Connect With Any Audience

Disk 1, Track 1

Introduction
Im David Brooks, the 1990 Toastmasters World Champion of Public Speaking. Welcome
to this program called Connect With Any Audience. Joining me on this three-hour
program are my colleagues and fellow World Champions Mark Brown, Craig Valentine,
Ed Tate, Darren LaCroix, Jim Key, and Randy Harvey.
We all share the title of World Champion of Public Speaking, and all of us are
professional speakers. As such, we have collectively been in front of thousands of
audiences.
In this program we will share with you what we have learned about how to Read an
Audience and how to react to what you see and hear from the people who are sitting in
front of you.
All speakers go through three phases of development. The first phase is when you are
most concerned about yourself. Thats where everyone starts. The second phase is when
youre most concerned about your message. And thats where average speakers stop.
You see, good speakers are comfortable with themselves, and theyre comfortable with
their message. But great speakers are most concernedwith their audiences.
Great speakers know that you must make your audience your primary concern.
So how do you do that? In the next three hours, seven World Champions will do our best
to explain.

Disk 1, Track 2

Determine what the audience wants, needs, expects

Before you ever take the stage, you must ask yourself one critically important question:
What does my audience want, need, or expect?
One of the most important lessons I ever learned about public speaking is that perfection
is not possibleits not even really desirable. Because if you are so fixated on a flawless
presentation, youre still focused on yourself. Therefore, your audience is not your
primary concern.
And guess what, the audience doesnt ever expect perfection. In fact, an occasional
stumble simply shows you are human. An occasional fumble can be endearing. Now, Im
not giving you permission to be careless or sloppy; too many mistakes shows you dont
care about your audience. But the audience just wants you to be your natural self,
performing at your best level of excellence.
Now, youll hear from Darren LaCroix, Randy Harvey, and Craig Valentine.
First up is Darren LaCroix.
What does the audience want? What is the optimal for any presenter? The audience wants
to see someone real, someone sincere. They dont want to see someone who is overly
theatrical. Oh my goodness! Arent they dramatic! They dont want to see someone
whos trying to be someone else; whos trying to be Zig Ziglar or Tony Robbins or some
comedian thats a favorite of theirs. The audience wants to see and hear you. They want
you to be real.
If you want to know what to shoot for as a presenter, its for the ability to be yourself
right in front of the audience. Thats not easy to do. It takes years of stage time to get
comfortable at that point and at that level. Now we want to be ourselves, but bigger, in
front of the audience.
The other world champions who are doing this program with me, we all have vastly
different styles and different techniques. But thats what makes this program so cool is
the fact that we are so different. And you can hear from different styles and different
techniques. We all won the world championship in our own way, in own our style. We
found a way that works for us.
Were all influenced by the people that we learn from. Two of my favorite comedians are
Robin Williams and Steven Wright. Theyve influenced my style, but I dont try to be
them. I created my own style by trying to be me and baring my soul in front of the
audience. I always get compliments about how sincere and how real I am on the stage.
My opinion is thats what works for me.

Go for being real onstage. That will meet the audiences expectations because thats what
they want.
Next, lets hear from Randy Harvey.
Its important as a speaker to understand that you are there to present a message thats
going to benefit your audience. I never go into a situation without having a clearly
defined message that I want to speak into the lives of those gathered in the audience. I
want to give them a treasure to take home in their pocket, something they can think about
in the days and weeks ahead. If I dont connect, or at the end of the day if I havent given
them a concept, quote, or a thought that theyll think about, then Ive failed my purpose
as a speaker.
Secondly, I never violate my own integrity and my own values or beliefs. If I cant
deliver a message that is consistent with my values and beliefs, then I wont deliver it.
Now, heres Craig Valentine.
Ive found out that its very important to create the right types of expectations before you
take the platform. I had an incident in New Jersey where a lady called me to speak to her
college. She said, I saw you a couple of years ago and I was a member of your two-day
training event. So I want you to come in, and I want you to talk about motivation. I want
you to talk about how to use low-cost, no-cost incentives. I want you to talk about time
management and delegation, and all the things you talked to us about.
I said, Great! Thats right up my alley.
But when I received the flyer in the mail on how she was promoting the event it read:
How to Make Money in Tough Times.
Huh? I didnt know where that came from. So when I went to make my presentation I had
to do a lot more research in that area on how to make money in tough times than I ever
expected to do. And that wasnt right up my alley.
The event ended up going very well. But if I hadnt taken the time up front to make sure
that we created the right expectations for that audience, it wouldnt have been congruent
with what I normally do and with the messages that I normally bring. So my advice
would be to make sure that the audience has the right expectations, and that you can go in
and exceed them.
Lets recap:
Darren emphasized the need to be realyour real self with your own unique style. He
said to be inspired by those you admire, but dont try to be a carbon copy.

