Tip 253: Give your audience something to think about
Your audience can think at a rate of 600 words per minute. However, they can process your words at the very maximum rate of only 150 words a minute. This leave approximately 450 words a minute to think about lunch, friends, family, the weather or absolutely anything other than your presentation.
So, when you have said a few words, your audience has already raced ahead of you to something else. If those spare 450 words a minute find something to think about which is more interesting or pressing than your presentation, then the mind will naturally allocate more brainpower to think about the new interest, rather than thinking about your presentation!
There is no point speaking any faster, because your audience cannot understand your words any faster than 150 words a minute.
To keep up with your audience, every 15 seconds or so, you must find something non-verbal to do in order to keep pulling your audience’s focus back on to you.
This could be a movement around the stage, or changing a slide, or a gesture. Use your imagination to find something non-verbal approximately every 15 seconds which will keep your audience’s eyes and thoughts entirely on you.
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