Keeping audience attention is more important and more difficult than grabbing audience attention . What can I do to keep the audience’s attention through the whole of my presentation. one-way presentation is one of the worst possible ways of transferring information from person to person. Reference: Hartley J and Davies I “Note taking: A critical review” Programmed Learning and Educational technology, 1978,15, 207-224 cited by John Medina in Brain Rules A

Some of us who are 45+ are finding that younger people text and use computers during presentations to the point of rudeness. This happens even when others in the presentation give great evaluations.  But when you’re the speaker you don’t know whether the person is texting, surfing, playing solitaire or taking high-quality notes of your presentation. A reader asked me this question: We think we’ll be seen as “old farts” if we ask them to disengage. 

The latest academic research on Twitter and conferences addresses the issue of “snarky tweets” during presentations. My own experience of tweeting during presentations at Presentation Camp LA highlighted for me the new challenges we face around Twitter etiquette at conferences. More than a quarter of the conference twitterers said that they had sent dismissive or dissenting tweets during presentations. What should be the guidelines of what is acceptable and what is not? The research

Presenting while people are tweeting is challenging – but also adds a new dimension to the presentation experience for your audience. Gradually tools are being developed to make it easier for you as the presenter to manage the backchannel. That’s because I think it’s much easier for you as a presenter if there’s just one application open on your laptop – rather than having to click between applications during your presentation. I would love to see more tools available which work within the most common slideware – PowerPoint and Keynote.

Presenting with Twitter can be challenging. I’ve written a free eBook “How to present with Twitter (and other backchannels)” to help you avoid that fate. An eBook that every modern presenter and panelist should read.” 8220;Don’t get caught without Olivia Mitchell’s just-in-time guide to the technology, Just about every week a new story of a speaker getting roasted on Twitter makes waves in the blogosphere. There’s no sign up required.

Now the question is: should you display a live twitter stream on a large screen so that everyone (not just the tweeters) in the audience can see it? The decision depends on the nature of each session: is it a presentation, panel or a discussion? Live twitter screen during a presentation Twitter is now a reality at many conferences. Sir Ken Robinson speaking at "Hacking Education" organised by Union Square Ventures.

As a presenter, I feed off the energy of the audience. used to think that the audience determined the energy in the room, but after applying some of Jerry Weissman’s principles, I learned the presenter has more control over the room than I previously thought. There was good energy at my Web2.0Expo presentation. I At first, I thought it was just a “cooler” audience than usual (which it was) but I could tell that the way I was presenting was having an effect on their energy level as well.

Giving your first presentation or speech is daunting.  I’ve worked with many new presenters and here’s the advice that has made the most difference to them. Your audience is there for what you are going to say. That’s because though you may not be comfortable in front of an audience, you can prepare good content. 1. Content is king

Pecha Kucha was developed as a presentation format to allow design and creative types to share their passions and show off their work. You have to present with 20 slides and each slide is shown for 20 seconds. It has the great advantage of keeping presentations short and concise – perhaps accounting for it’s popularity around the world. Photo by Olly Barrett This week I went to my first Pecha Kucha night in Wellington, New Zealand.

TED has earned a lot of attention over the years for many reasons, including the nature and quality of its short-form conference presentations. All presenters lucky enough to be asked to speak at TED are given 18-minute slots maximum (some are for even less time such as 3- and 6-minute slots). Some who present at TED are not used to speaking on a large stage, or are at least not used to speaking on their topic with strict time TED does not make a big deal publicly out of the TED Commandments, but many TED presenters have referenced the speaking guidelines in their talks and in their blogs over the years (e.g.,