🔥JG Insights 5: If you're soft spoken, move closer to your audience

If you're soft spoken and want to lead the room, move physically closer to your audience. You don't need to be loud, just heard.

Recently, I was training a group of facilitators on how to hone their craft. Part of the training involved having the facilitators lead a portion of an upcoming session they would be conducting and receive feedback from their peers.

For one soft-spoken facilitator, her challenge was that some of the people in the back of the room had a hard time hearing what she was saying. And that is a significant problem. Because if your audience can't hear you, even if you have the best message, they will tune you out.

I suggested a practical, in-the-moment tactic she could easily apply - take a few steps forward.

This simple strategy not only solved her problem, but it also increased the connection that she has with an audience, as physical proximity sends a signal of warmth. Imagine someone saying "I love you" from across the room, vs. saying it from 1 foot away.

Make it a practice to get out from behind the lectern or beside the PowerPoint and move closer to your audience.