Chapter 11 bring your audience together

It is easy for a man to lose his sense of self when he is in the crowd, and he becomes a part of the crowd and is more easily influenced than when he is alone. I often speak in the afternoon to sparse audiences sitting in halls, and sometimes in the evening to large crowds in small, crowded rooms.A joke that made the audience laugh in the evening, the audience in the afternoon only smiled slightly; the audience in the evening clapped enthusiastically at each passage, and the audience in the afternoon did not respond.Why? There are many reasons for this, but it is obvious that the audience in the afternoon was mostly old women or children, and they certainly did not respond as enthusiastically as the energetic and discerning audience in the evening.

In fact, another important reason is that when the audience is dispersed, they are not easily moved.Nothing in the world quenches the enthusiasm of an audience more than the wide open space, the empty chairs between the audience. In a lecture on preaching at Yale University, Henry Picchu said: People often ask me, "Do you find it more interesting to speak to a large group than to a small group?" I say no.I can speak to twelve people as well as I can to a thousand people, if only those twelve people can surround me, close together, close to each other.If a thousand people are spread out with two people a meter apart, it's as bad as being in an empty house... Get your audience close together and you'll be able to do it with half the effort Get them excited.

It is easy for a man to lose his sense of self when he is in the crowd, and he becomes a part of the crowd and is more easily influenced than when he is alone.He will laugh and clap enthusiastically, but if he is in the middle of an audience of five or six, he will be indifferent even though you are saying the same thing. It is easy to get people to respond when they are united as a whole; it is more difficult to get one to respond.Men, for example, are bound to make the most dangerous and reckless actions on the battlefield—they want everyone to stick together.During World War I, German soldiers held onto each other's hands as they went to battle.

the masses!the masses!the masses!This is a most peculiar phenomenon.All large-scale movements and social reforms must be developed with the assistance of the masses.There is a very interesting book on this by Everett Dean Martin called "Crowd Behavior". If you are speaking to a small group, you should find a small room.It is better to cram the audience into a small space than to disperse them in a large hall. If your audience is spread out, be sure to ask them all to come to the front row and sit near you.Be sure to stick to this before starting your speech. Do not do this unless the audience is really large and the speaker is really needed to be on stage.You have to be at their level, or right next to them.Unconventional and intimate with your audience, making your speech as natural as everyday conversation.