You’re Extroverted … But—Surprise!—Your Audience is Not

In the webinar environment, especially, speakers will sometimes insist “I need to hear from someone!” or they may even “threaten” to volun-tell someone to share their thoughts on a topic after returning from a breakout or after the speaker has delivered content.

I get it!??

It’s a challenge presenting in the online environment where it’s harder than it is in-person to detect whether everyone is picking up what you’re putting down.??And matters are further complicated if you are an extrovert who wants an audience to be as excited about your content as are you. So you try to gauge everyone’s attention or “make it interactive” with the intent of livening things up.??However, it simply does not work.??Blanketly asking for people to “share” or scanning the virtual room for the innocent person you will put in the hot seat can backfire or completely flop on you.??And I don’t want that for you!

Speakers may even say “I like to keep things interactive” or “I’m a strong believer in hearing from my audience” to explain why they are so adamant that audiences willfully engage or as a way to encourage the engagement they are trying to create. Don’t make announcements like this. Don’t talk about it—be about it. Imagine a chef coming to your table, telling you “I’m a believer in bold flavors” or “I like to keep diners coming back for more.” Your immediate reaction is “Don’t tell me—show me!” The same applies here. Make the session interactive without telling your audience that’s what you like to do (or are trying to do) because I’m going to clue you in on a secret: It’s a dead giveaway that you may very well not know how to make it interactive if you have to tell them that’s what you’re attempting to do.

Let’s examine why asking people to share is an ineffective tactic in any presentation environment—online or in-person—why audiences react the way they do with only a few brave souls speaking up, what the rest of the audience is thinking (or doing), and how the speaker can still accomplish what they’re attempting to accomplish but with success.

Why It Doesn’t Work

You haven’t properly set them up to share.??If, out of the blue, I ask you to share with me what you had for dinner yesterday, you’d have to pause a moment to recall your meal.??Imagine just throwing it out there that you want the audience to share what they thought.??What they thought about what???And why???The bottom line is asking audiences to share is … well … flimsy.??And if you did not set that expectation early on—either before they went into their breakout rooms or as you started to deliver your content—you will not have people chomping at the bit to share.??

Why Audiences Aren't Chomping at the Bit

They are all tuned to that same radio station, WII-FM.??"What's in it for me?" is the first thing the audience thinks when a speaker asks everyone to share their thoughts or ah-ha moments, but “Why am I doing this, and how will the audience benefit from this tactic?”?is the first thing speaker needs to ask themselves.

Are you asking them to share because you want to break things up and not be the one doing all the talking???That is a speaker-centric strategy.??

Are you asking them to share because you want to make the session interactive???To check for understanding???That’s audience-centric, which is good; however, asking people to share is not audience engagement done right, and it is not an effective means to check for understanding.??

Or are you trying to fill space???If an audience believes the speaker is just trying to do something—anything—to countdown until the presentation’s official end time, then they’re not too crazy about that.??And it's clear when that’s what the speaker is doing.??What’s also clear is the speaker did not adequately prepare and may be winging it or does not understand what constitutes great audience engagement.??

So, audiences are not a-rarin’ to share because it’s not abundantly clear why they should; it almost feels like they’re doing the work for the presenter.??Or they have not been set-up for success by the speaker.??There are some who will chime in to relieve the speaker of his/her misery and to just move things along.??Others will speak up because they just like to hear themselves talk.??And there are still others who don’t bother to chime in because they are likely working on something else that’s a better use of their time.??I’ve written it before, and I’ll write it again—you always have to immediately give your audience a reason to listen to you, then you have to continue to deliver on that throughout your presentation, and that involves meaningful audience engagement.??

Why They May Not Want to Come On-Camera

The same goes for insisting people come on-camera. Ask yourself why you’re making that demand. Some people may not be in a position to come on camera. Maybe they’ve got kids distractingly running around in the background partially dressed with their hair all over their heads and food stuck to their faces, and this is not the look an attendee wants revealed to the world. Others may not feel comfortable opening up their personal space to others like that no matter how long we’ve all been exposed to virtual meetings due to the pandemic. Their home is their sanctuary, and being on camera is like being forced to let all manner of folks into your private safe space.

