One other conclusion I drew while listening to the presentations at Geekend last weekend… audience behavior during presentations has changed. Presenters much recognize that it has and change with their audiences.
Five years ago, if you were giving a presentation, and you looked up and saw many in the audience typing away on their phones, you had a right to be upset. It would be safe to assume that they were being rude, that they were bored with your presentation and were texting their friends to entertain themselves.
However, in 2010, if you see many people typing on their phones as you talk, it’s a good thing. It’s a sign not that they’re bored, but that they’re engaged. They’re taking notes, they’re tweeting, they’re Facebooking, they’re blogging to share what they learned in your presentation. Embrace that. The best presenters at Geekend did. In fact, they encouraged it.
Let your audience tell the world about the great things you have to say, and next time you find yourself speaking, you’ll probably have a bigger audience.