The second of six posts on how to interact with audiences. 

One of the consistent surprises for me in the keynote speaking world has been the reluctance of speakers to engage in significant audience interaction, despite the real benefits to both audience and speaker in doing so.  Some speakers want to give their canned speech and leave, of course; it saves wear and tear on the speaker.  Speaking can be a grueling profession and minimizing the interaction with audiences is one way to save on the gruel.

Other speakers don’t want to introduce the element of chaos that bringing an audience into a talk will potentially create.  What if they ask a question I can’t answer – or don’t want to answer?  And some speakers want to keep control of timing and agenda and don’t want to relinquish either to an unruly mob.

But those speakers are all missing the bigger point.  If you are speaking about a serious topic with the ambition of changing the world – of spreading your message as far and wide as it will go – then allowing the audience to get active in some way will ensure that they buy in to — and remember — your messages rather than simply hearing it and moving on to the next thing.

So in this, the second of six posts, I’ll continue to identify ways in which you can think about engaging the audience effectively for their benefit and for the propagation of your message. Once again, I’ll phrase the interactivity challenge as a question.

How can you turn your keynote into a choose-your-own-adventure for the audience?  OK, not really.  We don’t want to give all control over to the audience.  But when you offer audiences choices from pre-selected alternatives, that allows them to do what they do best as managers and leaders:  have agency.  Sitting through a keynote is a passive activity, for the most part.  If we can turn that passivity into action, then many audience members will suddenly start engaging and paying close attention, because they will perceive there is more at stake than in a more passive lecture.

So what could that look like?  Have your audience make choices (by vote, by poll, by turning to their neighbor and sharing) about values, about paths forward, about steps in a case study.  You’re probably already asking the audience questions about their attitudes toward certain aspects of your expertise, and then reacting accordingly.  As in, how many of you prefer white wines to red? Then, when you determine that 80 percent of your audience likes white wine, you say something like, OK, you’re a white wine bunch.  That means you like long walks on the beach and lingering sunsets. . . .

Choices about values are particularly good, because it’s not about getting it right or wrong when there’s only one correct answer, like a trivia question.  It’s more about a life choice or a leadership option.  If the questions are real ones, be prepared for different answers at different times, with options in your speech to go one way or another depending on the answer.  It’s a little more work but can lead to some fascinating outcomes.

Your opening story might spell out a dilemma for a leader and leave a choice at the end for the audience to weigh in on.  The more real the choice feels, the more your audience will invest in the decision that they pick, and the more interesting the rest of the talk will be for them.  You might give them a chance to discuss the option with a neighbor, or at their table, and then call on one or two tables or pairs in order to get a sense of the way the audience winds are blowing.  Audiences love to learn what they are thinking – to be shown themselves, as it were, so don’t be afraid to poll the audience several times during a talk, if it seems appropriate.