everything from soup to nuts, including on how to get paid as a professional speaker. So I encourage you to go ahead, buy the book, get gems like the ones that I just read to you and so, so much more. This is going to be another short, quick episode because I'm giving you time back in your day to go buy the book. Did you see what I did there? Is that what I did there? All right, until next time, my name is Alayah Harris. This is the flourishing entrepreneur podcast, and I'm sending you lots and lots and lots of love, light, and abundance. Bye for now.
[16:57] Yuliya Patsay: Thank you for listening to this episode of the flourishing entrepreneur podcast with Aleyah Harris. Vibing with what you hear, leave a five star review to spread the love and be sure to click subscribe. We wish you love, light and abundance. See you next time.
