I watched in amazement the other day when I saw my child’s kindergarten teacher calming down a rioting group of 5 year olds in a matter of seconds. Maybe there are some presentation lessons here:
- Start telling a story, build anticipation
- Lower (and not raise!) your voice
- Ask people to imagine/see/hear something
- Maintain direct personal eye contact with everyone in the room
- Ask people questions, encourage them to contribute, have audience members listen to each other, even put them on the spot (in the center of the circle of kids)
These 5 year olds are most certainly a more difficult crowd than a grown-up presentation audience…