Pace and Lead

The room was on fire. Or more specifically, the speaker was on fire. He ran back and forth on stage, his voice sharp, piercing, enthusiastic. The next moment he was quiet, somber, and thoughtful. His stories seemed to come alive and his audience was riveted. Five hundred people were solidly in the speaker's hand. It was a marvel to behold. One of the best speakers in the country with a great audience and everyone in complete sync.The morning pulsated with the energy the speaker generated.

We broke for lunch and everything changed. Coming back the room was quiet...hot...all the energy the crowd had that morning was gone. Instead the high-carb lunch, the warm room, and the darkened lights conspired to put even the most engaged attendee to sleep.

My supposition was that the speaker would begin loudly and jolt them to their feet. He did not. My guess was he would again run up and down the stage, launch himself into the audience and speak loudly to reawaken the crowd. He did not. He started quiet and slow, matching their energy level with his. He built slowly and over the course of the next 20 minutes his energy built until he was back with the full force he had the morning. Slowly, maybe even reluctantly, the audience followed until, eventually everyone's energy matched that of the morning.

So what happened? The presenter understood how to 'pace and lead'.

Pace and Lead is a term salespeople use. You mirror the other person until they sync up with you. And then you lead them where you want them to go. So you might adopt their body language, their vocal style, their pace. Imagine someone running. You run alongside them, matching exactly their pace. Then, over time, you increase or decrease you pace and they follow suit.

Even, some trainers suggest, mirror how they talk about things. Some people are more visual, more auditory, or more tactile. So for a visual person you might say, "As you see.." or "Here's what this looks  like...". For a more auditory crowd you might say, "If I heard you correctly..." or "Let's see how this sounds...".

We have a natural unspoken need to sync with others. If you can successfully pace with your audience then you can slowly lead them to where you need them to be. Try to pace and lead your next group and see how this can work for you.