laŭdiloudlypraise/applaud

There's nothing worse than faint praise. When you give a speech, you want the audience to applaud loudly. Anything less than loud applause feels like the audience is telling you "Well, thanks for trying. I know that public speaking is hard, so here's some pitty praise."

So I've devised a trick. They won't teach you this one in toastmasters. As you near the end of your speech, being to speak more loudly. Lead your audience. Get them adjusted to a higher volume level. If you can, have the sound technician sneak the volume up on the sound system. When one person starts applauding loudly, others will be more likely to do the same.

Wrestling entertainment has mastered this. What do they do when they want to get you cheering for the "hero" of the match? Well, they start off by bringing the challenger into the ring. They'll walk him in and the crowd will give some faint applause (or booing in some cases). But then, it's time to bring in the champ. The first thing they do? They crank up the champ's theme music to 11 and the announcer starts shouting his lungs out.

The crowd erupts at this point. It's a chain reaction. The champ's fans start shouting to hear themselves over the noise and then everyone gets caught up in the commotion. Within seconds they're showering praise on him as if he were a Roman gladiator walking into the arena.

So that's the trick. You want more praise and applause? Get someone applauding loudly, the rest will follow.