Dear Coach,
I am so annoyed. I put a great deal of effort into a presentation and most people in the audience were looking at their laptops and phones while I was speaking. What can I do to avoid this in future?
Annoyed in Berlin
Dear Annoyed,
You have my deepest sympathies. In fact, that kind of behaviour annoys me more than you know. Manners still have an important place in the workplace… but that's another discussion. In this case, it’s important to remember that most people want to be polite and do the right thing; it’s just that sometimes they need a little help. Fortunately, there are several things you can do to help people pay attention to you. Take a look at the options below.
Make a deal with the audience at the beginning of the presentation that if they don’t check emails and messages, you’ll be concise and not waste their valuable time. It’s up to you to to live up to that promise.
While speaking, if you notice someone checking their phone or computer, you can use your eye communication skill and look directly at the person. Sometimes they feel your eyes on them and put their phone down.
A slightly more aggressive option would be to look and speak at the person, and then take a long pause while you continue to look at them. This usually gets the offender to pay attention.
Call on someone looking at her device or computer to answer a question .
Switch your subject to the topic of proper meeting behaviors and suggest that everyone make some ground rules. Say, “I notice a lot of people have to check their messages so let’s all take five minutes and do that right now.” Set the alarm on your phone and when it goes off announce that it is time to put away the devices and you will continue with the presentation.
Choose from the options above or combine some of them. Remember, helping people to be respectful is always a good thing, and you’ll be rewarded for providing a good object lesson.
The Coach