Chapter 9. Connecting with an Audience

Connecting with an Audience

Most of what I have learned about communication and connection did not come from my speech and communication classes in school, it came from my experience as a performer and from years of closely watching others perform. I worked my way through college playing drums in various jazz groups beginning when I was 17. I don’t care how technically “good” the music is, I have never seen a great performance that lacked a solid connection between the performer and the audience.

Playing music is a performance and also very much a presentation. Good presentations are about conversing, sharing, and connecting at an intellectual ...

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