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The
Differences Between a Man and a Woman . . .
in the Audience that is . . .
In my public
speaking book I teach about several
differences, but here is one that especially
stands out. An all female audience is great to
present to because they usually laugh easier
and louder than an all male audience. All-male
audiences tend to be the toughest to get
laughter out of because the male ego seems to
get in the way. All the men look around first
to see if anyone else is laughing before they
will laugh, and they won't laugh as loud as
they normally would because they think they
will look inferior to their colleagues.
If you are a female presenter doing a
program in front of an all-male audience it is
more crucial for you to bond and be "one of
the guys" than if you were a male presenter.
I'm not trying to sound sexist here I am just
stating a fact. This awareness of the sexual
differences is just part of what you will
learn from my public
speaking book.
I'm just giving you some things to keep in
mind if you are a female presenter and you
want to be successful in front of a general
all-male audience. You must realize not all
men out there in the business world are as
sensitive as I am (send all hugs and kisses to
me in care of my publisher). If your all-male
audience consists of a general public audience
not from the same company or field, stick to
sports, business, and money to best connect
with them.
Audiences that consist of more than half
women are good too
because the presence of females provides a
good buffer and makes it OK for the
men to laugh, since so many other people are
laughing.
In my public
speaking book I will show you the best
way to deal with tough audiences. Another hard
audiences to deal with consists of a group of
executives from the same company when the CEO
is attending. If you say something funny, the
executives will start to laugh, but then choke
it off until they check and see if the CEO is
laughing. If he or she is laughing, then they
go ahead and laugh.
This kind of audience will create timing
nightmares for you. If you are the CEO and you
are in the audience for a presentation, it is
your obligation to laugh and at least act like
you're having a good time to "give permission"
to everyone else that its okay to laugh.
As a good presenter, you can sometimes take
it upon yourself to gently explain to the CEO
before you start you presentation how everyone
will look to him or her for approval.
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