Whether it be a cell phone, laptop, tablet or phablet, people are finding themselves more and more self consumed with technology than ever before.  Do not be alarmed or offended when this happens, as it happens to everyone. You want to have a casual atmosphere when presenting and you don’t want to start the presentation banning technology use, who knows someone may be posting something positive on social media about your presentation and your voice could be reaching an even larger audience than you think.

Presenters should not judge their audience based on their attention and body language as you have to earn their attention by developing a connection with people. Here is a novel idea on attaining their attention, force it. Force your audience to participate. Instead of being more concerned with being the sole speaker be the guide of the presentation. Just like when we have our MBA classes, students are encouraged to bring the group through a conversational journey to an ultimate goal of learning certain topics. Student engagement is vital to keep our attention after a long day at work, at 9:00 at night.

Ask your audience questions throughout your presentation. By doing this you force people to be on their toes and concentrate less on being distracted and more on the topic at hand. You might even toy with the idea of asking your audience to have a 2 minute conversation with their neighbor about their experiences on an idea you are speaking about. This discussion encourages engagement that would otherwise potentially not be there.

For a more in depth read on keeping your audience’s attention check out the original articles I learned these concepts from.

http://www.inc.com/guides/how-to-improve-your-presentation-skills.html

http://magazines.toastmasters.org/display_article.php?id=1108437