How to Keep a Group Engaged
Sitting through a meeting or seminar listening to a boring or long-winded speaker is tiresome and mind numbing. Counting the minutes while fighting a catnap during a meeting is something that employees endure too often. Speakers who fail to engage an audience also fail to educate others and properly inform their audiences. With practice and appropriate follow-through, there are ways to keep an audience upbeat, engaged and awake.
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Instructions
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Use props or visual aids. Instead of simply talking to a group of people, incorporate things into your presentation that will enable them to have a visual, suggests Sybil McLain, author of the article, "How to Engage Your Audience In Ways Members Won't Forget," published by "Nashville Business Journal" in 2006. For example, if you're endorsing a product, show the item to the group. Present a Powerpoint to illustrate your lecture and aid retention. Avoid reading text directly from a Powerpoint; instead, summarize the text and add more information and details.
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Give the group opportunities to talk to other audience members as many people enjoy networking and brainstorming. Ask the audience questions periodically in your speech and give them a few minutes to form group answers, suggests Kevin Eikenberry, author of the article, "Twelve Ways to Engage Your Learning Audience." Provide the group with pens and writing paper and encourage the audience to take notes and record answers when conversing with others.
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Provide a three-point agenda and stick to it. Your agenda is your guide and road map, according to the article, "Get to the Point: Keeping Your Audience Engaged," written by Diane DiResta. Ensure your agenda is comprised of three points of interest as three points keeps an audience engaged and your talking points become easier to retain.
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References
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