Are you seeking to get a good round of applause? Or are you seeking to change someone’s mind …

Read more thoughts on the art of communicating week-daily at https://michaelgerharz.com/blog

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Getting applause for your talk and having an impact with your talk are two very

different goals for a presentation.

A good round of applause feels great, that's for sure.

But the enthusiasm of the moment is no guarantee that your message

will stick or even have a longterm impact by changing someone's mind.

Even worse, applause is seductive.

When you get some, you want more.

When you get a lot, you want even more.

And it's quite possible that you do get more because once you get the hang of

it, you’ll have a good sense of what makes your audience cheer for you.

The temptation to strive for that applause is not a small one.

And yet, the talks that resonate the most are often the ones that caused

the audience to become quiet, right?

To pause.

To reflect upon what they just heard.

Applause and impact.

Are by no means mutually exclusive.

But they also don't necessarily come together.

Faced with a choice, I’d always prefer the talk that makes a

difference rather than the one that makes for a good round of applause.

But let's look at it from a different perspective.

If the audience is still resonating with our talk a month, or even a year after

we've given the talk, because that taught made a profound difference in their life

… now that's a reason to be really proud of.