It helps to remember that the audience does not “owe” you their attention,

They may be your target audience

But they are not obligated to watch you be boring.

There is YouTube and online courses now and oceans of articles online

So if you have the privilege of a room full of people staring at you

Try pay attention to some of these:

Invite us into the session. Just coz you have the mic doesn’t make you the smartest person in the room. Make us feel like we are doing more than just helping stroke your ego up there.

Look at us. Please. The screen is not going to clap for you when you sit down.

Know your slides. It’s painful to watch you read them.

If you are not funny, that’s ok. Don’t force matters.

Keep your slides simple. Use images. Imagine that we’re all kids needing visual stimuli.

Don’t hand out stuff during the talk. We are gonna have our attention torn between you and the handouts. Save the handouts for the end.

Don’t rush through when you realize you are out of time. You are always going to have another point to make, so just cut your losses and give yourself a gracious exit.

Have fun! 😉