Participants Not Spectators

Interesting post over at Creating Passionate Users on the desirability of interaction during presentations and seminars.  Kathy makes the point that many presenters don't encourage interactivity because they don't have the teaching skill or experience to pull it off.  Vanity and insecurity also have a part to play.  "I've been invited to speak, therefore I'm the expert around here.  You lot are here to take notes."  Or "If I invite participation, it'll get out of control and I'll end up with a riot on my hands."

In fact, the thrill of presentations or conferences is their live-ness.  Failure to encourage at least occasional interaction is to rob them of their potency.  You could also be storing up trouble.

Presentations are pure theatre.  And as I've argued consistently on this blog, theatre audiences are participants not spectators.  My work as a theatre director has revealed time and again that if you don't allow space for an audience to respond and interact postively, they will do so anyway, negatively.  Deny an audience the opportunity to laugh or clap and they will instead fidget and cough. 

Kathy says that if your purpose is merely to brief people then one way communication is possibly ok.  I'd say that if your purpose is merely to convey information, do it in writing or on videotape.  Once you're in front of a live audience, you must encourage interaction - even if it's at the level of a show of hands or an invitation to enjoy shared laughter - or you simply won't engage minds let alone hearts.