Keep Your Audience Disengaged: 3 Mistakes You Didn’t Know You Were Making

Keep your audience disengaged!

3 mistakes you didn’t know you were making when on stage or on camera:

1. Treat it as a monologue

   Think about a presentation as a monologue where you are rambling into the void.

   Do not think about it as a conversation where one party listens and you attend to their questions and curiosity.

   Treat your audience like passive spectators who should be grateful just to hear you speak.

   Avoid engaging them with questions, polls or even eye contact.

   Your monologue is way more important than any meaningful dialogue.

   Do not get training on alchemising a monologue into a moment because that will make you and the audience feel things.

   And that's just weird.

2. Choose the worst opening possible

   Start your presentation with the most generic, uninteresting introduction you can think of.

   Avoid hooks or attention-grabbing statements at all costs.

   Or, better yet, use exactly the kind of click-bait language we are tired of from the internet that makes us want to swipe you away.

   Begin with phrases like "You won't believe what happens next" or "This one trick will change everything."

   Either bore them from the start or annoy them to death.

   A dull or irritating opening sets the perfect tone for a forgettable talk.

   Don’t waste your energy trying to capture their attention and focus right away.

   Instead, let them drift off into a daydream within the first 30 seconds.

   You’ll know you’ve succeeded when they start checking their phones or glancing at the exit.

    

3. Neglect your appearance

   Dress in a way that blends into the background.

   Wear the same thing as everyone else; don’t stand out.

   If you’re a woman, go for extremes—either a risqué red dress like everyone else, or something hot pink and overly revealing.

   If we’re distracted by your cleavage, we won’t be listening to your words.

   Your appearance sets the first impression, so aim for unimpressive or overly distracting.

   Comfort is key, so throw on those wrinkled clothes you found at the bottom of your laundry basket.

   Or wear something so uncomfortable that your focus is on your outfit stopping the blood flow to your privates rather than your performance.

   It's all about being yourself, right?

Ready to ACTUALLY engage your audience? Book an appointment with me and let's chat.