Randy said the audience expects a clearly defined message. He said his goal is to always
present a message that gives the listener something to take away to reflect on in the days,
weeks, and months ahead.
Craig said to take time up front to make sure your message matches what the audience
has been led to expect. That is, make sure what has been promoted is what you intend to
produce.
And at the top of the track, I reminded you that perfection is not possible, nor is it even
desirable. Remember, the audience does not expect perfection; mere excellence will be
good enough.

Disk 1, Track 3

A pre-speech assessment:
How to tailor your message to fit the audiences needs
So now that you have an idea of what the audience wants in general terms, lets get
specific. How do you tailor your message precisely for your specific audience? That is,
how do you show your audience that you know something about the issues and ideas that
are important to them?
The best speakers do their research by using pre-speech assessments. Five of the seven
Champions will explain how they do this.
First is Darren LaCroix.
This is actually one of my specialties. One of the things I do, especially for keynote
speeches, is I customize directly to the audience. So I actually have a questions for the
meeting planner guideline. And I come up and I ask several questions because every
audience is different. But every audience has commonalties so we need to find them.
Some of the basic questions that I start off with are for my programs. I ask how much
humor, how much message. Give me a percentage. Sometimes its sixty- percent humor
they want. Sometimes its ninety- percent humor they want. But I need to know. Because
I need to know what Im going to be assessed against. How will the meeting planner
know if Ive reached my goal or not?
Some of the questions that I always ask are: What is the purpose of the meeting? Whats
the purpose for having me? What is my goal? Whats the average age range of the
audience? The approximate number attending? Whats the female to male ratio? Will
spouses be attending?
Thats real important, especially when youre customizing because the spouses may not
be privy to the insider information that I might gather elsewhere. So its important to
know and acknowledge them.
I also ask who does everyone in the audience know and love? Every organization, every
association, every company has someone that everybody likes, and everybody knows Joe.
So its great to acknowledge Joe during my speech and say that I spent some time with
him and had fun with him or her. But you always want to find out who are the people that
everybody knows and everybody likes. Not just who they know, but who they know and
like.
I also ask what are some of the industry buzzwords. This is real important. Because even
though Im an outsider, if I can start to use some of those buzzwords and some of those
terms, it shows I did my homework, that I care about the audience, that I didnt just come

here with a canned speech. And I always get comments afterwards. "I cant believe how
much you knew about our organization, especially in such a short time. Most of my
customization is done within two weeks of the program itself.
I also ask, whats the company mission statement? What are three current issues? What
are three common frustrations that everyone in the audience has? What are three pet
peeves? Whats the fantasy? Whats the Utopia that theyre looking for? That usually
gives me some fodder to have some fun.
One of the most important questions that I ask is, are there any taboo topics? Because this
will allow you to get off the hook. To give you an example, when I asked this question at
one association for a speech in Florida they told me Dont do any jokes about airplanes,
because the previous year two of their board of directors died in a plane crash.
Now me, flying there to the organization, to the event, I might have had some ideas or
some thoughts about something that happened to me in the airport. I would have
launched into a joke or a bit of humor or just a story and completely lost the audience and
I would not have known why.
So it is always an important question to ask just to find out. Usually there are none. But
now you have that cover your butt statement so you can tell the meeting planner later
that I did ask earlier were there any taboo topics. Again, generally there isnt, but its a
great question to ask.
I also always prepare by getting company newsletters and web site addresses that I can go
and check out in order to find the terms and find out what the current issues are, and the
lingo that people use within the industry. I also look for overriding statements or themes
that I can tie into my message.
I dont completely write a whole new speech, but I want to be able to connect my speech
to their issues, their frustrations, and their pet peeves. If you can understand what their
frustrations and their pet peeves are, what really makes them emotional, its the quickest
and easiest way to gain the audiences confidence.
So I always get company newsletters ahead of time--any magazines, anything that
common, industry magazines, literature. I always have them send that in advance and Ill
go through them with a highlighter and highlight things.
The most important thing that I do is I always ask for a list of ten audience members who
will be there that I can interview ahead of time. Most of my best information and best
stories comes from these interviews. Because now its real people doing real interviews,
gathering real information. Not just from the literature which may be a little on the
smoothed over sidea little on the rosy side. I want to talk to the real people and find out
what the real frustrations are.

