Stuart Burns was having a bad day. Not only had he arrived late for the seminar because of the server problem at work last night, he was finding it difficult to concentrate because of the stream of text messages coming in to his cell phone. He couldn’t bring himself to turn it off just in case something catastrophic was happening back at base so he set it to mute and tried to keep an eye on it while he listened to the presenters. Now the effects of his disturbed sleep were catching up on him and his extreme body language shouted that he was in the wrong place.
Audiences suffering from information overload will give very clear signals that they are ready for a break. Their eyes start to glaze over, they slump in their seats and when you ask them questions, it is as though you are rousing them from a deep sleep. Bladders may be straining, nicotine and caffeine cravings may be kicking in and vibrating text messages are surreptitiously being viewed. It’s time to declare an unofficial break! If you push on regardless you may lose your audience completely.
This situation can often happen on hot, humid days when the air-conditioning is underperforming or in...