Reading Your Audiences Like a Book

Did you ever have one of those presentation experiences where you hit everything just right?
You were really in the zone, firing up your audience while disseminating all of your valuable content.

How did you know it was working?
The answer is fairly obvious- the audience was giving you clues to their appreciation. Their applause, body language, and other signals told you that your presentation was a winner.

Now how about those days when you're off?
Did the presentation just go downhill from the start, ending in a polite smile from the person who hired you that masked the dissatisfaction she may have been too kind to tell you about, with you just chalking it up to experience?
Perhaps you made the save, recognizing that you were losing the listeners along the way and adjusted to turn this experience into a winner as well. If so, consider yourself fortunate and skilled in the art of reading
your audience.

But that's the trick isn't it?
Whether you confront someone at the break that you were losing or if you make adjustments on the fly, the key is to read your audience well enough that you can sense how they're feeling and respond appropriately and instinctively.

The Eyes Have It
The first clue you want to be aware of is the eyes of each audience member. It may be hard to see the eyes of people more than 20 feet away, so start with them. First check to make sure they're eyes are open! Unless you give instructions to close your eyes and imagine, shut eyelids mean a bored crowd. Check to see if the people are following your actions with their eyes, that they are focused on your actions, and that folks are making a conscious effort to see the presentation. In other words, that eyes aren't wandering about the room. Questions about not being able to see your slide text, for instance, are a good sign of audience interest, although it means your visuals are improperly prepared. That's a whole different article.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Look for critical body language from the crowd. People ducking out the back door en masse is never a good sign, because it means you're not interesting enough to keep them around or you're too long between breaks and they have to go to the bathroom. Even how people sit in their seats is important. You want to see people leaning forward with erect posture, not leaning back getting comfortable enough for a catnap. Watch out for crossed arms (see earlier example) that paint a clear portrait that this person is resistant to what you are saying. Purposeful positive head movement is an excellent signal, like nodding indicating agreement or that a person has just had an "Ah-hah!" experience. Shaking heads are not necessarily bad, depending on other signals. It's OK to be controversial and get the audience thinking, but I would suggest complete disagreement on all points is a bad thing.

The Engagement Factor
The level to which your audience participates in your presentation is a critical factor in determining how well they are receiving you. I call this the engagement factor. Even if you have told them to save questions until the end, in every crowd there are always one or two ham-actors who start asking questions during the show. You have to deal with them and direct them to the conclusion of your talk, but this is a great signal. They are telling the rest of the audience that your subject matter, that you, are engaging. Are they laughing heartily at your well-placed and relevant humor? Good sign. Do you get a lot of questions during the Q&A? Excellent! What about your audience involvement bits? You want to see people who play along and have answers when you ask them questions. During group exercises you want to see people who actually did what you asked them to do. They're engaged. If you stick a microphone in front of someone's face and ask her opinion on what she just heard, or ask her what she has learned so far, "I don't know" is not a good answer. This lady is disengaged.