Now, you need to double-check with the people planning the event to make sure what
you delve into is okay by them. Theyre the ones hiring you; theyre the ones you are
responsible to.
The other side effect that these interviews cause is that they will now become a friend.
When I get to the event I will meet that person ahead of time and thank them for the time.
Now they have gone around telling their friends, Well I talked to the speaker and I cant
wait to see what hes going to do with the information I gave him. So now I already
have an anticipation created into the event that would not have been there otherwise were
I not doing those interviews.
Now I realize the extent that I do this, is a lot of work. I understand. But this is how I do
it. So at least you can understand how I do it, why I do it, but the result ends in more
presentations. For most professional speakers, 80 percent of their speeches come as a
result of other speeches. Ive noticed this to be true for my business and I get new clients
because I do my homework. And the audience knows Im there for them.
Next is Ed Tate.
Im reminded of the quote by Patricia Fripp. Patricia Fripp, when she was fifteen years
old she relocated from England. She was a hairdresser; she went on to become the first
female president of the National Speakers Association. And shes also in the NSA Hall of
Fame. She said the following with regard to connecting with your audience.
There are two ways to connect with people, intellectually with your content, and
emotionally. You dont have to connect with them emotionally, unless you want them to
remember what you said.
Im reading a book by Rudolph Guiliani, the former mayor of New York, who said
connect with people first. If you have more time, then tell them your points. Theres a
time to win hearts and minds, and a time to tell details. Connect with people first.
There are several things that I do before, during, and after a presentation in order to
connect with my audience. How do I connect before? The first thing I use is a preprogrammed questionnaire. Darrens talked about that in depth.
I also have a pre-session conference call. And I like to talk to 3-5 people who will be in
the audience. Primarily, I like to talk about the meeting planner, the person who has hired
me directly. The economic buyer, this is the individual who has actually approved the
transaction. And finally, I like to talk to anywhere from 3-4 other audience members, if I
can.
The other thing I do prior to the session is I do a second check-in call the week of the
presentation, or the week before. I do dinner the night before a presentation, if thats
possible, if the client will meet with me. And then the day of the presentation, I do several
things. I like to meet with the people who actually spoke to me on the conference call. I

like to arrive early and introduce myself, literally, to every audience member. I like to
shake hands with everyone whos going to be in the presentation.
Theres a woman by the name of Susan RoAnn who wrote a book, How to Work a Room.
And once I was in California and she was giving a presentation and she would not let
anyone into the audience, anyone into the actual presentation room, until she shook their
hand. She, literally, was blocking the front door.
A long line formed. And what was really interesting is that many, many more people
jumped into line to find out what was going on. And there was little five-foot Susan
RoAnn waiting to shake each and every individual audience members hand. So, another
thing I try to do the day of the presentation is to shake the hands of each audience
member.
Finally, my opening story. One of the things that I do very well is I tell stories in my own
way. And my opening story is one that either relates to this audience directly. And if I
can, if theres enough time, Ill actually create a story about this particular client,
whoever they may be, or make a hero out of one of the audience members.
Once I gave a presentation earlier this year with a company called ARH Appalachian
Regional Healthcare. About a half an hour before I go onstage I discovered that they had
laid off 180 of their friends. And I completely abandoned my opening remarks because I
knew the one thing they were focusing on was that how is this change going to impact
them? So I literally used an opening that I use in my Change Program, even though this
was going to be a Leadership speech, and opened up with that and talked about what I
call the Dead Horse.
Theres an old proverb that theres a dead horse in the living room. And what people have
a tendency to do is they step over the dead horse, they ignore the dead horse, they
vacuum around the dead horse, but they dont say anything about the dead horse. And in
speaking, you cannot avoid the dead horse. You must talk about the issue at hand. So I
talk about the issue head-on. In this case, Youre probably wondering about what's going
to happen to you, whats going to happen to your friends, etcetera. And I began my
presentation talking about what I call the FUD Factor: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.
Later on, the president of that particular organization walked up to me and he said that
was like the best opening that he had ever heard, and actually resulted in my actually
coming back to this organization four additional times.
So, adjusting your presentation based on what has happened recently, again, it goes back
to my original comments earlier when I said that I do an additional check-in call the week
of the presentation. Has anything changed? Is there anything that I should be aware of
since we spoke last? And being on top of those things I think is critical, and you make
your adjustments from there.
Now, heres Jim Key.

