How to give a presentation in the age of smartphones

The advice is to picture the audience in their underwear. However, in the days leading up to your presentation, you dreamt the audience took pictures while you gave a presentation in your underwear.

There are better ways to stay calm and avoid distractions.

Put on your clothes, and consider these tips for keeping the audience focused, even when phones start to ring. When you stay focused, the audience will, too.

1. Check in with the audience.

When you begin a presentation with a bold statement, humor, or a question, the audience almost always tunes in immediately, and you start on the right foot. Losing the audience after delivering an attention-grabbing beginning can happen because of distracting devices like a smartphone diverting their attention.

Continuously check in with the audience. When the audience begins losing focus, take action by directing their attention back to your message through clever use of silence, hand gestures, a change in your rhythm, or an interesting personal story that goes along with your speech.