The Essential Elements To Engage The International Audience

Success in international business depends a lot on relationship making and building rapport with the audience. The language, tone and method of communication depends a lot on what the presenter has to say and what kind of relationship he is trying to establish with the audience. Here are some things to be kept in mind:

Building rapport.
Making things interesting.
How to influence people.
Story telling.
Getting interactive.

v Building Rapport:

Building rapport is an important tool to deliver international presentations.

The presenter must develop connections on a personal level as well as from the professional front.
The presenter must establish trust in the audience.
The presenter should show warmth and attentiveness.
Build a sense of ‘we’.
There are basically two styles of rapport building, the reactive and proactive style.
The reactive style is usually used by people who are shy and reserved. People following this style do not like false politeness they prefer to be open and frank. They prefer relationships to develop naturally with time.
The proactive style is used by people who love being in positive atmospheres. They are interested in people and signal their interest through the questions they ask. They avoid conflict and negativity.

v Making things interesting:

Some presenters do not want to simply be bombarded with information; they rather look to be entertained.
It is important to use the term ‘we’ in the presentations.
The speaker should include relevant personal anecdotes.
Make impacts tangible and personal and create a sense of urgency in them.
Many speakers use rhetorical questions to good effect.
Effective speakers engage their audience by calling people by their name, especially if in front of a known audience.

v How to influence people:

Influencing people is necessary to get your point to the audience.
To influence people it is necessary to build trust and then apply logic to meet needs of the audience.
Presenters who manage to stress on the relationship they share with the audience create personal impact on the audience.
Presenters who are explicit and show levels of high self confidence usually convince the audience better than the others.
Positive energy when shown by presenters is a big plus point as the audience is more receptive to such information.

v Story telling:

Presenters today use stories to inspire, influence and transfer people to a present idle state to an active place in the future.
An insight into personal values will help tell a better story.
Telling a story on one’s personal experience or a tale of persistence will help engage the audience.
A fantasy story can also be quite effective if used correctly in the presentation.
For a fantasy story the presenter should create the correct scenario and narrate it with passion.
The end or the moral of the tale should be just perfect, the presenter must build to the climax

v Getting interactive:

A passive one way presentation is no fun.
But including interactivity in a presentation creates two 3 big questions.
When: interactive parts in the presentation is good, even more effective when the presenter is looking to create a friendly open environment.
Who: the presenter should decide in advance what activity he is going to carry out and for whom, is it for an individual or groups?
What: the most important part; the presenter should choose what he wants the audience to do, how he wants them to do it, will he be able to review it on time and should it be used as a competition to create interest.
These activities can also be used as an ice breaker before starting a presentation.

Rahul Gonsalves for naashtapaani.com