Difficult
situations
Although
it is not normal for this to happen, sometimes a member of the audience
can severely reprimand the speaker.
If this
attack is produced half way through the speech, interrupting it, the
best thing to do is ask him to wait for the question and answer session
to give his point of view.
If this
person maintains his attitude, you will have to ask him politely
to leave the room, appoligizing to the audience for the interruption.
If the
attack happens once you have finished the speech, during question
time, you will have to kindly indicate to him that the way he is speaking
to you is not acceptable and therefore you will not respond to him
until he uses the correct tone.
If he
continues with his attitude you can offer him the possibility of
discussing the topic with him once the session is over, if he carries
on insisting, you can ask him to leave the room.
The speaker
should be prepared for criticism, and what he shouldn't ever addmit
under any concept, and even less so in public, is that criticism shows
a lack of respect.
In front
of the public he would be left in a snubbed situation, totally loosing
his authority.
It is important
to remember to remain calm and be polite, in delicate and unpleasant
moments, avoiding responding with irony or disdain. You can not give
the offender the smallest excuse to continue with his attitude.
You have
to try and not get upset and further still not casue a row in public
(although you might be right).
In
situations like these the audience usually reacts in favour of the
speaker (who has been verbally assaulted) even when they disagree
with his arguments.
If there
is an uproarious situation in the room then you will have to ask the
audience to calm down.
If the
situation persists you will have to suspend the speech a few minutes,
and wait for people to calm down (during this time the speaker should
leave the stand).
If the
situation continues then you will have to definitively cancel the
speech.
