So how should you behave during a lecture or presentation? Follow these ten
rules for audience members.
1. Arrive on time and take your seat. It is
discourteous to others to arrive after the start of the presentation.
2. Do not get up and move around during the talk unless told
to do so. Remain seated until the presentation is over. If you must leave
because you are coughing uncontrollably, about to blow chunks or need to go
to the restroom, do not re-enter the room until there is a break, or take a
seat quietly at the back of the room.
3. Do not assume the presentation is interactive …
4. Do not bring food, drink, smoking materials or drugs,
gum, candy, other work, books, cell phones, radios, laptops or palmtops,
small children, drunk in-laws, or live animals into the presentation room
with you, or anything that lights up, dings, whistles, rings, spins, emits
something, is a fire hazard, smells, or needs to be fed. You are there to
listen to the speaker.
5. Be an attentive listener.
6. Do not talk or whisper during the presentation. But stay
with the speaker. If something is funny, laugh. If the speaker asks for
questions, have one. If something great happens, applaud. If you enjoyed the
presentation, applaud at the end.
7. Dress appropriately and respectfully … What's
appropriate? When in doubt, wear nice jeans, slacks and a shirt, skirt or
dress. Avoid a tux, don't wear a cocktail dress, and save your cleavage,
hairy chest and other sexual displays for another time and place.
8. Do not do anything that distracts from either the speaker
or the audience. This would include but is not limited to: talking,
whispering, wearing strong cologne, coughing, joking, shuffling your feet,
rustling papers, checking email, surfing the web, tapping your pencil,
humming, heckling, and allowing your cell phone to ring (or talking on it).
...
9. Keep your hands and feet to yourself. And just like in
grade school, if you tend to get in trouble when you're with Dougie, don't
sit beside Dougie.
10. Come prepared to make your contribution as a member of
the audience. It's an active role, not passive. It means arriving alert,
having a positive attitude and doing what you can to make this possible for
yourself, the speaker, and others in the audience.
(adapted from: http://gradschool.about.com/cs/presentations/a/present_2.htm)
Last Updated March 17, 2008 |