How I Captivate My Audience by Steve Rizzo

Editor’s Note: At first glance, this may not *appear* to be written for nurses — but every single day, every time we walk into the exam room or pick up the phone, we’ve got an audience: our patients.  We need them to listen, to connect, to pay attention, to be there with us.  And in that light, we’ve decided to share what Steve – an expert at connecting with audiences — has to say.

No matter what group I’m speaking to or what program I’m giving, I always start off with 5 to 10 minutes of non-stop comedy.  Why?  Because nothing can captivate an audience and hold their attention more than “The Power Of Laughter.”  As soon as the laughter starts I can actually feel the tension in the room dissipate.  Their energy level is cranked and everyone is primed for a good time.

I heard someone say that today we live in the “United States Of Entertainment.”  I believe speakers have to adhere to this statement.  We are living in an age were the attention span of the average audience is about 30 minutes out of a 60 minute span.  To make matters more challenging, audience members are twittering, text messaging, e-mailing and even answering their cell phones during a presentation.  Unless a speaker has some kind of entertaining quality, they run the risk of loosing their personal connection with the audience. (more…)