Stop Performing. Start Connecting: The Art of Empathising with Your Audience
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
Introduction: The Art of Truly Connecting with Your Audience
Public speaking isn't just about delivering information — it's about making people feel something. In her opening keynote at Present to Succeed, Margreet Jacobs, public speaking coach and former professional dancer, gets straight to the heart of what separates forgettable presentations from truly memorable ones. Her message? Stop trying to be perfect. Start trying to connect.
Why Empathy Is the Foundation of Every Great Presentation
Margreet's path to the stage was anything but conventional. A hip injury ended her dancing career at 26, forcing her to rebuild her identity from scratch. That personal story isn't just a warm-up — it's proof of concept. By the time she names empathy, you've already experienced it. It isn't a technique you bolt on at the end of a presentation. It's the architecture of the whole thing.
The Five Elements of Audience Empathy
Re-Presentation — Speak to How People Actually Receive Information
Visual, auditory, or feeling-based — your audience processes information differently. When you layer in sensory detail, you give every person in the room a way in. Leave one out, and you've lost part of your audience before you've made your point.
Everyone Does Not Exist — Speak to Individuals, Not Groups
Making sweeping assumptions about your audience immediately alienates anyone for whom they're not true. Speak to you, not all of you. Connection lives in the singular.
Love — Present Like a Seven-Year-Old
If you want your audience to care, you have to care first — not in a polished way, but in a genuine, unfiltered way. Enthusiasm is contagious. So is indifference.
Ask — But Only If You Mean It
The moment you ask a question and barrel past the answer, your audience feels unseen. Only ask if you're genuinely curious, and be prepared to change course based on what you hear.
Examples That Land — Localise and Contextualise
A story that works in one room can fall flat in another. Make your examples relevant to this audience, in this place. It costs you nothing and earns you everything.
Applying the Framework: From Nerves to Natural
Underneath all five elements is one idea: R.E.L.A.X. The real barrier most speakers face isn't a lack of skill — it's the weight of trying to appear perfect. When you know your audience isn't there to catch you out but to get something for themselves, the pressure lifts. And that's when you become most compelling.
Q&A Highlights
On mistakes: fail fast and keep moving — your audience rarely notices what you think they noticed. On difficult participants: meet them with curiosity, not defensiveness. On imposter syndrome: the fact that you feel it almost certainly means you're not one.
Final Thoughts: Connection Is the Whole Point
Sixteen years after attending a salsa festival in the same city, Margreet stood on a stage there — doing what she loves, with a brand-new titanium hip. The reinvention she was forced into became the version of herself she's most grateful for. Stay flexible, show up as yourself, and trust that your audience is just a collection of humans looking for connection, exactly like you.
Join the Conversation
Which of the five elements do you find hardest to put into practice? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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