On my web site I have a pre-event questionnaire. Even before I agree to speak for a
company or an organization, I ask the person who has contacted me to provide me with
the answers to the questions on it. The questionnaire contains specific questions about the
audience.
I also try to find out what speakers have spoken to that audience before me. And if I
know that previous speaker, and I know how to contact them, I will. And Ill ask for their
input about that audience. I want to know everythingfrom information about that group
to information about how professionally the event at which they spoke was organized and
run.
Having all of those answers in hand is very helpful to me in knowing what to expect.
When I know what to expect I can better meet the needs of the person who has chosen me
as the speaker for that group or event.
As I previously mentioned, I have a pre-event questionnaire that I ask to have filled out.
In that questionnaire I ask about a variety of demographic factors about my audience. For
instance, I want to know about the age, gender, and income levels of my audience. I want
to know what their average educational level is, the cultural mix of the audience, and so
on.
I ask about the general daily experience of my audience members, such as any sensitive
issues in their industry, any frustrations they experience at work, what their day-to-day
business is like, and so on. And finally, I ask about their company or organization,
specifically. I want to know the purpose of their organization.
I then review my prepared speech with that information in mind. If there are any
particular examples that would not work well for that audience, as I now understand them
to be, I change it. If there is any particular bit of humor that I dont believe would go over
well with them, I change it. I try to remove anything that might not sit well with them and
that might cause them to be distracted from my message.
Next, Mark Brown.
That process actually begins the moment I agree to address the audience. During the first
contact phone call, I ask questions. I am very interested in the dynamics of the audience. I
want to know the audience size, the gender break up, the ethnic composition of the
audience. Will I speak to adults? Will I have teens? A mixture of both? I get answers to
these kinds of questions and many others, very early in the planning process.
How do I tailor my speech as a result of my findings? Im there for the audience. They
are not there for me. Now once I determine the make-up of the audience, how it is
comprised, I select material that is suitable for them.

Recently, I addressed a group of Girl Scout leaders at a dinner event in Florida. The room
was full of excited women and I deliberately selected humorous material that would
appeal more to women. Am I being sexist? No. How did I do this? Well, having a collegeage daughter doesnt hurt, and being married to a wonderful woman certainly helps.
Now if I speak at a sports award event Ill pull out all my sports stories from my years of
playing high school soccer in Jamaica. And Ill also pull out stories from my twenty-five
years of coaching and officiating, because that is what a sports audience can relate to.
Now, heres Randy Harvey:
I arrive early, prior to the appointed time to speak and spend time meeting people either
at the door or walking through the audience greeting people. I try to get a sense of the
people that are present, introduce myself, get personal names, take some time to interact
with people. This yields a treasure trove of useable information and allows me to get a
sense of the kind of people that are present in the hall.
Secondly, I research the organization. You can find information through publications,
mission statements, documents on the web and newsletters they send out. I read anything
they have on their web site about the structure of their organization.
I search the documents looking for individuals who are icons in the organization--perhaps
the founder. If you can, find something that quotable about individuals who have made a
difference in the organization, or someone who achieved a major accomplishment. Weave
that information into your presentation in a way to show your know what their
organization is about.
To recap,
Darren explained how he sends a pre-speech questionnaire to meeting planners so that he
may be able to adjust his standard presentation to be more customized for that specific
audience on that specific day. He asks questions such as What is the purpose of the
meeting, and what is my role in it? He asks Who will be in the audience that everyone
knows and loves? so that he can bring a personal touch into his presentation. He asks
about industry buzzwords, current issues, common frustrations, so that he can show a
working knowledge of their daily routines at work. And he asks What topics are offlimits? Finally, he stressed the importance of interviewing 10 audience members in
advance so that he can weave their perspectives into his program.
Ed mentioned Patricia Fripps philosophy about connecting with an audience
intellectually and emotionally, and cited Rudy Giuliani when he said Connect with
people first. Ed also suggested introducing yourself personally to everyone in the room
as they come in, and his goal of trying to create an opening story that makes one of the
attendees a hero.
Jim Key asked How can I meet the needs of the audience if I dont know what they
are?

