A Speech Is a Love Affair

How to seduce, engage and win
your audience’s heart

By Jack Vincent, ACS, ALS

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Reprint for Valentine’s Day

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“Valentine’s Day…[makes]…February the month for lovers in many parts of the world. So let’s talk love; let’s talk romance.

From attracting and connecting for the first time, to focusing on someone else and touching someone’s emotions and feelings as much as their mind, a great speech is like a love affair. A great speech seduces audience members, engages them and then wins their hearts.

Seduce

Attraction is a product of emotion. It’s spontaneous. We don’t control it, and it’s impossible to change who—and what—attracts us. Sometimes it’s instantaneous, like a spark. Famous playwright William Shakespeare and poet Christopher Marlowe both included this famous line in their works: “Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?”

As speakers, we can use this powerful emotion of attraction in our presentations—especially at the beginning of our speeches—to seduce our audiences. The key is to keep it simple. Simplicity sparks emotion. Complexity gets in the way of making jaws drop. It may be helpful in the body of your speech, but in the beginning, simplicity rules—simplicity seduces.

An example: I spotted him when he walked in. Then he looked my way, looked away, then looked back, and it took my breath away.

That’s simple. Some call it an opening “grab.”

“Jump smack into an exciting story,” says John Zimmer, ACB, ALB, a member of the International Geneva Toastmasters club in Switzerland and a five-time winner of District 59 speech contests. “Offer a surprising statistic, cite a quotation, make a provocative statement or ask a provocative question. Your opening is one of the most powerful moments of your speech. Use it to hook your audience.”

A brief pause after being introduced can also be powerful and seductive. A pause draws the audience in, not rationally but emotionally. Making a well-crafted opening grab and pausing again can literally take an audience’s breath away.

And perhaps the most powerful seduction tool of all is confidence. This should not stray into arrogance or cockiness; just show genuine confidence. In romance, business and presentations, almost everyone is attracted to someone who has a strong sense of self. So don’t be shy about drawing the audience in with a powerful opening, sprinkled with pauses and genuine confidence.

Engage

Attraction is powerful, but it only gets you so far in relationships and speeches. Engagement is key, it…”

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Click on the video provided below to watch a clip of Colin Boyd, from colinboyd.com.au, who provides three tips on “How To Connect With Your Audience When Speaking In Public”:

Meeting Theme: Nonverbal Communication

Gestures: Your Body Speaks

When you present a speech, you send two kinds of messages to your audience. While your voice transmits a verbal message, a vast amount of information is being visually conveyed by your appearance, your manner, and your physical behavior.

Research shows that more than half of all human communication takes place nonverbally. When you speak before a group, your listeners base their judgment of you and your message on what they see as well as upon what they hear.

In public speaking, your body can be an effective tool for adding emphasis and clarity to your words. It’s also your most powerful instrument for convincing an audience of your sincerity, earnestness, and enthusiasm.

However, if your physical actions are distracting or suggest meanings that do not agree with your verbal message, your body can defeat your words. Whether your purpose is to inform, persuade, entertain, motivate, or inspire, your body and the personality you project must be appropriate to what you say.

To become an effective speaker, you must understand how your body speaks. You can’t stop sending your audience nonverbal messages, but you can learn to manage and control them.

At our next meeting, we will focus on our nonverbal communication. Before the meeting, try to see how your nonverbal communication supports or defeats the goal of what you are trying to say or share with someone. Some tips to be conscious of before the meeting are:

• Keep your hands out of your pockets – it encourages slouching.
• Don’t look down at the ground – it looks like you are trying to hide something.
• Use your hands appropriately – they should be active, but not distracting.
• Know your facial expressions – they should match the tone of what you are sharing.

JIA Meeting – New Day, New Location

JIA Toastmasters will not be meeting today (Thursday), as we are trying a new date and location to provide greater opportunity for our members and guests to attend.

Our new meeting day is on the 1st and 3rd TUESDAYS, still from 6:30pm to 8pm.

Our new meeting location is as follows:

Owens Corning
1035 Talleyrand Avenue
Jacksonville, FL 32206
(Follow Posted Signs)

We hope this new day and location will be helpful to those of you who have found it difficult to attend on Thursdays. Another notice and RSVP request will be sent as a reminder for our first meeting at the new location, scheduled for THIS Tuesday, February 2nd.

If you have any questions, please submit them to contact-3862@toastmastersclubs.org.