When I give client keynotes, I sometimes hear the organiser telling attendees to put away their devices.
It's conventional wisdom; keep the audience laser-focused by removing distractions.
Which is when I have to politely point out that I actually encourage people to have their laptops open and phones out, if, that is, they want to. ๐คฏ
I'm not teaching brain surgery or bomb disposal that requires them to pay close attention; and weโre not at school.
Iโm trying to inspire ๐ฎ๐บ audience โย who typically work in functions like ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐, ๐ฅ๐ถ๐๐ธ, ๐๐๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ etc. โ how they can be better at influencing ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ audience.ย
The best way I can do that is to grab their attention by being engaging.
Forcing them to put away their devices won't make distractions disappear; it just makes me the bad guy who is scared of competition!
Here's ๐บ๐ ๐ฝ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ผ๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ต๐:ย
* ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ: If my content is good, they'll pay attention. If not, no amount of device-banning will help;
* ๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐: People have legitimate reasons to use their devices, so why not let them?
* ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐: Maybe they want to take notes, research something I said, or even grab a photo. That's what I call engagement!ย
* ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ด๐: Banning devices just makes people want to use them more. ๐ (There's a compliance lesson here too...)ย
Which is why, when Iโm presenting, thereโs no โ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏโ rule.ย
I trust my content and let my audience decide whether and how to engage with it.
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