What do you do if your audience's emotions are difficult to read during a presentation?

A little trick that I've learned to increase engagement is to make direct eye contact with someone for a moment, then move to a different part of the room and do so again. Continue to do this throughout the presentation and everyone, including those you don't look at, will feel like they're directly part of the conversation. Observe them while presenting, so that you can figure out if they are engaging with you or are understanding the presentation well or not. Just ask a question if you feel that they are not giving you those vibes of being with you in the presentation, and ensure you just cater to their needs and queries on a timely basis.

Especially during remote sessions without camera on, call out people for their understanding, comprehension, feedback, opinion. We may need to wait way more than in a F2F conversation: 7-10 seconds or more is just normal

Stay focused on your content: Even if it's difficult to read your audience's emotions, continue delivering your presentation confidently and professionally. Focus on conveying your message clearly and engagingly. Pay attention to non-verbal cues: While some audience members may not openly express their emotions, they may still provide subtle non-verbal cues that can give you insight into their reactions. Pay attention to facial expressions, body language, and eye contact to gauge their level of engagement.

Engage with them and try to be more interactive, don't just present and go. Ask them if they have any doubts and figure out answers to their questions by either presenting regarding that particular topic or thinking logically and answering!

If your audience's emotions are hard to read during a presentation, focus on clear and engaging communication, use interactive elements like questions or polls to gauge their response, and watch for subtle cues such as body language or facial expressions to adjust your approach.

Observe them while presenting, so that you can figure out if they are engaging with you or are understanding the presentation well or not. Just ask a question if you feel that they are not giving you those vibes of being with you in the presentation, and ensure you just cater to their needs and queries on a timely basis.

Asking feedback is a good way to ensure clarity but this depends on your audience and which region or countries your audience are from. In most cases, if you ask a open question there will be not respond. Thus, the key is how to ask a question. Start with a open ended question which the audience just need to provide a yes or no qnswer or an even better way is start a quiz with multiple choices.

It’s very basic but actually works —- Just break the Ice —- stop the presentation and crack a joke / play a game / play a very loud soundtrack and dance along with them / form groups and play management games —- once you have done this and they start looking at you as a next level Trainer / Coach they will be participative and help during the presentation At this time be careful of not pulling the rubber for too long