200 People. Nobody Was Listening. Here's Why.

This past weekend, I sat in a room with 200 people when a seemingly impromptu speaker grabbed the microphone and started talking.

She did not have a formal introduction; she just climbed onto the stage and began reading from her notes. Her voice competed against the voices of the dozens of side conversations going on at the same time.

I could barely make out what she was saying. After about one minute, I gave up trying. I looked around the room - very few people were actually paying attention.

The thing is, I knew the speaker. She is very competent and passionate about what she does. I know that she was someone who would not be underprepared on content. The problem was that on this day, she was underprepared for the delivery.

I noticed three issues right away:

1. The microphone audio was too low.

2. She did not have presence on stage

3. She did not capture our attention

At the end, she was met with Polite applause from a few and just walked off the stage and disappeared, almost like she was never there.

She had likely worked hard on that content, but unfortunately, the material was not likely to have landed as intended.

Occurrences like this happen every day in team meetings, presentations, leadership summits, and symposiums. A professional with tremendous talent, knowledge, and experience is unheard because nobody taught them how to make it stick.

When I had a chance to reflect on what I would have advised her to do differently, here are the 4 things:

1. Fix the mic or don’t start. If the mic or tech does not work - nothing else matters if they don’t hear you.

2. Start with something that captures their attention and makes paying attention to you worth it. She has to earn their attention - not assume it.

3. Let your body speak first. Your presence and energy communicate before your words do, so amplify yourself through larger gestures and projecting more energy.

4. End strong. Don't just quietly fade away. Leave them with one clear thought or one specific ask.

Remember, communication is not an innate talent. It is a skill and discipline that must be learned. And the cost of not learning it is everywhere - just like this.