My target market tends to be female.  Singers and Speakers.  When I speak to local community groups, the target market is female business entrepreneurs in their 40’s to 60’s – although I’ve worked with younger and older clients too. So I always write my speeches with this in mind.

So one freezing morning as I was on my way to a local speaking engagement, I was reviewing the usual key points I want to make and felt ready to go!

Then I walked into the room where I was going to give my speech and realized I’d made a very big tactical error.  And probably one of the biggest mistakes speakers can make – not knowing their audience.  In the room were 95% males in their 50’s to 70’s and only two women.

I had a moment of panic!

At this moment I had three choices:  1) Deliver the speech as planned and just chalk it up to a lesson learned if they don’t like it  2) Panic and get flustered and stumble all over myself 3) Engage simple techniques I know how to use so that I can speak to what this group is going to be interested in.

I chose #3.

Then I took a deep breath and said – “Stephanie, you’ve got this.”  The personal cheer-leading is a bonus tip for you.

Here’s how I saved the speech.

1. I Started with Few Key Questions.  “How many of you own your own business?”,  “How many of you work in a company where you have to sell something?  A product?  A service?” I asked a couple additional ones and then I knew who was in the room.  Plus, I could measure their energy by how enthusiastically (or not) they were raising their hands.

2. I Know My Material Inside and Out!  So this technique is really something you have to do BEFORE you walk into this type of situation.  But because I did know my material inside and out, I could speak to it in several different ways.  I know how to deliver my material to a heart-centered entrepreneur vs. to someone who comes from the head space and is more logical and practical.   Do I have to make some generalizations in order to make this shift happen in a group setting?  Yep!  But given my experience and what I know about my ideal clients vs. my not-as-ideal clients, I had to make a quick decision which direction I was going to lean.   Plus, I can give enough nuggets and speak to both groups enough that everyone can relate to at least one thing that was said.

3.I Continued to Scan the Room –  Speaking is not delivering your message from the mountaintop.  The best speakers know that it is a conversation with your audience.  You are speaking WITH them.  When the audience feels that it is a conversation rather than a lecture, they learn more, pay attention longer, and are generally happier and more likely to want to learn more about you.  I engaged several “conversational” techniques during the speech to continue to get a feel for what was resonating with them during my message and whether I needed to make an on-the-spot adjustment.

The result of these techniques was that I didn’t follow my original outline at all!  I started differently and ended differently than I had planned, because I felt it was really necessary to take an okay speech and turn it into a great speech for this particular audience.

Happily, I also got a lot of audience engagement and positive feedback after it was over too!

Whew!

If you’d like to learn more about the techniques I used to help me engage my audience and turn that potential disaster into a success, consider joining me at my next Vocal Power Workshop in Gaithersburg, MD or my powerful new “Launch Your Voice” online program!