Rapport- How Much to Customize?

Go to the trouble of learning about the audience.  Make six or seven references geared specifically to your audience.  That makes you, the speaker, something of an insider and lets the audience know you took the trouble of learning about them.

Make comments – humorous statements, praise, or just simple observations – about the people you’re speaking to, the organization’s history, local businesses, local news, events, or customs.

Rerun Oct 6, 2017

Rapport- How to?

How to get to that sweet spot of building mutual warmth and walking the same page with your audience?

Answer: Put their needs and interests ahead of your own.

You don’t ignore your own needs, but put the spotlight on their needs.

For example,  if your audience has been listening to hours of speeches all day, give them a gift and cut your  60-minute speech to 20 minutes.  Yes, you get your message to them, they get a respite AND they will love you for it.

Rerun from Sep 24, 2014