Stand and Deliver:
How to Create A Positive Audience
and Deal with a Difficult Audience

In this workshop, you will learn how to:

• Create buy-in, excitement, and involvement.
• Speak to issues and concerns of your audience to determine each workshop’s focus and content through the use of pre-workshop phone calls, interviews, and surveys.
• Prepare the group before the program via memos, agenda, voice/e-mail, introductions.  
• State the purpose of your presentation from the audience’s viewpoint. Answer the questions, “What is this going to do for me? Why should I listen?” Why bring this up?”
• Spell out the benefits and importance of the presentation with the cost/benefits exercise.
• Set course priorities by using a participant vote (using sticky notes) at the beginning of the program.

Results after the program:

• Set up a follow-through paradigm of responsibility for each participant using contracts to gain commitment, gain attention throughout the program, and transfer knowledge.
• Prevent problems before they happen.
• Set up ground rules about the way the program will be run and how participants will treat each other (i.e., give mutual respect, listen fully without interrupting, etc.).
• Use baggage exercise to deal with reluctant participants, get rid of anger, indifference, frustration, preoccupation.
• Practice three ways to get troublemakers on your side.
• Use a Motivated Sequence organizational format for your content when you know you’ll have a hostile reception to information.

Other topics:

• 5 ways to recapture attention
• 7 ways to encourage involvement and avoid negative behavior
• 4 ways to encourage participants to talk
• 5 ways to project powerful, self-confident body language
• 5 ways to use your voice to project power and self-confidence
• 5 ways to use breathing to relax
• 7 ways to counter anxiety and stress

Dealing with information overload—in your audience

Reading your audience and the nonverbal cues that show their interest, understanding, conviction and agreement.

Going from humdrum to WOW! —the importance of using humor, motivation, and body language to generate energy, enthusiasm, and ideas

Making technical and abstract material more concrete by using analogies and metaphors

Generate active participation from everyone (get to the point, stay on track, keep the discussion moving).

Answer, “Why are we doing this?” for the audience by practicing the P.E.E.S.S.T method of introducing a discussion point or exercise.

Be more creative—creative techniques to generate ideas, workable solutions, productive discussions, and step-by-step action plans

Convert constructive criticism to action and use adversity as a challenge.

Manage your audience by using negative consequences

Understand what motivates the “difficult” types and effectively deal with them

• Snipers/Hecklers
• Whiners/Complainers
• Know-It-Alls
• Story Tellers
• Think-They-Know-It-Alls
• Clowns
• Silent Trouble Makers
• Criticizers
• Utterly Tasteless Ones
• Ax Grinders
• Busy-Busy, Duck-Ins, Duck-Outs
• I-Don’t-Want-To-Be-Heres

7 ways to focus on what you can do

• Be you—be real, present, and vulnerable
• Harness the power of silence
• Take your time
• Maintain morale, order, and control
• Keep your perspective—enjoy the presentation
• Visualize your success

Effectively handle Q and A

• Presentations Outline Tool
• Comments From Participants