How do I hook my audience? - September 2014

I recently taught a corporate executive, who was up for a divisional presentation representing his marketing department. His native language was Indian, and he was unsure how to captivate an audience, within his own language barrier,  to deliver a clear, concise message.

We worked together for 2 hours, implementing tools to help encourage his message and delivery, and bridge it from his own experience rather than speaking “to” his audience. “What did it mean to you when you first came to this job”?”Did you ever want to express but were too afraid to know how?” These were 2 of the questions we worked through. Before we knew it Subhash shared of his own perceptions of travel on business, what he anticipated when he would land in Newark, and what he anticipated on the way to his business trip home. Before we knew it, magic started appearing, he was captivated in sharing  the details of his first landing in Newark and the differences when landing from his native land of India. He spoke of the excitement, the details, the textures, the details, and this became his canvas. You see, when one shares from their own experience, it IS a language understood by all because it is sincere, honest, relaxed and engaging.

Subhash expressed he had finally understood the language of “tech and marketing” as only words. It’s the nuances of each experience that brings value, and cohesion to a team, an audience, and that is what hooks and draws in for effective presenting.