Use up-to-date Audience Management Techniques

In times past presentation and public speaking courses taught that to be successful with an audience one must confront them, or somehow control them and "sway" them, in fact one organization that still trains many people in the craft still believe that "you should not thank the audience they should thank you."

I've heard that there is still the belief that to overcome fear or what is known as "stage fright" one should imagine their audience without their clothes on.

I can't believe that such outdated theories are still being suggested. In this day of sophisticated audiences who witness thousands of hours of television and are exposed to the worlds finest communicators and speakers a new method of Audience Management must be employed by speakers who need to get their point across, convince or entertain audiences.  We are living in a new age and those who want to speak with authority with their audiences must move with the times and employ different more effective strategies to reach their audiences.

Develop Synergy not "Control"

The term " The speaker kept their audience spellbound" comes to mind, with the over stimulated and sophisticated audiences these days I wouldn't count on that kind of audience reaction or lack of reaction.

Certainly some speakers in the past did exactly that, speakers such as Billy Graham, and many other motivational speakers have done so.  Mind you, if your audience is motivated in the first place by the need to learn or to attain a particular goal, audiences can still be easily "captivated".

Even conflict resolution strategies have had to change "people skills" have become more sophisticated to attain "synergy" with the audience not "control" as in the past.  Once a speaker puts aside their ego and joins with the audience, then a teamwork atmosphere develops and the audience more readily listens and more importantly absorbs what the speakers is saying and the points being made.  This approach employed by successful entertainers. They often will in effect invite the audience to witness their very personal feelings and try to join with the audience and share grief, happiness, love, disappointment, sadness, and other personal emotions.  Leaders such as presidents of nations and societal opinion leaders often impart their influence and ideas in a way that confirms their audience's beliefs or twins with established knowledge.  Sometimes method of delivery is more important than the message itself.