Adjusting your speaking based on the size of your audience
There’s so much to consider when giving a presentation. One key consideration is how many people are in your audience. Speaking to a large crowd can differ greatly from speaking to a small crowd. A recent Fast Company article entitled, “5 Speaking Habits You Need to Adjust Depending On The Size of Your Audience” described some key factors that are impacted by the size of your crowd.
- Level of concentration
With larger audiences, you typically have to concentrate more intensely. If you concentrate too much on your speech material in a small audience, you may come across as too intense. With smaller audiences, your focus can be relaxed a bit more. Due to the intimate nature of the setting, you can redirect your focus more to the audience itself, rather than only the material. You have more flexibility to shift focus back and forth between your audience and your material.
- Voice quality
When you are speaking to a large audience, more than likely, you will have a microphone. So if your voice is too loud or too quiet, the microphone can adjust to the perfect volume. An audio technician can make you sound amazing.
On the other hand, with smaller audiences, you don’t always have the luxury of a microphone or audio technician. Without the technological help, your voice may come across as too loud or too quiet. Therefore, you will need to determine the correct amount of projection for your voice and adjust accordingly.
- Audience vibe
When speaking to large audiences, you typically get feedback from the audience as a whole. Sometimes, in dimly lit large auditoriums, you can’t see your audience. However, you are aware of the energy. The energy of the audience is typically cohesive.
However, when you’re in front of a small audience, you can see every face. You can also establish eye contact with each member of your audience. You can hear chatter amongst audience members. For this reason, when interacting with small audiences, you want to connect with individuals in addition to the group as a whole. Make eye contact with individuals and move towards them to engage.
- Style
When speaking in front of a large audience, a live video feed of your presentation is typically projected behind you. This allows the audience members that are far away to better see you. Because of this, having a larger than life presentation style could be a bit too much. Instead, you should aim to be subtler—with small moves and expressions. You also want to keep things more personal as if speaking to someone one-on-one.
With smaller audiences, you don’t have a camera that will zoom in on you for emphasis. For the reason, it’s best to project yourself bigger. You’ll need to engage your audience with gestures, exaggerated facial expressions, and overall rhythm.
- Movement
For larger audience presentations that are being recorded, you want to consider how many cameras are recording you. If there’s only one, you can’t move as frequently and jump from one location to another. However, if there are two or more cameras, you have some options in terms of moving around.
When speaking to smaller crowds, you can move as much as you’d like. You can walk around and interact with the audience. You can move closer to place more emphasis. You can pause and then reposition yourself. Overall, you have more control.