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Getting applause for your talk and having an impact with your talk are two very
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different goals for a presentation.
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A good round of applause feels great, that's for sure.
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But the enthusiasm of the moment is no guarantee that your message
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will stick or even have a longterm impact by changing someone's mind.
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Even worse, applause is seductive.
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When you get some, you want more.
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When you get a lot, you want even more.
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And it's quite possible that you do get more because once you get the hang of
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it, you’ll have a good sense of what makes your audience cheer for you.
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The temptation to strive for that applause is not a small one.
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And yet, the talks that resonate the most are often the ones that caused
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the audience to become quiet, right?
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To pause.
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To reflect upon what they just heard.
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Applause and impact.
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Are by no means mutually exclusive.
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But they also don't necessarily come together.
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Faced with a choice, I’d always prefer the talk that makes a
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difference rather than the one that makes for a good round of applause.
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But let's look at it from a different perspective.
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If the audience is still resonating with our talk a month, or even a year after
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we've given the talk, because that taught made a profound difference in their life
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… now that's a reason to be really proud of.
