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Nothing is worse than when a speaker is nearing the end of his or her presentation – or starting to take questions – and many people in the audience make a dash for the door. This is so disrespectful! If you committed to attend the presentation, stay until the presentation is over. It’s bad enough that a great part of the audience is hunched over during the presentation reading life or death emails and missing the point, but to just get up and leave before the end is maddening.
Yes, you are off the hook if the presenter is not watching their timing and over the stated timing but, other than that, I say you stay put.
I am biased for sure because I do a lot of presentations, but as an audience member it drives me crazy as well. People shuffling chairs, loudly whispering or talking to each other as they exit, and banging doors, why don’t you just advertise your lack of a proper upbringing a little more.
At a recent seminar, the speaker had provided an excellent presentation, very thoughtful and intriguing perspectives, and, upon finishing the formal part of the program, opened up the floor for questions. Many people had hands raised with interest. This was not a dull session. At the same time, about 20% of the audience started getting up and heading for the door. No amount of hushed “excuse me’s” actually excused them. They were disruptive to the audience who showed respect and interest to stay. The presentation was not scheduled to finish for 20 more minutes but some people (and we all know them) had to let everyone else know their time was so important that they had to leave. It was so disappointing.
My point is one of business etiquette 101. If you commit to attending a presentation you should commit to being there. Be on time, put your BlackBerry down, pay attention, turn off your cell phone (PLEASE!), and ensure that your schedule is clear for the stated timeframe. And enjoy the presentation! In doing so, you pay respect to both the speaker and the audience – and you may learn some great things.
There are times when this etiquette is definitely tested. A speaker so bad that it is actually more disrespectful to stay and listen than to leave, or a presenter who doesn’t respect the audience’s time and goes way over the stated time, and you have leave to leave. Other than that, I believe if you attend, you stay until the presentation is over.
Imagine how you would feel if you were presenting your idea to the executive committee or making a public presentation and people didn’t pay attention and started to leave before you have completed your show. It hurts.
So, commit to your commitment. If you say you are going to show, stay for the end of the show. Something fascinating may happen. Conflicting commitments means you should choose one and be there – not trying to be in two places, missing both points, and bothering each audience. Some of your best contacts happen at the end of a presentation when people are chatting as they leave together.
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The corollary.... for a presenter, it's a sin to be boring or irrelevant. If the presenter's not keeping their end of the bargain, sorry, but I'm out.