Publicly Speaking

I'd arrived early to hear the previous speaker. I thought it was a good idea to get a feel for the audience, know what they'd heard and generally get 'in the mood'.

Big mistake!

Well, normally, it might not be a mistake. It's sensible advice that most professional speakers give out. It's just that the speaker before me was so BORING that he zapped all my energy. As I observed the audience chatting, playing with their phones or PCs, sleeping and staring into space, I started to get annoyed with them. I felt they were not being respectful to the speaker.



But, on the other hand, the speaker was not being respectful to them. He was droning on and on, using slides with dozens of words on them without pointing out the relevance to them.

All I could do was do my best.

I took centre stage. The first words out of my mouth were a question. I started to get them involved. I asked for suggestions. I made a few funny comments and they were paying attention.

Same audience. Different speaker.

A speaker must earn the respect of an audience. If the audience is bored, it's the speaker's problem, not theirs.

Don't be boring!