Eye contact with the audience and using hand gestures.
Making eye contact with the audience and using hand gestures can help you engage with your audience and make a firm connection with them. Making a connection is important because it will help you deliver your message through to whom you are speaking to. With eye contact, do not linger on just one person. Instead, make sure to shift your focus around the audience to connect with as many people as possible. However, be careful not to dart your eye contact around too frantically. It is important to hold an eye contact with an individual for at least 3 seconds.
Starting the speech with a question or a fact.
Starting the speech with a question or a fact will help catch your audience’s attention right away. If you start your speech with a great question it will help generate interest in the topic you are presenting. You may even use the question to create audience participation by allowing some folks to take a stab at answering the question. For example, if you you’re doing a speech on India you can start off the presentation by asking your audience “Does anyone know how many languages are spoken in India?” Such a question can evoke curiosity as the audience may find themselves looking forward to answer. Also to start the speech with power, find a unique fact about your topic. For example, going back to doing a speech about India you can start off your speech by saying “India has more English speakers than United States”. A simple question or a fact can get your audience to focus on your topic and show interest.
Do not apologize to the audience.
Sometimes during a presentation, you may pause within your speech and make a small mistake. This can