I spoke at Google HQ in Mountain View. That’s not me blowing my horn. That’s me about to make a point.

While I was waiting for the clock to strike 12 and the mouse run down the clock (sorry, I was thinking about my daughter’s blog), I did what I most always do. I tried to strike up a conversation with some of the attendees.

Shut Down by Google Employee

“Where are you from?”

“Germany.”

“Ah! We are playing you guys in the World Cup tomorrow.” Note: I care nothing about World Cup Soccer and was surprised at myself for knowing what I did.

Related: Be a Better Storyteller

“Soccer? We’re nerds here. We don’t care about sports.”

She shut me down. Killed the conversation. Google? A tough crowd.

Even so, that simple exchange was very insightful to me heading right into my talk.

Use this illustration or that? Tell this story or that?

Interact with Your Crowd

It’s important to interact with your attendees as much as you can before you start … even right before you start IF you have the leeway.

Granted, some cruise ship speakers do other things to calm their nerves, to gain focus… and those, to be sure, are important.

But so is getting to know your crowd as much as you can.

Contact us and we’ll get you on board.

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