10 reasons your presentation didn’t wow your audience

Many speakers deliver the same talk multiple times but with vastly disparate responses from the crowd. Consider these variables to fine-tune your oratorical offering.

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No matter how experienced you are as a presenter, you will occasionally speak to an audience that just doesn’t respond as positively to you as you had hoped.

As an experienced speaker, my goal is to create a “magical” experience for the audience every time out. I want to pitch a perfect game, complete every pass and block every shot. But every once in a while, I encounter an audience that responds to me politely but without much enthusiasm.

Years ago, I used to blame the audience for that: “What a crappy audience. Bunch of idiots.”

That was only my insecurity talking. As I’ve become more secure in my speaking abilities, I never blame the audience. Doing so doesn’t help me grow as a speaker. Analyzing what I could have done differently does.

Here are 10 things to consider when your speech isn’t received with the enthusiasm you would like:

1. Was the event marketed properly? Did you look at the invitations, agendas and marketing materials before they were printed and published? If not, is it possible that the audience had a different expectation for your talk from what you did?

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