Your Dance with Your Listeners

"May I have the pleasure of this dance?"

What an appropriate metaphor for our speeches and presentations! For aren't we inviting our listeners to "dance," to take a whirl (or a waltz or a two-step) as we partner with them concerning our topic and message?

We lead, and our listeners follow. If we do it right, they'll be with us every step of the way. If we're clumsy or we ignore our partners, of course, they won't enjoy the experience. Their toes may not ache, but they'll be sorry they accepted our invitation.

Too often, we feel like we're dancing all by ourselves in the spotlight. One of our tasks as a speaker, after all, is to engage our listeners at all times, not letting them drift away from the steps we're teaching them. A speech or presentation isn't a solo tap routine. It's always a duet, and we need to notice and feel the response of our listeners--exactly like a good dance partner. For us as speakers, that means paying attention to and adapting to our audience's nonverbal communication.

And when audience members speak up with questions and comments, that's our chance to follow their lead. If we're paying attention and we care about whether our routine succeeds, we'll respond appropriately--it's as simple and natural as that.

A major challenge for all of us is to know that our audience is being actively influenced when we speak. Too often, we sense we're up there alone, and it can feel as though we're walking down a dimly-lit one-way street. Thinking of our presentations as a dance with our listeners is a good way to get past that feeling. We may even be able to transform that one-way street into a garden path, with us and our audience-partner waltzing down it in the sunlight.