‘𝘓𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵’. My 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿-𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 approach to 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁.

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. 🤯

I'm not teaching brain surgery or bomb disposal that requires them to pay close attention; and we’re not at school.

I’m trying to inspire 𝘮𝘺 audience — who typically work in functions like 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝘀, 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸, 𝗖𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 etc. — how they can be better at influencing 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 audience. 

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 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗽𝗵𝘆: 

* 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺: If my content is good, they'll pay attention. If not, no amount of device-banning will help;

* 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: People have legitimate reasons to use their devices, so why not let them?

* 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆: Maybe they want to take notes, research something I said, or even grab a photo. That's what I call engagement! 

* 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆: Banning devices just makes people want to use them more. 😉 (There's a compliance lesson here too...) 

Which is why, when I’m presenting, there’s no ‘𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯’ rule. 

I trust my content and let my audience decide whether and how to engage with it.