38. The Power of Micro-Moments

“It’s not the words that count, but the moment you made them feel something.” — Nancy Duarte, CEO of Duarte, Inc., and author of Resonate

A compelling and under-discussed topic for public speakers is the power of micro-moments – how small interactions shape audience perception.

These micro-moments have a significant effect on engagement with your audience. 

In this week's podcast episode, we will discover just what are micro-moments, where micro-moments happen in a presentation, and how to design micro-moments into your presentations.

References 

• Nalini Ambady & Robert Rosenthal (1993): “Thin Slices of Expressive Behavior”  Audiences often judge a speaker’s credibility, warmth, and confidence based on brief, nonverbal micro-moments before any content is delivered.
• Albert Mehrabian (1971): “Silent Messages: Implicit Communication of Emotions and Attitudes. Wadsworth Publishing.” This classic finding underscores how micro-expressions, tone, and pauses during a presentation impact how the message is perceived emotionally, shaping audience trust and connection more than the actual content.
• Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.  Micro-moments appeal to this fast-thinking system. The split-second impressions speakers make—how they walk on stage, pause, or react to the audience—shape perception instantly and intuitively, long before logical evaluation occurs.