To impart a lasting impression to the audience, a speaker must find ways to keep the attention glued to his speech. Here are 9 simple ways to captivate your audience:

1. Speak in a clear, crisp, comprehensible voice with an enthusiastic tone. Avoid mumbling. 

2. Your message should be in relevant to the audience, touching on issues meaningful to the objective and applicable to current needs for the benefit of the majority.

3. Don’t try to memorize a word-for-word delivery. Instead, know your list of the ideas and speak in a more natural communication flow as you freely make your points, This creates interest in your topic. Keep it natural, not fake nor forced.

4. When humor is involved, audiences find the speaker interesting to listen to. Be aware not to go to far because this may unintentionally embarrass others or be misunderstood by them. This might raise criticism of you and your speech. 

5. Use stories or other examples to make your point. This lends credibility to the point and peaks the interest of the audience. Correlate the example and the point clearly.

6. Watch your tone and keep it positive. The last thing you want to do is sound condicending and turn your audience off. Get excited and fill your speech with positive thoughts, and turn a potentially dull mood into an enthusiastic one. 

7. If it’s appropriate, include audience participation. When done right, involving one member of the audience makes them all feel included. If you keep the speech from turning into a discussion, this is an effectiveness way to keep your audience’s attention.

8. Be honest and frank. If your purpose is to motivate your audience to action and it will require hard work, say so. Also, Don’t make up information. Your audience can tell. If there is a reference for certain information, mention it. This adds credibility to your presentation. 

9. Close you speech with a lasting meaningful message whenever possible. You want your audience to think about your message long after the speech. Ending on a inspirational statement or story will keep your message fresh much longer. 

If it so happens that you are the invited guest speaker of a gathering, the suggestions can help to keep your audience listening instead of simply being distracted.

It’s all about you. It’s not about the speech. FDS is here to help develop you.

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