Ever had audience members drift off into la-la land? Here's what you can do to grab their attention back.
Bonus: if you proactively build these into your presentation, you'll have less chance of losing people at all.
Change your voice
Change up your volume, tone, and/or expression to break the monotony.
Change the format
Speak without slides for a bit or pause to ask if there are any questions or comments.
Interact with the audience
Ask a question or check to see if they have any for you. Not only is the interaction refreshing, it also changes the format and voice.
Refer to people by name
Whether it's your own, or your peer's, hearing names being called tends to focus our attention.
Change your place
A trick I learned from teachers! If I see two people chatting or someone drifting off, I simply walk towards them as I present and it always brings them back.
The key thing is to remain professional and respectful so that you don't put anyone on the spot. For example, if I notice Mehreen looks a little bored, I'll direct my next question to her. But if Mehreen's actually falling asleep, I'll ask someone sitting next to her - so I wake her up gently without embarrassing her.Most importantly: Please don't wait for someone to check out before you try out these techniques!
All the tips I mentioned are effective engagement strategies which you can (and should) apply from the get-go. All except the last one can be used for virtual presentations as well.
By incorporating these steps into your presentation from the get-go, you'll be far more likely to see people nodding along...instead of nodding off!
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