Again, your audience is you. So, who are you?

You are a successful smart person who has their own hard-fought successes, decisions, strategies and ways of doing things. You are not going to upend years of experience and thinking just because someone, anyone, says something flashy over the course of 10 to 30 minutes. No speech is so good that you are immediately going to dump what you view as your common sense.

Also, you have loads of distractions. What is going on at home. What is going on at your business. All the incredibly distracting distractions on the news, the Internet and social media. You are never more than maybe ten seconds away from pulling out your phone or device and ignoring what is in front of you –should you decide to do so.

In short, you are a tough customer when it comes to new ideas, with lots of options.

So, just what will earn your attention, for a reasonable amount of time?

A powerful experience with a few surprises might do the trick. Maybe a few things interestingly said. Some laughter wouldn’t hurt. Maybe something different. Maybe a few powerfully argued points, and maybe some strong pointed stats – but not too many, you can always go to the Internet for the full drill down.

In short, you want your brain to be kickstarted a little bit, to be set up for a Eureka. You want a few new things to explore, to process, and maybe even have some fun playing around with.

This is what you would want as an audience member; this is what you should supply the audience as a speaker.