10

Mark Brown explained how audience demographics can affect audience dynamics, and
Randy Harvey told how to do pre-speech research through printed materials such as
newsletters, magazines, and websites. Randy also recommended using icons of the
industry or organization to show your familiarity with who is important to the audience.
Pre-speech questionnaires and interviews can vary greatly, and we recommend you create
your own. However, to give you an idea of how to construct one, on Disk 4, the DATA
Disk, we have provided a sample for your review.

11

Disk 1, Track 4

The First 30 Seconds

So now youve got the right frame of mind and youve done enough research to tailor
your message for your specific audience. Assuming you have written and rehearsed your
presentation, its time to take the stage.
Now lets concentrate on that all important first impression: the moment you present
yourself to your audience.
In the book You Are the Message, Roger Ailes says Research shows that we start to
make up our minds about other people within seven seconds of first meeting them. In the
first seven seconds, we also trigger in each other a chain of emotional reactions, ranging
from reassurance to fear.
Ailes says its seven seconds, others say its in the first minuteso lets compromise and
examine the first 30 seconds or so. In this track you will hear from Craig Valentine,
Darren LaCroix, Ed Tate, Jim Key, and Randy Harvey.
Heres Craig Valentine.
The opening of your speech is extremely important because it lets the audience know
why they should listen to the rest. I remember when I went to go buy my first-ever
automobile. And I really wanted the car, but the salesperson tried to sell me on features.
He said, Your car, the one that youre looking at? It has these types of brakes, these
types of windows, and this type of engine.
Well, he didnt move me at all with those features. You see, he should have been selling
me on benefits. Benefitswhats in it for me? For you this means
And thats the same thing we need to do in the first thirty seconds or the first minute of
our presentation. We need to captivate the audience so they know, Yeah! Theres
something in this for me.
Next is Darren LaCroix.
I love to teach people this, and talk a great deal about those first thirty seconds. This is
one of those things that came glaringly clear to me when doing stand-up comedy. The
audience is judging you in the first thirty seconds. And most speakers, most presenters,
they work on their speech, but rarely do they work on the moment when they take the
stage. And its being in that moment, planning for that moment that you walk up there are
start your presentation thats so incredibly important. Its the first thirty seconds. Theyre
judging you as you walk up there. Is it fair? No. Its human nature. And you and I, as
presenters, we need to deal with human nature. Thats our job. Its the first thirty seconds
theyre judging you.
12

Have you ever seen a speaker start off a presentation like this? (Monotone) Good
morning. Its really wonderful to be here.
What? Someone forgot to tell your body that it was excited, that it was happy to be here.
If a speaker starts off in a very monotone way talking about how excited they are, it sends
a message to the audience that this person is not sincere. Well, if youre not sincere, the
audience questions everything else youre going to say. Thats why the first moments are
so important because people are going to judge you. Theyre going to say to themselves,
Am I going to sit here and listen? Or am I just gonna take a little vacation in my mind
while this presenters going on.
In comedy, if you dont get the audience in the first thirty seconds you spend the whole
rest of your comedy set trying to get them back, trying to win them over. And then its
more like work. But you need to be ready for that moment and hit the stage running. I
talk about this in my program, The Path to Powerful Presentations. This is so important.
When I realized the importance of this for the championship, the World Championship of
Public Speaking, I called up one of the other winners, David Brooks. David Brooks
taught me to go to the meeting room beforehand and get comfortable. Get up onstage, get
in front of the room, and get comfortable with that area, with that arena. Look out and see
what youll see during the presentation. And get comfortable. Stay up there and dont get
down off that stage until youre comfortable.
Now Ive parlayed this into my keynote speaking where Ill go down to the meeting room
beforehand, the night before, and do the beginning of my presentation several times. Not
the whole thing, but the beginning several times just to know how Im going to start it
off.
Now usually theyll be setting up the room and therell be waitstaff in the room setting up
beforehand while Im doing this. But I know that I am there for the audience. And if
somebody sees me doing this and thinks Im a weirdo, thats okay. It is preparation that
will make my presentation better when it comes time to give it. So Ive learned from him
to just be up there and give the speech, especially the beginning, as many times as I can
beforehand.
The other thing you can do to prepare for the moment you take the stage is what I used to
do when I started stand-up comedy years ago. In 1992, when I first would drive to a club,
I would listen to three of my favorite songs that would put me in the right mood just
before I went up on the stage. Again, its mood or moment management. But I would
listen to three of my favorite songs. Songs that reminded me that, You know what? If
this doesnt go good, its not the end of the world. Songs that inspire me and put me in a
good mood.
Now, when I went for my world championship contest speech, the preparation for that
was Id listen to the song by Tina Turner, You Better Be Good to Me, to remind myself

