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Audiences are not predictable. They  do not  behave in the manner that you  expect and  what  works  well  for one group may not  work  well  for the  other. Once  you set  expectations as part of  your  introduction, you will start  to get a pulse  of  what the  audience  actually needs. Often as a presenter, you may go ahead with your prepared outline. The  audience may  request  for additional information  or  raise  questions that  may  make you look at the  topic  from a  whole new  perspective.
At the  workplace  when  you are presenting  in front  of stakeholders, time  is  of  premium  importance  and they might  quickly  gloss through your  slides,  ask  questions  approaching the  topic  from a  totally  new  perspective. They might run down your presentation saying that it doesn’t tackle the question on hand.
In all of this remember to keep your wits about you. Do not feel heckled. Take a deep breath and with a calm mind try to answer their questions. In case you do not have the answers, have the courage to say so. Sometimes you could open the question to the audience and ask for their views. They may be able to see that which you are perhaps unable to notice.

Gauge and Change

While  you may have  checked the  equipment , the venue, prepared the content , rehearsed your  presentation and  got your  aids ready, the variable factor in all  of this  is the  audience. In spite  of having  done  a needs  analysis,  studied the  profile of the  audience, the reaction  of the  audience  is  not  predictable. You can cater for emergencies; however, the key in all of this is adapting to the changing requirements of the audience as you go along with the presentation.

You have to continuously gauge the pulse of the audience. Look for any cue that they may be   revealing. It  could be  signs  of  boredom revealed through sleepy looks,  fidgetiness, yawning  or  interruptions like  asking  to  go out. Sense  what  the  audience needs and  within the  boundaries  of what you need  to present make  changes. Changes could vary from reducing the number of slides, to introducing a quick energizer activity. It could be a short stand up exercise. Carry additional aids  with  you  which  could be  fitted in like  short  videos, a  quick  game etc.

Summary:

• All audiences will not be the same, one group may respond different from another.
• Gauging your audience will help you adjust your presentation to suit them.

Reflection Time

You are thoroughly engrossed in a riveting session that you are presenting on company values to a group of new recruits. There is active involvement on the part of the audience. All of a sudden the  HR manager walks in and says that the  client  of the  process has made a surprise  visit  and  therefore he  would want him  to address the  group. He tells you that you need to wrap up the presentation in 10 minutes, when you still have another half hour of presentation left.

Do a quick mental calculation and check how you would rework the rest of the presentation. Consider the following questions.

• Which  parts of the  presentation would  you shorten?
• Which parts of the presentation would you do away with?
• What  would  you  do with the Q&A  segment?

Hints: Cut down on statistics or sub points
Do away with video/ PPT
Give email id and ask them to connect with you if they have questions.

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