{"id":863,"date":"2019-01-17T10:47:59","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T10:47:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/why-is-nobody-listening-to-me-3-ways-to-engage-more-people\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T18:46:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T17:46:19","slug":"why-is-nobody-listening-to-me-3-ways-to-engage-more-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/why-is-nobody-listening-to-me-3-ways-to-engage-more-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Is Nobody Listening To Me? 3 Ways To Engage More People"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why Is Nobody Listening To Me? 3 Ways To Engage More People<\/h2>\n

\"\"
\nAt some point you will have gone into a presentation or meeting, and felt that\u00a0no one\u00a0<\/em>was listening to you.<\/h2>\n

People were on their phone, looking confused, or outright ignoring you.<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s hard to continue speaking when it seems that people are switching off, disengaged or rejecting your ideas.<\/p>\n

For example, I once taught a workshop to a room full of people who didn\u2019t want to be there. The group was under tremendous time pressure and half of the original group had cancelled because of other deadlines.<\/p>\n

I thought to myself, \u201cOkay, I\u2019ve been able to win over tricky audiences in the past. I\u2019m sure I can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when I spoke to them in the same style I\u2019d used successfully with other groups of people, I realized the attendees were sitting back in their chair, arms crossed, giving one another sideways glances. I tried harder, convinced that more energy and enthusiasm would bring them in. But the more I tried, the more I seemed to be switching them off.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until I handed over to one of my colleagues that the room started to warm up. He spoke with a very different style and by the time we went to coffee break, they were all on board and enjoying it.<\/p>\n

That was when I started to develop an understanding of the spectrum of styles we can use to connect with a range of different people.<\/p>\n

It all comes down to shifting between three major styles.<\/p>\n

1. ENERGIZE YOUR AUDIENCE BY BEING A MOTIVATOR<\/span><\/h3>\n

The first style is called the \u201cMotivator,\u201d and it\u2019s a shift away from the run-of-the-mill professional persona we often see on stage (all without losing any of the professionalism).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s about serving the message.<\/h2>\n

To energize an audience, you have to speak at a faster pace, putting more energy into your body and your voice, using more intense gestures, a more expressive face. Good examples of motivators you may know are Tony Robbins or Mel Robbins (who are, for the record, unrelated).<\/p>\n

They\u2019re both very well-liked, highly booked speakers, and they both really enthuse audiences with a fast, choppy style that is designed to inspire and uplift.<\/p>\n

Many speakers use this, and it\u2019s my preferred style too, tending to drop into the Motivator most often. But I\u2019ve noticed sometimes it just doesn\u2019t work with an audience, so I have to shift \u2014 as all good speakers do.<\/p>\n

2. FEELING INSECURE? BE A COMMANDER<\/span><\/h3>\n

Another style you can shift to is the \u2018Commander.\u2019<\/p>\n

If you are struggling to gain respect from people, maybe because the audience is older or more experienced than you, this style can really help.<\/p>\n

It influences upwards, helping you gain a greater sense of gravitas.<\/h2>\n

First, you slow down the way that you communicate. You should use smoother gestures and pause between sentences. Use a lower pitch when you speak, and gesture with your palms to the floor.<\/p>\n

People associate this style with experience and wisdom \u2014 like Barack Obama. When he was president, he had a very commander-like style with a slow and measured delivery. Or look at Oprah\u2019s Golden Globes speech, which prompted a lot of people to say she should run for president.<\/p>\n

3. AS AN ENTERTAINER, YOU CAN ALWAYS LIGHTEN THE MOOD<\/span><\/h3>\n

Sometimes we want to lighten the mood, but telling jokes may not be appropriate with the current audience and topic.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible to create a lighter tone before a meeting starts by using the \u201cEntertainer\u201d style. You can tell stories to connect with people or to illustrate more serious information.<\/p>\n

Think of Amy Poehler or Michael McIntyre, who both speak with a higher pitch, faster pace, and floppy movements. They have this general jester-like quality in the way that they move, which allows them to say something that if anybody else said it wouldn\u2019t seem that funny.<\/p>\n

The delivery makes the information engaging and interesting.<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s worth noting that before deciding on a style, especially a lighter one like the Entertainer, you should consider the current mood of your meeting and the interaction you\u2019re having. Then, consider how you want the mood and interaction to\u00a0end.\u00a0<\/em>How do you want people to feel when you\u2019re finished speaking?<\/p>\n

You might need to start in a style that better matches where people are in the beginning and then gradually shift toward a style that will facilitate the mood and feelings you\u00a0want.<\/em><\/p>\n

Finally, sometimes you need to get them talking and simply stop and listen. To do this you slip back into a facilitation style and encourage them to speak.<\/p>\n

Essentially, you should focus your style on serving others.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Don\u2019t just do what feels good for you. Give your audience what they need in order to stay engaged with your message.<\/p>\n

Remember: No matter how good your style is, at some point, people will\u00a0still <\/em>disengage from you. It\u2019s really important to allow room for creating new and different styles that you can move between as needed.<\/p>\n

That way you\u2019ll always be heard.<\/p>\n

To learn more about how we can help you please\u00a0contact our team<\/b><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At some point you will have gone into a presentation or meeting, and felt that no one was listening to you.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to continue speaking when it seems that people are switching off, disengaged or rejecting your ideas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":864,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n3 Ways To Engage More People | Body Talk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore our top three ways that you can use to engage with more people.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Ways To Engage More People | Body Talk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore our top three ways that you can use to engage with more people.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/why-is-nobody-listening-to-me-3-ways-to-engage-more-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Body Talk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-17T10:47:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-14T17:46:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/boardroom.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"975\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Richard Newman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Richard Newman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/why-is-nobody-listening-to-me-3-ways-to-engage-more-people\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/why-is-nobody-listening-to-me-3-ways-to-engage-more-people\/\",\"name\":\"3 Ways To Engage More People | Body Talk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/why-is-nobody-listening-to-me-3-ways-to-engage-more-people\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/why-is-nobody-listening-to-me-3-ways-to-engage-more-people\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/boardroom.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-17T10:47:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-14T17:46:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/#\/schema\/person\/37ac460ae2e65d726e96ed17977e05dc\"},\"description\":\"Explore our top three ways that you can use to engage with more people.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/why-is-nobody-listening-to-me-3-ways-to-engage-more-people\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/why-is-nobody-listening-to-me-3-ways-to-engage-more-people\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/why-is-nobody-listening-to-me-3-ways-to-engage-more-people\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/boardroom.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/boardroom.jpeg\",\"width\":975,\"height\":650},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/why-is-nobody-listening-to-me-3-ways-to-engage-more-people\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Is Nobody Listening To Me? 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