I often get asked about differences between large and small audiences.  How do you connect with the large audience?  Most speakers are reasonably comfortable in front of smaller audiences, but there’s something intimidating about the bright lights, huge stage, and row upon row of audience members all looking up at you waiting for you to be scintillating.  How do you pull that off?

 

On the whole, the same techniques work in front of large audiences as well as in front of small ones.  You’re still leading the audience on a decision-making journey, you’re still connecting with them on both intellectual and emotional levels, and you’re still telling stories.  That said, there are some crucial differences.

 

1.  Large audiences want to laugh.   If you’re a natural ham, this is the time to let it out.  Large audiences want to indulge in big group laughs.  You can still, of course, be serious, but give large audiences the opportunity for a guffaw or two.  They will reward you many times over with energy back.  If you want a standing ovation at the end, finish on an inspiring, serious note.  “Make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry” said the old vaudevillian, and the words are still true today.  First go for the laugh, then the tears. 

 

2.  Large audiences need more time.  It takes longer for the sound of your voice to get to all the ears in a larger audience.  You have to slow down your tempo so that your message gets through.  You can’t be as complex or as rapid-fire with groups over 300 as you can with audiences of less than 100. 

 

3.  Large audiences demand and give back more energy.  As the physicists have noted, energy is conserved.  With a speech to a thousand people, that means that you have to crank up the energy double for every additional 100 people.  You have to be louder, with higher highs and lower lows, and stronger in all ways.  When you move, move faster, with more purpose and intention. Note that you can still go quiet, and that can be very effective, but it has to be strong – full of emotion, not just quiet. 

 

4.  Large audiences need simplicity.  When you get in front of really large audiences, some of the nuances and shadings need to be edited out.  The subtleties of the message will be lost on the 100^th row, so make it easy on yourself and the audience by anticipating that and keeping your overall presentation simple. 

 

5.  Large audiences need to be active, not passive.  All audiences want to give something back to a successful speaker, but especially large audiences.  That’s why politicians indulge in call and response chanting so often at the end of their rallies.  “Yes we can!” is a great recent example of a way a great political orator allowed his audiences to join in. 

 

Comments

[Seymour Segnit]

You're absolutely right, Nick. Good points are made here. There is nothing that puts a large audience to sleep faster than a speaker who doesn't understand what it means to "go BIG," or rather, really pump up their own energy. This is something that takes a lot of practice for some people, but once you feel comfortable with it, makes all the difference in the world.

Seymour Segnit
http://www.ConfidentlySpeaking.com

[Vivek Singh]

I have a few observations about talking to large audiences.

1. Large audiences are more heterogeneous and hence their understanding levels may vary. A presenter should be aware of that and frame his content.

2. Large audience is not fast to react. They need more time. Hence, making them 'do' a group task is tougher.

The way to overcome this would be to go slow and explain what you want them to do. I have seen good speakers fail at this because they assume everyone was listening the first (and the only time) they explained the game to the audience.

[Olivia Mitchell]

Aaah That makes more sense. And yes, I agree. It's not so much about the speed of sound but just that in a large group the "bell curve" of reaction times is likely to be much more spread out. So I would say it's not so much a case of slowing the tempo - which to me indicated slowing down the rate of words - but in leaving longer pauses after you've expressed an idea. Olivia

[Nick Morgan]

Hi, Kathy -- thanks for your comment. You're right; you have to make the gestures bigger than you do in a smaller room with a smaller audience.

Hi, Olivia -- of course, the speed of sound is 'pretty fast'. But what takes longer is all those ears to absorb the sound and react. Anyone who has spoken in front of a large audience has experienced it -- it simply takes longer for a reaction to ripple through more people. Smart speakers realize this and learn to wait for their audiences.

[Olivia Mitchell]

Hi Nick
I agree that there are some differences in speaking to large audiences. But I don't get your second point "It takes longer for the sound of your voice to get to all the ears in a larger audience." Did you really mean this? The speed of sound is pretty fast. Many professional speakers speak pretty fast to large audiences - including the speaker you've featured in your next post, Tim Sanders.
Olivia

[Kathy Reiffenstein]

Good advice, Nick. I often tell my clients that when speaking to a large audience, they need to be "bigger than life," meaning that they need to exaggerate their gestures and purposefulness. Subtle gestures and movement are totally lost before they hit the first row.

Kathy Reiffenstein
www.andnowpresenting.us