Speakers Behaving Badly - Are You Guilty of Platform Abuse?
I love the following post written by my colleague Diane DiResta. Are you guilty of platform abuse?
The platform is a privilege. When invited to speak, we have a responsibility to respect the audience and the nature of the platform (culture, venue, purpose of the invitation). Yet, many speakers take this responsibility lightly and abuse the platform.
Some of the biggest abusers are Hollywood celebrities at the academy awards. It’s disrespectul to accept an award and then use the stage for self-serving causes and political rants.
When Jane Fonda received an academy award for the movie Klute, it was at the height of her anti-war protests. You could hear the audience breathe a sigh of relief when she said, “There’s so much to say but now is not the time.”
Worse yet, are singers who pack the stadium to full capacity only to bash the current administration or turn the concert into a political rally. When people buy a concert ticket they expect to be entertained. To impose a political agenda is simply a bait and switch tactic.
The most recent platform abuser was reverend Michale Pfleger. He mimicked and mocked Hillary Clinton from the pulpit of Trintiy United Church of Christ. What was especially abusive was to do this in a church or “House of God.” A pastor’s platform is to preach the Scriptures not to campaign for a presidential candidate. This was a betrayal of trust.
At conferences business speakers abuse the platform when they sell their products from the stage. An infomercial is not what they came to hear. There is an unspoken contract between a speaker and an audience. The audience expects you to provide value. While it’s acceptable to challenge, stimulate and provoke thinking, it’s not all right to change the program just because you have a captive audience.
One speaker announced that instead of lecturing he would have an open discussion. People left feeling dissatisfied. They wanted the speaker’s expertise-not a chat. He violated the contract.
The next time you’re invited to speak, clarify your role, know the audience expectations, and then keep your promise. Speaking is a gift. Resist the temptation to push your own agenda. And you’ll continue to enjoy the privilege of the platform.
Diane DiResta, president of DiResta Communications, Inc., is the author of Knockout Presentations: How to Deliver Your Message with Power, Punch, and Pizzazz, an Amazon.com category best-seller and widely-used text in college business communication courses.
Blog: http://www.businesspresentations.blogspot.com
For a free newsletter and audio course visit http://www.diresta.com
Related Info:
Susan Levin interviews Diane DiResta on the Science of Speaking- Listen to the 60 min mp3
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Diane_DiResta
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One Response to “Speakers Behaving Badly - Are You Guilty of Platform Abuse?”
Joel
July 10th, 2008
The comments about ‘platform abuse’ are correct. But the speaker doesn’t address what could be a correcting influence … if audience members had the guts to stand up and confront a speaker who was cheating them. Eg. “Mr. Spkr, we’ve paid good money to come here and hear expert advice on [whatever] and you’re cheating us if you talk about politics, your family, or anything else. Will you give us what we paid for, or cheat us and force us to leave and get a refund?” Another problem is hosts who don’t make it clear to a guest speaker that the host and audience WILL NOT tolerate the talk being a disguised sales pitch. This is a severe problem in groups such as real estate investment clubs. Only the strong arms of my two companions kept me from confronting such a speaker at Sam Sadat’s Real Estate investment club recently.