And there may be others who simply are not camera-ready, but it doesn’t mean they’re not paying attention. It may be a new mom nursing her baby. Or a participant is joining the session while driving, and being on-camera is of no benefit or may even be a safety issue. Or it may be someone who’s off-camera and muted as they fight allergies with coughs, sneezes, and nose blowing. But all of them still want to get the information.

And let’s keep it real — just because someone is on-camera, it doesn’t mean they are fully engaged. You’ve seen the looks where an audience member is intently focused on the screen. You think they’re focused on you because you are really bringing the goods. But wake up, my dear friend. They’re replying to email or searching social media for that cat video they meant to send their girlfriend. Here’s the deal — if you want them to be interestED, then you must be interestING. More on that later. If the goal with asking for all cameras to be engaged is to ensure everyone pays attention to you and does not multi-task, then good luck with that. Just because they’re parked in front of that camera doesn’t mean your mission is accomplished. They can (and do!) engage in plenty of other activities on their devices that do not require they get up from their desks.

So, ask yourself why you want them on-camera. How does it contribute to the session and its overall objectives? Are you insisting that adults do something that unfairly makes them uncomfortable? Plus it doesn’t really achieve any meaningful objective? If any of this is the case, then you run the risk of folks not digging you no matter how great your content might be. Now, if you are delivering a session that, in order for it to be a success, absolutely requires all participants be on-camera, then advertise this information beforehand so people know what to expect and can plan accordingly.

What Should You Do Instead?

First, set the expectation with “After I present this segment, I want three people to tell us X.”??Next, make sure your content adequately informs them to be able to tell you “X.”??Finally, make it beneficial to them.

When you do this, you set-up everyone for success, and you reduce the likelihood of not having people quickly chime in.??As you speak or as they work through their discussions in their breakout rooms, it remains in the front of their minds that they need to be prepared to report out on X.??(And a best practice before sending people off to their breakout rooms is to provide in writing the directions and the question they will report to the larger group on and ask them to take a screenshot of the directions and the question before heading off to their rooms.)

Or you do not have to preface your segment with the question.??Deliver your content, then ask a great question that has the audience thinking about how they now feel differently about a topic, how they will change their thinking, or how they will change their behavior/actions.??But here’s the kicker—you have to give them time to think of their answers.??Ask “Based on what you just heard, do you have a more favorable or less favorable FEELING toward the use of artificial intelligence?” or “Has your THINKING shifted to seeing new technologies as more of a good idea to work more efficiently???Explain.” or “What will you DO differently with your next presentation after learning this technique?”?Pause and give them thinking time to respond.

To adequately inform your audience, use the letters PSA.??For each topic you cover, give the point, a story, and application.??The point is the topic itself—what it is, what it is not, and what it means for the audience.??Then give a story or an illustration to make the point relatable; this makes it sticky and memorable.??It can be a personal experience or a great graphic that emphasizes your point.??Finally, demonstrate how it applies to the audience, and one of the best ways to do this is to ask a great question as opposed to asking people to simply share.

When you do all of this, you achieve the final point of making it beneficial to them.??They learn new material, they hear your perspective, then they get to think about what it means for them.

And that business with insisting they come on-camera???That’s a thing of the past when you give them a reason to listen from start to finish.??You don’t worry about whether they are on-camera or not because you know you’re delivering value.??You know you're crushing it! You know for a fact, even if you can’t see their faces, that they are glued to their devices hanging on to your every words because you’re dishing out some good stuff! (But if they opt to do dishes instead of listen to you, then that's their loss. After every presentation, assess what worked well and what you might change the next time. Get feedback from your audience to help you with this, and a great tool I recently discovered for this is Talkadot. It collects testimonials from the audience and real-time reports you can use to improve your speaking. Use my referral link to start your FREE trial!)

And to be clear, I realize a speaker who does this may not be extroverted at all; they may very well be an introvert, which is the case with me.??(I don’t want to hear any arguments now!??I really am an introvert!)??The challenge is understanding how to properly engage the audience from start to finish.??And I also realize the audience may be filled with extroverts; however, they are also busy adults.??They want to know their time will be well spent.??Just because you have an extrovert in the room or even a room full of extroverts, it doesn’t mean they want to chat it up.??But they do want to feel like they were smart to have chosen to attend your session.??So give people what they want!

You’ve got this!

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