What is the best way to hold your audience attention?
Halfway through sometimes you loose your audience and its a little frustrating especially when you think your doing great. What do you do?
Jeannette,
this is one of the easiest & best ways to maintain the audience's attention.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
Ask questions to the audience, walk around and make eye contact.
Jose,
it is nice to break down the "wall" that often exists between the speaker & audience.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I've learned the need to raise the tone of my voice when transitioning to the next slide or sub-topic. Also, walk around the room (when it is a small audience) so they can feel as I am part of their team and not an intruder. Include personal experiences or facts, can also bring back their attention.
Adrienne,
these are all great strategies for keeping the audience's attention.
Dr. Ryan Meers
Holding your audiences attention with the use of visuals, personal stories and questions & answers throughout your presentation is helpful, but,do not under estimate the value of physical movement. With a smaller group walking around, using the eye contact and gross motor movements are also engaging.
Marty,
yes movement when presenting is a great tool to use, as long as it's not overdone.
Dr. Ryan Meers
I have the advantage of wide isles in my class room, which gives me easy access to the whole room. I try to move around a lot. That way I am able to stand near the students that like to “hide†in the back of the class. They are more likely to answer questions when I am standing next to them and looking at them. I just have to make sure that I don’t draw too much attention to very shy students, so I don’t drive them even farther from being involved.
Vocal variety is very important, yet often overlooked method of holding the audience's attention.
Ryan
I have that problem on occasion when lecturing to a large group of students. What seems to work for me is to change the tone, inflection, or loudness of my voice from time to time.
I try to get to know my class.I tie the talking points into the lecture,this way they get more into it.I get great success with this.
That's a very interesting strategy. Do you find that this works well?
Ryan
I like to use a long awkward silence to regain their attention.
Yes, real world stories & examples are often the best teaching tool.
Ryan
I try to bring real world story's into my lectures, for me this gets the student back on track and they begin to focus again.
Yes, real life stories are always a great strategy & humor is a great tool.
Ryan
Bruce,
Great strategy & a way to keep yourself accountable in giving that break.
Ryan
I always have a note highlited when I am half way threw the presentation so I may use several different ways to bring back the audience to the presentation. After about 30 to 45 minutes you may lose them with out some sort of break in your presentation.
Sometimes it doesnt hurt to throw in some real life scenarios or storys relating to the subject at hand. Most people have had humorous things happen to them or another individual. Throw a little humor while staying on topic seems to keep an audiences attention
