Public speaking clients ask me how they can “read” their audience. I tell them they must open to receive their audience members.
Receiving is an experience of 1) seeing individuals in the audience, 2) making authentic connection one-to-one with them and 3) taking them in through soft-focus eye connection.
Receiving is my way of expressing an experience of deep rapport with individual audience members. Deep rapport involves an exchange of attention and subtle energy. Actors call this exchange of human energy “chemistry.”
The best way I know to establish chemistry with listeners is to use a soft eye focus to see people. Allow your eyes to become slightly unfocused. Then, gently land your eyes on one person at a time. Imagine you are drinking that person in through your eyes. You will actually feel that person’s energy or essence magnetically drawn to you so that you establish a palpable connection. As you take the person in, you will notice that you really see that person. You will see what mental/emotional state he is experiencing, and you will get a sense of who he really is.
Reading the audience is not so much about looking at people, but about taking them in through relaxed eyes. Reading the audience is not a technique to figure out what they are thinking so you can control them. Rather it is opening to see who people in your audience really are. It is a byproduct of deep connection, rapport and chemistry.
It’s a lovely experience to receive your audience members! It is a powerful way of being present with listeners.
