Keeping A Tough Crowd Engaged

Whether it’s a slack-jawed legion of the terminally bored, a bobble-headed mob of incipient narcoleptics, or an unwelcome questioner (it only takes one), any presenter will eventually face a tough audience. But experts are unanimous on the opinion that when it comes to the transformation of normally receptive humans into glassy-eyed zombies, an ounce of prevention beats a ton of cure.

“If they’re bored, we’re not speaking to their interests,” said Tim Koegel, speaker and author of The Exceptional Presenter. Koegel stressed that you must know your audience as you would an enemy. “If you don’t know their issues and concerns, how can you speak to their interests?” he said.

Expert speakers take the potential for audience boredom and loss of concentration as a given and design presentations around it. “At the ten-minute mark, no matter how engaging you think you are, people’s attention is starting to wane,” warned Carmine Gallo, communications skills coach and author of Fire Them Up! “You’ve got powerful laptops that play video beautifully, you’ve got PowerPoint that easily integrates Windows Media files—why not break up the presentation with video?” he advised, noting that customer testimonials can be an effective insert. But this isn’t the only way to keep the crowd on your side.

Reading the Signs ... and Reacting

Even an impeccably prepared presenter needs to read the audience to make sure they’re not straying. “The first thing you lose is eye contact,” Koegel said. “They’re looking down, looking around the room, doodling, or the worst, using their BlackBerrys.” Showing sudden interest in other things is the surest sign that you’re losing them.

One of Koegel’s pet peeves is the presenter who spends half the time addressing the slides. “The screen isn’t going to make a decision, the audience is,” he quipped. Besides disengaging the listeners, this also takes the speaker’s eyes off the audience. “As a presenter, if you’re not looking for those signs, you’re missing a significant opportunity” to head off a total loss of attention, he said.

So what can you do if you see those warning signs? “It’s impossible for people to check out when you’re being vulnerable or telling a good story,” said Nancy Duarte, principal of Duarte Design and author of slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations. She recommended sprinkling narrative tidbits throughout a presentation to keep the audience focused, a strategy echoed by Koegel. “If you can tie your message to a real-life story, that has greater impact [than just statistics],” he said. A current news peg can also wake people up. “If you say, ‘By the way, has anyone seen today’s Wall Street Journal?’ and you make a point with a story in there, you’ll have their attention for another short amount of time,” he said.