Brain Rules Public Speaking: Maintain Audience Attention

You have to show your audience that in order to get the information they've come to hear, they have to listen to you. This advice seems deceptively obvious. I tell it to people who've come to me for presentation advice and they nod in agreement, as if to say, "Got it.

"But they haven't. How do I know. Because the following example is somewhat typical:Sitting in the audience while observing a client during her presentation, I noticed although people were pretending to look at the presenter, most of the time they were using their open laptops to go shopping and check email.

Afterward, I asked if she realized they weren't listening. "But they were," she protested. "They were looking at me.

""People can seem to be looking at you but not be listening. I mastered that skill in high school," I said. "Let me ask you something: Do you enjoy being a presenter.