How to engage your audience

I am often asked how to engage your audience, whether you are sharing an opinion; presenting; pitching or even delivering a speech.

There is a lot of noise around storytelling to connect with an audience. In the right context, this is a powerful – but not the only way to engage your audience or to make your message memorable. I am sure I am not the only person who has attended a conference where EVERY speaker has attempted to hook the audience’s attention with a story: some even starting with “When my grandfather was a boy….” . Some of these are effective; others – including a speaker who managed to get lost within his own story 🙁 were less successful. On those occasions, when I was bombarded with story after story, my head was spinning and I kept thinking “Not another one!”

Stories are effective ways of engaging with our audiences:

• They help your audience remember key points
• Audiences (like all human beings) remember how they feel about hearing a story
• It is an easy way to explain a difficult concept, compliance or data explanations – wrapping a story around
• You build rapport and trust with your audience.

However, stories alone are not the only way to engage with audiences. To make our message ‘sticky’ or memorable. We can vary the ways we connect with our audiences. Here are other ways that work really well.

The first is a statement. The UN Chief at the Cop27 summit in 2022 said something that immediately grabbed me and I still remember how I felt. “We are in the fight of our lives”. He could have told a story about polar bears no longer being able to survive in the Arctic, or mountains he visited as a boy being unrecognisable due to snow melting. But no, he chose to be direct, focused, clear with his message and it worked.

I remember when I saw the next speech: a TED Talk. The speaker, Graham Hill asked a question. He created intrigue. The audience wanted to know what he was going to say next but more specifically what was in the box!

Creating intrigue

We are all humans; creating intrigue and curiosity is such a powerful way to to engage your audience. Here are some tips for doing this.

• Asking a question
• Sharing a challenge and your solution
• Revealing the end of an inspiring story
• The “How on earth did they do it?” question
• How do they make my life easier?
• Adding a poll or question that they need to vote on – they will want to know the answer!

In the end we need to engage our audience in a number of ways. There is so much noise around stories for engagement. Whilst stories are useful; they need to be used effectively, as well as there being lots of other ways to engage your audience.

This is the type of work we do individually or in groups. It is essential for businesses and individuals to engage with their audiences – rather than broadcast. If you would like more information or to discuss different options why not contact us

Are you interested in discovering more about credibility and how you can demonstrate it when you speak? Why not grab our Credibility checklist;