Coach Bennett was trying very hard to make sure that all of his players were given an opportunity to learn the basic elements to enable them to play well on the team. He really did not care if a player was extremely talented or not as long as team spirit was a predominant part of his personality and he was trying his best to learn the basics. Part of the strategy that Coach Bennett employed with the players was to enhance their individual basketball skills by using basketball videos to help them learn by watching others play. He discovered that even pictures of team members who were goofing up helped the team members learn what not to do when they were on the court and they were a valuable tool.
Many times how a subject is presented can make a person much more receptive to learning. There are four main tactics that have been found to work while trying to gain the attention of an audience and they are:
1. Using humor: This is one of the best ways to break the ice during a meeting or instruction session and without a doubt relaxes the listeners immediately. In no time at all, folks are leaning back in their chairs and listening better because they do not feel threatened in any way and they want to be in on all of the jokes. A speaker is wise to start out with a joke or humorous antidote just to garner interest and consideration from the crowd immediately. Usually this serves as an effective tool to keep them interested to the rest of the planned talk.
2. Telling about successes and failures: This tactic humanizes the person who is giving the speech and makes the listener tend to believe what is being said. As the coach talked about in the above story learned, discussing mistakes and consequences is often a wonderful teaching aid and the use of talking about things that did not work out so well makes people freer to ask questions and to gain interaction from the audience. Sharing successes is valuable as well and tends to stimulate the listeners and creates a much more sense of openness and a “can do” spirit.
3. Learning about the institution or group of people there: Making a connection with the group who happens to be in the same room and with whom you are making a presentation to is a smart way to relate to your audience. People appreciate whatever time is spent researching the products they make or the subjects they teach if it happens to be a learning institution. This is a tired and true method to gain audience attention as they will give the speaker or presenter more respect for the good preparation he or she did before coming.
4. Making eye contact and giving frequent breaks: It is well documented that presenters who look people in the eye capture the attention of the listeners. It shows that a person has confidence and pride in what they are explaining and it totally grabs the attention of the people in the room. Allowing numerous times for the audience to move around is also a good idea.
