Chapter 46 The purpose of the speech should be suitable for the audience and the occasion

If you bring the audience into your speech, or dramatize your point of view, the audience's attention will be significantly improved.This is because when one of the members of the audience is brought into the "performance" by the speaker, the audience pays keen attention to what happens. Dear friends, have you ever thought about such a question: What kind of techniques can you use to make the audience follow your train of thought and be interested in your speech?My answer is this: If you bring the audience into your presentation, or dramatize your point, the audience's attention will increase dramatically.This is because when one of the members of the audience is brought into the "performance" by the speaker, the audience pays keen attention to what happens.As many speakers have said, there is an invisible "wall" between the people on the stage and the people off the stage, and what you need to do is to use the participation of the audience to tear down this "wall".

For example, a speaker, in order to illustrate how far a car must go to stop after applying the brakes, asked someone in the front row to stand up and show him how far the car would go at different speeds. what changes.This listener took the end of a steel tape measure and pulled it 45 feet down the aisle... During this listener's demonstration, I noticed how engrossing all the other listeners were.In addition to showing the speaker's argument vividly, the tape measure also became a bridge of communication between the listener and the speaker. I would also like to recommend to you some methods that I often use myself, such as asking questions.I like to ask the audience to stand up and repeat a sentence after me, or to raise their hand to answer a question.Percy H. Wining's book "How to Add Humor to Your Speaking and Writing" provides some advice on how to engage your audience in your presentations.He suggested letting the audience vote on something, inviting them to help solve the problem. "Make sure your thinking is correct," said Mr. Huaining. "The right thinking will make a speech not like reciting, it can get the audience's response, and turn the audience into a partner of the enterprise." I like his description of the audience as " learning partner".This is the key point I want to tell you, if you get your peers or audience involved, you give them the right to collaborate.

I also have a simple "magic formula" here, which guarantees that you can impress your audience within two or three minutes, make them accept your suggestion, and take action. Let's look at some examples of this.During the First World War, a famous British bishop spoke to the soldiers who were going to fight at Camp Upton. Some soldiers understood the meaning of fighting, but most did not.I know this because I've talked to them.But the bishop talked about "international goodwill" and "Serbia's right to a place in the sun."And most soldiers don't even know what "Serbia" is.Fortunately, there were military police guarding the exit, otherwise, many people would have escaped during his speech.

I have no intention of making fun of the bishop, who is a scholar to the core.In front of religious people, he is likely to use his oratory skills to make a head start.But he forgot that the audience he was facing at this time were soldiers. He didn't know his audience, he didn't know the purpose of his speech, and of course he didn't know what to do.Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that his speech was completely wiped out. What, then, is the purpose of the speech?Any speech, whether you understand it or not, generally refers to one of the four purposes listed below: He delivered his first and second inaugural addresses at Gettysburg, primarily to impress and convince his audience.When he spoke to a jury, he wanted to win a favorable decision; when he made a political speech, he wanted to win votes.The purpose of this is to obtain an action response.

Two years before Lincoln was elected president, he had prepared a speech on invention.The purpose of this speech is very simple, he just wanted to bring some joy to everyone, but unfortunately he failed in this regard. But the vast majority of Lincoln's speeches were successful, and some of them have become classics in human language.Maybe you want to ask, why can't he bring joy to the audience?The reason is simple, because he knows his purpose in other speeches, and knows how to achieve this purpose.Other speakers fail to align their own goals with those of the audience, which leads to confusion, sluggish speech, and inevitable failure of the speech.Example: A member of the U.S. Congress gives an explanatory speech at the old New York circus about how the U.S. is preparing for war, etc.At the beginning, the audience listened patiently and politely for ten minutes, fifteen minutes, and gradually became impatient, hoping that his speech would end quickly.But he didn't pay attention to these, and continued to chatter endlessly.The audience wants to be entertained, not here to be taught.So, some people began to mock him, and even booed him, and then thousands of people whistled and roared.This congressman is really stupid. He couldn't feel the mood of the audience at this time, and he continued to talk silently.The impatience of the audience turned into anger, and they decided to silence him.Then, the roar and anger of the audience drowned out his voice - he was booed off the stage by the roar and booing of the audience, which was really humiliating.

Let us learn from this, my friends, and adapt our purpose to the audience and occasion.If the congressman mentioned above has considered in advance whether the goal of his speech is suitable for the needs of the audience, he will not fail miserably.Therefore, you must thoroughly analyze the audience and the occasion in advance before you can choose one of the four purposes as your purpose.