Basics do matter

When you go to a major lecture or a major talk it doesn't take you long to notice that the basics do matter:

1 -- Even speakers with small roles on the program make a significant difference for the audience when they make consistent and sustained eye contact and add excitement to their vocal projection.

2 -- Audiences are important and audience conduct is important. Personal conversations, text messages (sending and receiving), inappropriate response all take away from the experience for other members of the audience. How rude is it to be paying more attention to a text message than to the situation in which you presently find yourself?

3 -- Speakers do a service to themselves and to their audience if they preview the body of the speech and let the audience know the direction you are heading.

4 -- Examples, especially those with people in them, help explain abstract concepts for an audience and most big ideas should have some pretty solid examples. Audiences appreciate short stories that make the point.

5 -- Audiences really do appreciate that "human" touch that lets them know you are speaking to there, where they are, and not just to the next group on your to-do list. On Wednesday night at Coker College, Dr. Gus Speth did a good job of relating to his audience at Coker College and the nearly packed auditorium knew he was talking to them at Coker. They appreciated that.