QuickBites: How to Meet Your Audience Where They Are.

Welcome to QuickBites, public speaking tips and techniques you can digest in five minutes or less. Here's your host, Peter George.

The Mistake Most Speakers Make

Baseball Hall of Famer Wee Willie Keeler was one of the best hitters of his era despite being one of the smallest players to ever play in the major leagues. When asked how he consistently posted the high batting averages he did, Willie answered simply: keep your eye on the ball and hit them where they ain't. For speaking, the principle flips: keep your eye on your audience and meet them where they are.

The after-lunch slot makes the point perfectly. You've been there — back in your seat, energy waning, and up bounds the speaker: "Hey, everyone! I know it's right after lunch, so let's get some energy in the room! Stand up, stretch, shake it out!" Most of the audience obliges reluctantly. The speaker is asking the room to match their energy before earning the right to lead. That's an all-too-common mistake — and it almost never works.

Matching Energy, Then Leading It

Meeting your audience where they are isn't complicated — but it does require intention. When you encounter a low-energy group, resist the urge to blast them with enthusiasm. Walk on stage a little slower than you normally would. Bring your rate of speech down. Scale back the size of your gestures. These small, deliberate adjustments give your audience permission to receive you — because you've joined them where they actually are, rather than demanding they come to you.

Once the connection is made, something shifts. The audience begins to engage. As they do, you can start to ramp your energy up — and they'll rise with you, naturally. You haven't pushed them anywhere. You've led them. That's the difference between a speaker who fights a room and one who owns it.

The Opportunity Hidden in Difficult Slots

Speakers assigned the after-lunch spot often compound the challenge with a fatal mistake: they stop preparing as rigorously as they normally would. They've already decided it's a lost cause. That self-fulfilling prophecy becomes a foregone conclusion — not because the slot made it so, but because they chose to believe it.

Here's a better mindset: that difficult time is a showcase. Professional meeting planners know the after-lunch block is the hardest slot to handle well. If you step in and nail it — if you walk into a lethargic room and walk out with an audience that's animated, engaged, and grateful — you've demonstrated something most speakers can't. Whether you're on right after lunch, first thing in the morning, or at the end of a long day, do everything you can to engage your audience and serve them well. The difficult slot, handled well, is one of the fastest paths to reputation, referrals, and more gigs. I'll see you next time.