Give your audience more of this and they’ll thank you for it

At the start of a recent presentation skills masterclass, a client asked me: ‘Does presenting always have to be high-energy and loud?

If I’ve ever given that impression, I apologise.

I love energy on stage, movement, humour, surprise, physicality, obviously. But I also love quiet reflection, contemplative moments.

What I do know as a professional speaker is that presentations live and die in the arena of contrast.

The brighter the fireworks, the more you earn moments of stillness and the more your audience listens when you slow down and let something land. Build in those quieter moments. Otherwise, it’s just a circus.

Award-winning speaker Allan Parker OAM does this beautifully. I’ve seen him sit on the edge of the stage and talk directly to the audience and I’ve seen him lie down on stage. This made a room full of hardened professional speakers, people who thought we’d seen it all, gasp.

When Allan brings everything down to that singularity, you feel as though you’re in a vast, starlit cathedral, soaking in absolute silence.

Bliss.

And then there are moments where quiet is needed.

The Lost Screen Memorial is a temporary, travelling art installation made up of 50 glowing lightboxes. Each lightbox is designed to look like a smartphone. On each lock screen is the photo and heartbreaking story of a child whose life was destroyed by social media.

That is a moment for reverence and the power is in the restraint.

Sometimes the bravest thing you can do on stage is pull everything back.

So no, much as I love jazz hands, presenting does not always have to be loud. Give your audience the full range.

They’ll thank you.