How Do You Know They're Listening?

How do you know if your audience is listening and how your presentation is going over?

One of the easiest ways,  depending on the nature ofy our presentation. is to ask questions. This can not only  make it more interesting for members of your audience as it gives them the opportunity to interact with you and express their ideas but also discover how your ideas are going over or if they  clearly understood   Just remember to make good use of  open-ended questions  that will result in more complete answers beyond "Yes" or "No'.

In addition to such  questions,  you can quckly detect  those who are  not really listening by becoming familiar  with the meaning  of body language which can tell you whether a person has shut you out or is listening only half  heartedly.

Two of the more obvious of course are the person who is sitting or standingly  with his arms crossed in front of his chest with a beligerent or defiant look on his or her face or is  pretending to be listening but  is actually spending of of the time looking away from you.

Becoming adept at  reading your audience and be an invaluable skill  whether you are speaking to  one person  person or an audience of 100 or more as it enables to capture the interest of such ones by changing  the style of your delivery though pausing, or changes in the tone or volume of your voice in addition to adding more  interesting, anecdotes, illustrations, or examples -- or using  questions designed to draw them into the discussion.

Two very good books on  body language  are   People Wataching by Desmond Morris  and reading people  Jo-Ellan Dimitkirus, Ph.D.