The other day we were watching our two daughters play. A light bulb went on regarding women.
They’re different than men.
“No sugar Sherlock.”
Stick with me.
Girls laugh a lot. Boys on the other hand laugh too, but it is regularly associated with something physical. Like most boys, our son is kinesthetic. He will laugh the second you throw him in the pool. Wrestle on the carpet or knock him on his keester during a pillow fight.
Relate this with how different female audiences are from male audiences. Energy feeds off energy. With a room full of female nurses or women direct marketers you could run a power plant on the energy in the room. Where does this energy spring from?
Emotion.
Women emote naturally. Women laugh easily. They aren’t as concerned about showing emotion.
Then there are the guys. Let’s split men into two categories. Younger (50). The younger ones will engage but are more conservative than women. The older guys are, by far, the toughest audience. It could be a rise in cynicism or a drop in testosterone. By and large, the older the group of males the bigger the challenge it is to have them let loose and have fun.
Men still emote and laugh but they need to know it is the norm. If a bunch of guys are laughing, then others join in. Emotion has momentum. If the room sucks up the sound or the energy immediately dissipates, you’ll notice an up hill effort to engage them. Men hit hard by an emotional story are more likely to caught off guard than women.
On average, there’s a two to one ratio of men to women who come up after my presentation choking back tears from something that impacted them. This indicates; when you impact a man’s emotion, you really get through to him.
In audiences where there’s a balanced mix of men and women, the women always dictate the energy in the room. If they are enjoying themselves and laughing, men laugh too. With the exception of the makers of the Blackberry. Nobody’s laughing.
The critical element for any successful presentation is to provide an experience. The key to a memorable talk, is a speaker who can take their audience on a roller coaster of emotion.
To all men reading this, let’s just say you could lighten up a little. Drink more Cosmo’s. Pay attention to your shoe, belt combination. Tivo Oprah on occasion.
Women, if you’re reading this, keep up the good work. I’d take a room full of you any day!
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Vince Poscente helps people accelerate goal achievement. He’s a New York Times bestselling author, Olympian and an international award winning motivational keynote speaker. www.VincePoscente.com
– Do you have any thoughts on the ideas above? Any advice that would helpful to keep in mind when delivering presentations? Share in the comments below.