13

Im there for the audience. Then I listened to Tina Turner, Simply the Best. And the final
one, the tabernacle of testosterone, I listened to the Theme from Rocky. Im a guy. That
gets me going. Dan, dan, dan-dan-dan, dan-dan-, dan, dan, dan. Dan, dan-dan-dan-, dandan-dan, dan, dan. Makes you feel like youre on top of the world! But what that does for
me, puts me in a better mood right when Im going to give me presentation. I have the
attitude: You are in my house. This is my turn to take the stage. I have worked on this
presentation, Ive been doing it for years, and I cant wait to give it to you!
Thats a much better place to give a presentation from than, All right, wheres the front
of the room? Wheres the microphone? Now you may be able to get the audience back
from that setting, if youre really good. But why not prepare and start off and make life
easier for you and make your presentation more enjoyable.
Now, Ed Tate.
I have tried-and-true openings. I have about five or six that I know that work every single
time. Ive been able to test them out over time. And I will open up my presentation with
one of those six tried, tested, and proved openings.
One thing, how I open up, typically I dont open up with Thank you for having me
hereIm glad to be here. Those types of things. I usually try to jump right in to the
content. The reason for that is it grabs peoples attention, it gets their interest
immediately. And many people appreciate the fact that you just jumped right into it.
Next, Jim Key.
During the first thirty-second period of your presentation the audience is trying to
determine if you have something. If you have gravitas. And if youre comfortable with
who you are, where you are, and what you know. They want to know if youre going to
bore them or whether you will effectively hold their attention during the presentation. It is
the opinion they develop of you during that crucial time that becomes the foundation
upon which they build an acceptance or trust and trust in your competence. Or whether
they reject and distrust you and completely reject your message.
Finally, Randy Harvey.
The human ear is a neglectful lover. If you dont get its attention immediately in the
opening of your speech, you will spend the next five minutes trying to get the audiences
attention. You want to come to the audience with enough presentation either through
vocal variety, interesting word use, or unique facial expression to capture the audiences
interest and have them say to themselves, Im going to learn something. Or This guys
so crazy I better pay attention. Who knows what hes going to do.
Lets recap:

14

Craig reminded us of the difference between features and benefits, and then illustrated
why you should bring the benefits of listening to you to the opening of your presentation.
Darren discussed planning for the moment you take the stage by getting comfortable
with the setting hours in advance of the live performance. He also suggested listening to
music to create the right mood for the moment. And he reminded us that if you dont get
the audiences interest in the first 30 seconds, youll spend the rest of your speech trying
to get it back.
Ed Tate explained how he has five or six dependable openings that he knows will work,
so he uses them to measure this audiences response against previous audience responses.
Jim Key said the audience wants to know right up front if you have something worth the
investment of their time and attention.
And Randy Harvey suggested that you bring enough physical or vocal presence to the
stage to make even casual listeners sit up and take notice.
And all of these things, we remind you, couldand probably should-- begin in 30
seconds or less.

