Too many people worry about the reaction of the audience when they get up to speak. That’s not the time for concern. The time for concern – the time to do something about audience reaction – is in advance of your presentation, during your preparation. But assuming you are prepared to speak, you don’t need to worry: will they be friendly? Will they like me? Will they stay awake? Relax. The audience is always on your side. Well, almost always. One exception is when you are running for public office. There will always be voters who oppose your ideas on ideological or policy grounds. The other exception is when you are not adequately prepared.

So let’s assume you are not running for office and that you are prepared. Then you can relax – the audience is always on your side. No one entering a theater, training session, or convention hall turns to their friend and says: “I hope this speaker stinks!” The audience may have certain expectations. You may meet them or fall short. But at the start, everyone in (voluntary) attendance hopes for the best.

I can still remember some of my early presentations in the corporate world. I imagined that the speaker and the audience were in an adversarial relationship. How could it not be so? The audience was judging the speaker, right? That’s what I did when I saw a speaker. But then a teacher asked me, “Do you feel hostile toward the speaker you are judging?” The answer was no – I was just evaluating the experience. Sometimes I was delighted. Sometimes I was disappointed. But I always hoped for a great speech. So does YOUR audience. Just make sure you give it to them! And stay tuned for help on how to do that.