I spoke on Saturday to a crowd of about 400 and although I’m very used to public speaking, I have to say that this is the largest group I have ever spoken in-front of. I’m never really nervous about it any more, but it still can get you if you think too much about it.

Speaking in-front of 400 people or 40,000 people for that matter is the exact same really as speaking in front of 10 - it’s all in your mind if there is any difference at all.

If you want to speak well in front of a crowd, here are 3 tips I highly advise…

1. Humor - If you’re not a fun or charismatic person, you’ve got a lot of work to do before you can get on stage (or just don’t get on stage). If you can’t get the crowd into your conversation and responding, they’re lost. I don’t care HOW technically amazing your talk is - people are people and you need to FIGHT for their attention.

2. As for Audience Feedback - I always ask questions where I say “Raise your hand if you agree?” - sometimes people don’t raise their hands, they think it’s a rhetorical question - well I stop and repeat myself until they do.

3. MOVE AROUND - I like to be on stage, left side, then right side - then sometimes come OFF the stage. The more you can force the audience to follow you around, the more they are tuned in.

If you stand still, talk in a plain boring monotone voice - kiss your presentation good bye. I don’t care if you’re presenting a way for humans to fly, you’re not going to have the crowd (ok, maybe then you would…)

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