#TECHNObYTES
want their questions and that you expect interaction. Tell them when you’d like them to ask, and if you’ll have designated times for it. This will help to keep them paying attention and coming up with questions they want to ask you. If you’re speaking at a larger venue, like a conference, invite the audience to blog, tweet and otherwise share their thoughts about what they’re learning. 2. ASK A QUESTION AT THE BEGINNING TO GET PEOPLE TALKING When it comes to presentations, most of us are used to being talked to, rather than being asked to share our own thoughts. Opening with a question turns this idea on its head. You can ask the audience what they’d like to get out of the session or why they came. You can poll the group for their opinion about a topic by making use of interactive engagement technology like the live voting and discussion app Meetoo. 3. GET PEOPLE’S OPINION One evergreen rule of presenting is to know your audience. One way to do that is to ask them what they actually think. You can go so far as to point to a specific person and ask for their opinion (works best in a small group) or to query a portion of the room. 4. BUILD IN AUDIENCE DISCUSSION AND REPORTING Numerous studies have shown that being asked to participate in a presentation makes listeners more interested and engaged. At Lumi, we see this every day. People enjoy the opportunity to talk with those sitting around them during a presentation – it brings variety and deepens the learning through discussion. Ask listeners to divide into small groups and discuss a concept for a few minutes, then share what they’ve talked about with the rest of the audience. Or, another option is to make this portion of your presentation a game, and ask the teams to brainstorm ideas about your presentation topics. 5. GET MOVING We don’t usually associate presentations with physical activity, and that’s why it’s engaging. Even simple movements, like a show of hands, can reinvigorate wandering minds. You can also take things a step further, having people stand or sit to show agreement, or, if you have a lot of time and a small enough audience, by dividing people into groups who share a commonality. Finally, it can be effective to have people pick up and change seats. The action of going from one place to another breaks the monotony and further encourages connection among group members. The above shows that you don’t need a big budget or flamboyant tricks to keep your audience engaged.
Danie Greyling is the managing director for Lumi Meetings & Events, South Africa. He is passionate about maximising the effectiveness and ROI of events through the use of technology. Take the online Q&A test and start gaining credits. miceplanner.net
MEETINGS l January/february 2016 •
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