I love to create powerful emotional experiences for my audience when I speak. I also love to share strong information. What I’ve learned is that it’s the combination of these two elements that creates the path to audience engagement, and once my audience is engaged they become open to what I have to share.

Think about the last good movie you saw. Did you care about the characters? Were you invested in what happened to them? If you were, the emotional connection was working. If you weren’t, it wasn’t. Did you also understand what they were facing and why? Did you understand the reasons for what was happening? If so, the intellectual content was there.

You can see these two elements working in every area of your work and business. Songs, theater, articles, in-person meetings. If both the emotional and intellectual content are there, and they are balanced, you are more engaged.

When you skillfully balance these two elements, your audience leaves enlightened, entertained, and inspired to take action.

Click on this photo to watch a three-minute video and learn how to balance the yin and yang of speaking to engage your audience!