Tweet

Communicating with Large Groups of Employees

Guest post by: Robert Whipple

Article Overview: Some leaders have a knack for communicting with large groups of employees well and others stink at it. In this paper I outline some of the variables in this equation and offer many tips for improving your skills in this area.

Communicating with Large Groups of Employees

Marginal communicators put their audiences to sleep. You see people with glazed eyes trying to be polite and hoping the agony will be over soon. How do you avoid this? In communicating with large groups, foster a special quality of "connectedness." Hold the audience in your hand. Make sure they hear and internalize what is being said.

First, consider whether the facilities and your audience are in proper condition for communication. In "The Pursuit of Wow", Tom Peters said, "You may think you are the world's greatest speaker with a message of utmost urgency, but if the auditorium's air conditioning is on the fritz and the sound system is singing static - well, forget it."

Pay attention to the physical layout. Things like the aspect ratio of the room, the comfort of the chairs, the layout of tables, lighting, whether or not amplification is needed, all make a big difference in getting people to pay attention.

Temperature is another key variable, especially for long meetings. It is common for some to feel warm, while others are chilled. Test frequently if people are comfortable with the temperature, and do what you can to strike a good balance.

Some speakers ramble on, paying little attention to signals from the audience. They might go on for 2 ½ hours expecting the audience to grasp everything being said. After a couple cups of coffee, the average human being needs a break after 50-60 minutes. It is impossible to concentrate on a presentation when you urgently need to relieve yourself. Ignoring biological needs is inconsiderate and self-defeating. I guarantee, after 90 minutes most people have checked out. The only thing they want to hear is, "Let's take a 15 minute break." Do not promise your audience a break "in a couple minutes" then keep talking for 10 minutes. After 2-3 minutes, nobody will be listening to a word you are saying.

Read your audience like a book. Alter cadence and tone to keep listeners engaged. Make constant eye contact by scanning the group. If you see one person emotionally checked out, work on that person - maybe ask them a question - but get them engaged somehow. Use visual aids to enhance the presentation, so people can grasp complex issues with ease. These aids should be simple but compelling to the message. There must be no ambiguity.

Good speakers frequently test to determine if people are getting the message. This is like the famous TV chef, Emeril Lagasse, who turns to the audience several times a show with "are you with me so far?" This keeps people engaged in the presentation as if it were a personal discussion. Thinking of a speech as dialog is a helpful concept. The audience gives you verbal cues and body language. If you are skilled at reading them, you will insure people are with you throughout the presentation. In the end, they will have internalized your message. They may not like it or agree with it, but they definitely get the message. Reading audience body language also helps you know when they need a stretch break or if the temperature is too low.

I like to use silence as a means of getting audience attention. During a presentation, people are expecting a constant drone of words. As long as you are babbling up front, they can check out mentally and think about their upcoming fishing trip. When you stop talking, the anxiety level goes up with every second. "Why isn't he saying anything? What is happening here?" It is an extremely powerful tool. If you are the speaker and simply stop talking for 15-20 seconds, you will have everyone's full attention when you begin again. Do not overuse this tool. Once or twice in a 60 minute presentation is the maximum. More than that will alienate the audience.

Most speakers attempt to talk louder and faster when the audience is checking out mentally. The idea is to grab their attention by being more intrusive. Actually, the reverse is more effective. Speak very softly and slowly for a sentence or two to bring your audience back to consciousness.

Ask your audience questions to maintain the feel of dialog. Try alternating between rhetorical and literal questions to keep the audience involved. I like to walk into the audience space when asking questions. The physical presence of a speaker standing 5 feet away, rather than up front, makes people feel the questions are directed at them. An alternative to wandering into the audience is simply to look intently at one section of the room when you ask your question.

Good communication does not occur at the "head" level. Sure, we use the mouth to speak, the ears to hear, the brain to interpret, the eyes to see, etc. Real communication is deep in the gut. When you have internalized the message fully, it goes well into the body. Don't make the mistake of thinking you have communicated with someone because you have talked and they appear to have heard it. Verify what was taken in at the gut level.

Related Articles
  New Managers - How Coaching Can Help
  A Target Market the Key to Selling More Part II
  Clarifying the Strategic Focus
  15 Ways to Create High Visibility with FaceBook
  A Shining Example of Communication and Conflict
  Health Care Reforms - How Are You Dealing With Them?
  “Powerful Communication Tips For Managers and Supervisors, From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”
  Stakeholder Management - Keep Your Updates Regular
  How to Avoid the Web Site Usability Gap
  Motivation Techniques: Eight Ways to Motivate Part Time Employees
  Should You Care if Your Employees Love You?
  Why would someone come to work for you?
  How to Avoid the Website Usability Gap
  How to Tell if Your Employees 'Get' Your Brand
  Communicating Sales Info To Your Board
  You didn’t say I’d be fired!
  Eight Leadership Techniques for Outstanding Teams
  Collaboration & Team Building for Sales Force Management Growth
  The Importance of Small Breakout Groups to Find Solutions and Create New Products and Services.
  FACEBOOK IS WHERE THE INVESTORS LOOK

Article Tags: Communication, Groups, Leadership, Trust



Related Forum Posts
Re: On Which Social Media Sites Are You Most Active? - It's great to hear how you're using it Bill - the strength of Groups is discussion so for anybody who wants to primarily use it for discussions you should look at Groups. The limit I believe is 5,000 members. If you want to do anything other than discussions then you definitely want to set up a Page. Good luck everyone!
Mastermind Group - Is this the same as Evan's Mastermind Groups?
Mastermind Groups - Hi Guys I just wondered whats the 'Mastermind Groups' section about on the forum?
Successes at My Space - [quote:37w3bsp7]do you mind sharing some of your successes with MySpace? [/quote:37w3bsp7] Hi, Evan Actually the successes I was talking about was with the Groups feature - there are soooo many groups there of interest to me, from the fiction to the sciences, that I've joined them all. I don't find Facebook's Groups stuff to be user-friendly at all. I will say that the more I browse, the more I just shake my head at what people do there (as well as on Facebook, of course). Profile pages where the text of everything is illegible, either because they have a dark, illustrated background - which looks nice but makes it impossible to read anything, or because they choose weird colors - one person I saw yesterday used light red text on a dark green background. And when you read their blog entries or even the text on their profiles... it's like they can't put together a coherent sentence, let alone spell any of the words properly. And I don't think they parse other people's writings very well, either... Well..end of rant I'm just annoyed because it's Labor Day weekend and I'm sure everyone's out in the fun and the sun instead of being at home surfing the web [and in particular my site]!
Re: Ways to Boost Productivity - 1. Give Employees More Than a Paycheck 2. Provide Better eSupport Channels to Promote Self-Service 3. Complete your most dreaded tasks first thing in the morning. 4. Outsource as much as possible 5. . Turn off the TV.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Why SEO is important for your online success

Work at home Opportunities for the Disabled

Web Design in 30 Minutes - Can this be Right?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.