Imagine that you are presenting in a warm conference room or classroom, not long after lunch (pizza), and are covering data displayed on PowerPoint slide #47. You notice an attendee on the second row, after a valiant struggle to stay awake, finally surrender and nod off to sleep.

What action should you take? Here are some suggested do’s and don’ts.

Do not:

·   Embarrass or target the sleeper. It is tempting to do this because we, as presenters,feel like we are being disrespected or subjected to rude behavior.  But consider, haven’t we all, at one time or another, struggled to stay awake in a meeting? Plus, there may be a very legitimate reason why the attendee is sleeping…perhaps they were up all night with a sick child, checked into their hotel room at 2 a.m. because of flight delays, are on medication, worked the  night shift, or similar. It is very inappropriate to subject these people to punitive or derisive comments or actions.

 

·    Lower the temperature of the room to arctic conditions. I have heard some presenters say, “I know my material is boring so I’ll make it so cold in the room that it is impossible to sleep.” The problem with this is that it is difficult to understand and remember key points when you are  focused on your own physical discomfort. I once encountered an attendee in the men’s restroom who was huddled beside the hot air hand dryer attempting to restore feeling to his extremities. It was not an environment conducive to learning and retention.

 

Do:

 

·    Be a dynamic presenter and move around the room. Sometimes the change in your volume as you casually approach a sleeper is enough to rouse them from their slumber.

  

·    Ask a question of someone sitting near the sleeper. The sound of that voice may jolt the sleeper back to consciousness and alert them that they could be the recipient of the next question.

 

·    Take an impromptu, spontaneous break. All of the research from neuroscience and cognitive psychology suggests that shorter, frequent breaks are better for learning and retention than a single longer break in the middle of the morning or afternoon. Human beings did not evolve to sit motionless in meeting rooms for hours at a time.

 

If you notice one or more heads starting to nod, feel free to say something like, “Ok, we’ve been at this a while and the information is critical. Let’s take a quick five-minute break, grab some coffee, and have back at it!”

 

·    Take preemptive measures. Sometimes the problem is not with the attendees, but with you.  For example, if possible:

 

o  Do not schedule inherently passive activities like videos and long PowerPoint presentations right after lunch

 

o  If using PowerPoint or other presentation software, make your slides more visual than verbal. Add some pictures and reduce the text. Nothing induces sleep more quickly than a luminescent wall of words.

 

o  Configure the tables into a u-shape rather than theater-style, so everyone is sitting on the “front row.”

 

o Make the session more interactive. Embed questions, discussions, group activities, brainstorming, and similar. Keep people mentally and physically active. As wise mentor of mine once said, “Talking students don’t sleep.”