Giving speeches is a marketing technique that rarely fails. Whether you’re speaking to a Rotary club meeting or an academic pep rally (don’t ask how I got sucked into that one), it’s nearly always a good source of new clients. It’s a positive way to position yourself as an authority, and it gets you in front of people who can pass your name along to friends and clients.

The best part of these speeches comes at the end. It’s the question and answer period. It gives you a chance to be sure you’re addressing the concerns of the audience. It’s your opportunity to connect with individuals. It’s the time to pay it forward by helping someone willing to ask for help.

During the Q&A, you’ll invariably get a question from a soft talker. You’ll know the soft talkers when you hear them (or more accurately, you’ll know them when you CAN’T hear them). They’re the people who ask a question so quietly that you find yourself craning your neck and cocking your head so that your ear is as close as possible to them.

Soft talkers are a problem. You’re standing in the front of the room, and no matter how hard you listen, you can’t hear them. You might ask them to repeat the question while you lean in and put your hand behind your ear to gather the sound, but no luck—you still can’t hear them.

Now you’re in trouble. After you ask the soft talker to repeat the question, the situation starts to turn awkward. You’d like to tell the soft talker to ask the question again, and you start to move closer so you’ll have a fighting chance during the third attempt.

How to Pump Up the Volume

Stop in your tracks. Don’t move forward. Don’t take a single step toward the soft talker. Do something totally counterintuitive.

It’s time to walk AWAY from the soft talker. Back up. Move to the far corner of the room. Put as much space as possible between you and the soft talker.

In an ideal world, you’ll sense the soft talker question coming and already be moving away before the soft talker even finishes the first shot at the question. With experience, you’ll learn to move quickly away from the soft talker.

Why should you move away? Why shouldn’t you let soft talkers touch their lips to your earlobe and speak directly into your ear canal?

Oddly, soft talkers will speak up if you’re further away. Once they realize that you’re way across the room, they’ll be more likely to use their big, grown-up voice and amp up the volume. Getting away from them is far more effective than asking them to speak up.

When soft talkers start speaking, just step backward, keep facing them, and keep moving away. Your soft talkers will get louder and louder.