31st March 2017

Conference Presenting – Rule 10 – Observe

When chairing a meeting or handling a Q & A session at a conference, it’s important to keep an eagle eye on your audience. Always be on the look out for a hand which has been raised, or seemingly is about to be raised.

It’s very easy to get side tracked by what’s going on stage around you but one must be aware that questions from the audience are key to keep things motoring along smoothly.

Once you’ve noticed someone, acknowledge them, let the microphone “go” and find them, but before doing so, ask the audience member to not speak before it arrives! To calm their nerves, I always ask them kindly to tell the audience who they are and which organisation they represent.