WALKABOUT PRESENCE – Workshop 7: Audience Engagement & Interaction

The Challenge: Attention is never guaranteed. Even a well-prepared presentation can become a one-way transmission if the speaker overlooks the people in the room. This workshop develops practical techniques for reading an audience, encouraging participation, and creating interaction that feels purposeful rather than performative. Topics - Understanding audience needs and expectations - Building relevance and connection - Using questions effectively - Encouraging meaningful participation - Reading audience energy - Adapting delivery in the moment - Managing silence, dominant voices, and low engagement - Creating inclusive audience experiences Interactive Activities - Audience analysis exercise - Question design challenge - Facilitated discussion practice - Energy shift scenarios - Small group engagement experiments - Audience participation simulations - Live audience feedback Participant Outcomes. Participants will: - Plan presentations around audience needs - Use questions and interaction with greater confidence - Recognize verbal and nonverbal audience cues - Adapt their delivery in response to audience reactions - Create more participatory and memorable presentations