15

Disk 1, Track 5

The first five minutes

With a good first impression now working to our advantage, lets examine what you can
learn from the audience in the first five minutes. Now, five minutes is an averageyou
may be able to make the same assessment in less time, and occasionally it takes longer.
But generally, most speakers have formed an opinion about the audience as a whole
within five minutes.
That is, you can tell if the audience is lively or lifeless. Are they cooperative or
combative? Are they hospitable or hostile?
Like most speakers, I have a standard opening. I rarely vary it because it is a yardstick. I
know how most people react and respond to it, so I use it as a benchmark. Therefore, if
on any given day the audience exceeds the typical responsethat fires me up because I
know Ill have a lot of fun with a responsive group.
On the other hand, if on a particular day the audience response doesnt measure up to my
average, then that tells me I will have to work harder to get them on my side. It doesnt
mean its going to be a bad day, just a harder one.
In this track, youll hear from Darren, Jim, Mark, Randy, and then Craig. Then, Darren
and Mark will return share their thoughts on how to make adjustments when the early
responses arent what you hoped for.
Lets hear first from Darren LaCroix.
This is where I actually use my introduction as a tool. Youre going to hear a clip now
from one of my professional presentations I gave recently. Now I want you to hear the
introduction that I gave them, word for word. He took a little creative liberty in there, but
youll hear a joke that gets a laugh.
(Speech)
(Introducer) on August the 25th, out of 25,000 other contestants, from fourteen
countries, Darren LaCroix was crowned the 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking.
Darren is the first person from any New England state, that means s hes a Yankee, to win
the championship since the contest began in 1938. As a result of winning, Darren has
presented to Toastmasters in Malaysia, Taiwan, and Oman. He left his day job of eleven
years to pursue a speaking and comedy career full time. As far as late night comics go
Letterman, Leno, CarsonDarren has listened to them all. (Audience laughter) Please
welcome, the 2001 Worlds Speaking Champion, Darren LaCroix.
(End)
(LaCroix) Now the joke is in there for several reasons. Number one, just to help lighten
up the audience just before I hit the stage. Now theyve been somewhat entertained. But I
do it to poke fun at myself intentionally so I dont look like I have a huge ego. In an
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introduction, typically youre giving a list of your credentials as to why they should listen
to you. So at the end of my introduction I like to poke fun at myself.
The other reason that I do it, and I think even more importantly, is I want to know where
the audience is at based on how they respond to that joke. If they respond to that joke and
laugh wholeheartedly I know Im going to have fun. I know I can just come back, relax,
and go with the flow. If they dont laugh, or they laugh on a very subdued level, I know I
need to come right at them. And I come right more into their face to grab their attention
and help wake them up. So I approach my speech differently. And I am waiting to hear
that laugh and how they respond. I want to know if theyre with me right away or if I
need to get them on my side. I will tend to be much more aggressive if I dont get that
laugh up front. Not as much fun, but I need to gain the audiences confidence and
attention before I launch in to my important powerful material.
Next, Jim Key.
I think that the reading of your audience begins, actually, before the first five minutes of
your presentation. It begins before you even take the stage and is done by either
observation, interaction, or both. By observation I mean that if you can observe the
audience members before you speak to them, possibly as they attend other parts of an
event at which youre speaking, or by spending time with their company or organization
before the event, youll have a good idea of what generally type of demeanor they have
and how they are like to respond to your presentation style.
You can also observe the audience as previous speakers, or as your introducer is
speaking, and get a good idea of how well the audience will respond to humor and how
well they will listen.
By interaction, I mean that if you have the opportunity to greet audience members as they
file into the venue where youre speaking, you can gain a sense of their warmth and
openness and begin to establish both your presence and a connection with your audience
before you even hit the stage to begin speaking.
Now, Mark Brown.
Within the first five minutes I can get a pretty clear idea of how the talk with go,
depending on the audiences response to my humor and my opening remarks. I look for
eye contact, verbal responses, body language. However, I try to read the audience even
before that. Heres how I do it.
As the audience is coming into the meeting place I listen carefully to the comments they
are sharing with each other. It is particularly helpful when you are dealing with a junior
high school or high school audience, or any teen group. On any given day I may hear
comments like, Oh, man. I am glad to be out of the classroom for a whole period. Yes!
Or, Oh, boy, here we go again. Another boring assembly. Geez! Or, Hey, I hear this

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guy is good. My cousin heard him last year and said he was really funny. I cant wait to
hear what he has to say.
Comments like those give me insight into the mindset of the group. Now, let me take that
one step further. Its also important to watch their response to the school administrator, or
the person who makes introductions. Why? Lets face it. It can be really difficult to gain
control of 800 excited teenagers, especially when it seems that their administrator,
someone for whom they usually have great respect, has a hard time calling the group to
order.
In a corporate setting you can tell fairly early on which of the attendees didnt want to be
there, couldnt get a dispensation, and they want you to know about it. You see, body
language tells the tale. If you see closed posture, frowning, arms locked, youre pretty
sure this person doesnt want to be there.
Now conversely, there are those glorious times when you see eager faces, people leaning
forward, hanging on your every word, then, oh man! You are in Speakers Paradise. The
audiences energy and enthusiasm is a clear indication that they want to hear from you.
Next, Randy Harvey.
I generally start my presentations with a humorous story, personal anecdote, or a folksy
tale. During the course of that I weave in a number of pauses so that I can take the
opportunity to look the audience in the eye and pick out those friendly faces that exist in
every audience, generally, and use them as the barometer of how well my speech is going
across. Ill also use those individuals that are identified in the audience as I continue my
presentation when I want to make a point I have a face to make eye contact with.
One common mistake that people make is starting their presentation by recognizing Jim
Smith or Sarah Jones. Its far more powerful to bring up those points of personal
recognition in the body of your speech rather than at the introduction. Primarily because
people expect that recognition in the beginning. Its far more powerful to take one of your
examples, one of your stories, and say, Much like John Smith, your founder, my father
knew how to make a sale.
By making those kinds of comparisons the audience is brought in to your message and
they accept it. Because now the message is about them as much as it is about whatever
example you are using.
And now, Craig Valentine.
Personally, I speak or train by the energy level. The first thing I look for in an audience is
the energy. If an audience is down I wont start off with GREAT ENERGY because well
be like two ships passing in the night. Instead, I will merely match their energy level,
connect on that level, and then lead them to the energy level I desire. Oh, Ive tried in the

