As a speaker, you’re used to speaking in front of people, right? There’s an automatic connection you make to human beings. But what happens when you’re doing a webinar or talking to a camera like I’m doing today and there’s no one to talk to? You’ve got to connect through the lens, or if you’re doing a webinar, you’ve got to connect to the listeners.
The technique is really simple and you’ve got to master this because, as a speaker, you can’t be in all places at all times. You can’t always have a human being right there to connect to. So it is your job as a speaker to create that connection, to put someone on the other end of that lens like I have to do today and actually speak to that one person.
A lot of times when you’re talking to a camera, like I am right now, you’re speaking to thousands—maybe millions—of people. You cannot connect to a million people. But you can connect to one person.
You have to put them on the other end of that lens and connect. You have to imagine seeing their reaction, and their head nods and their smiles. That’s all I’m doing right now. I can see the person I’m connecting to. I’m very specific on whom that person is and I can see their reaction.
Your job as a speaker when you don’t have human beings in front of you is to be very creative. That means being as great as a connector as you are on stage in front of a camera.
I just want to emphasize some thing I said earlier. Be very, very specific on whom you’re speaking to. Who is that one person? Is it your dad who may not be with you any longer? That’s often who it is for me. My dad is no longer living, but if I talk to my dad, I remember him and I connect with him.
Every person in the audience thinks I’m connecting to them, but I’ve never seen them before so how could that be? The audience feels your connection. In this case, they feel the connection to my dad—very specific for me but universal for the audience.
So think of whom you love to talk to or who would you love to talk to who’s not with us anymore? Who would you love to have a conversation with and you’ve never met or may not be alive anymore? Who is that person? The audience feels the warmth that comes from being that specific. They feel like you’re only speaking to them.
So, tell me now, who is that person for you? Answer by leaving a comment below.
