Public Speaking Course:
The Differences Between a Man and a Woman . . .
in the Audience that is . . .
The differences between men and women in the public speaking world is taught
in my public speaking course. An all female audience is always wonderful to work
with because they laugh easier and louder than if you had an all male audience.
All-male audiences are hard to get laughter out of because their ego gets in the
way. They will look around first to see if anyone else is laughing before they
will laugh, and they won't laugh as loud because they don't want to look
inferior to their colleagues. Audiences that consist of more than 50 percent
women are good too
because the presence of females provides a good buffer and makes it OK for the
men to laugh, since so many other people are laughing.
For a female speaker who is giving a presentation in front of an all-male
audience it is very important for you to bond and be "one of the guys".
I'm not trying to be sexist here, just stating a fact. This awareness of
differences between the sexes is from your public speaking course. I'm
just giving you some things to keep in mind if you are a female speaker and you
want to be successful in front of a general all-male audience. You must realize
not all men out there in the business world are as sensitive and loveable as I
am (send all big hugs to me in care of my publisher). If you have an all-male
audience that is not from the same company or field where work related issues
would suffice; make sure you stick to sports, business, and money to best
connect with them.
During my public speaking course I will show you how to deal with tough
audiences. One of the hardest audiences to deal with consists of a group of
executives from the same company when the CEO is present. If you say something
funny, the executives will start to laugh, but then choke it off until they see
if the CEO is laughing. If the CEO is laughing, then they feel that is okay to
laugh. This kind of audience will create timing nightmares for you. As a
good presenter, you can sometimes take it upon yourself to gently explain to the
CEO before you start you presentation how everyone will look to him or her for
approval.
Knowing the differences between how men and women react to humor is an important
lesson from my public speaking course. |