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past to jump in with incredible energy, Good morning! How is everybody! Its a great
day to be alive!!! And theyre looking at me like, Who is this spaz?
Now, from that experience, I find their energy level, match them at that level, loosen
them up, build rapport, and do everything I need to do at that energy level. And the funny
thing is, when you match and build rapport at their energy level, they will follow you to
your normal energy level. And that usually happens in the first five minutes.
(David Brooks) Now, to discuss how and when to make adjustments to your presentation
when things arent going as you planned, here are Darren LaCroix, and Mark Brown once
again.
LaCroix: Especially in the comedy world I need to adjust my presentation or my comedy
when its not going well. Even though Im a professional, I do this all the time, I love to
do this, there are times where somethings off. The audience isnt focused, Im having a
bad day, something is just not right.
So in the first five minutes you can tellprobably in the first two minutesyou can tell
where its going and how its going. Typically what I will do is to stop right where I am
because everyone knows somethings not right. So I believe you should change gears at
that point. So what Ill do is Ill stop at that point and Ill start taking directly to the
audience and asking them some questions.
See, asking questions helps get their brain on track with what youre doing and what
youre saying. When you ask a question people, in their minds, have to answer, whether
its good or bad. But if you can get their brain answering either way youve got their
attention.
I try to look around and figure out what is the distraction? What is the problem? Ill even
also at that point walk out into the audience because that tends to wake them right up.
Personally, I believe you need to change gears if its not working. I will launch into one
of my stronger stories after the question session.
I also have as my back up; I will go to some audience involvement exercises. Meaning, I
have a couple improv games that I use. Now, bringing them directly into the presentation
almost always creates more attention and brings them in.
Brown: If Im in a school and it takes the administrator a long time to get the crowd
quiet, I begin to think about limiting the humor in my presentation. I know it will take a
long time to get the kids back and theyll miss the more important points, the meat of my
message. If the audience responds as I expect, I wont change a thing.
Lets recap Track 5, what should and could happen in the first five minutes:
I suggested, as Ed Tate mentioned in Track 4, using a standard opening as a benchmark.
That is, having done the same opening hundreds of times, I know how a good audience

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responds to it. Therefore, if the response is not typical, I know I will have to work harder
to gain their confidence, trust, or acceptance.
Darren recommended using the introductionthat is, the script that your introducer uses
to bring you to the stageas more than just a recitation of your accomplishments.
Instead, it should set your program in motion with a laugh, or an intriguing statement or
question that you can build upon immediately in your first five minutes.
Jim Key suggested reading your audience even before the program begins by observing
how well the audience responds to speakers before you. He said you can get an idea of
how they will respond to humor and how well they listen just by observing them as your
introducer speaks.
Mark Brown said he also listens to comments as the audience files in to determine their
mood and frame of mind.
Randy Harvey discussed making early eye contact to identify friendly faces in the crowd,
so that you can return to them anytime you need a moment of acceptance or reassurance.
He also suggested that you bring up points of personal recognition in the body of your
speech instead of at the beginning.
And Craig Valentine said in the first five minutes he determines the audiences energy
level, and then strives to match it, and then gradually lead them to the energy level he
desires.
And finally, Darren LaCroix and Mark Brown returned to discuss how and when to make
adjustments when things arent going as you prefer. Mark makes adjustments based on
how long it takes the introducer to get the audience to settle into a listening mode. Darren
said if the first five minutes are misfiring, hell bring audience participation to the
forefront, asking questions for example, to help get their buy-in to his message.
One final thought on the words that your introducer will use to bring you to the stage: I
recommend you write your introduction word for word. And, explain to your introducer
that it is critically important that he or she not vary from that script. Explain that what he
or she says sets your message in motion, so the words they say are an integral part of the
program. If you arent insistent, the introducer can put you into a hole that could take you
a long time to climb back out of.
(end of Disk 1)

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