You are going through the online conference brochure through screenfuls of sessions offered. You are thrilled because there is a new timely topic. Shortly after reviewing the schedule, you visualize (just as all of your motivational prosperity books ask you to do) the results of this class and how it will advance your business.

One month later, you are at the conference in anticipation of this class. Unfortunately, you were busy networking with other attendees, so you have to sit in the back. Others must be just as excited, since the room was packed with 150 other people in the room.

The class begins….. but wait, who is talking? You

Owls fourteen neckbones that allow them to turn their heads 270 degrees - Owls can't move their eyes around in their sockets so they must move their head.

know how distracting it is not to know who it talking, right? Is the speaker making an all-star basketball entrance and running in from the back of the room? Is this part of some exercise to demonstrate a point? After craning your head around 270 like an owl, slightly standing to track down the source of the sound, you see a head moving in the rhythm to the voice. Bingo! You found him and told the others around you. Fun game…..not!.

Three seconds later, you stand up (there was certainly no chance to be seen in your chair).

“Excuse me, is there a stage behind you? I asked.

“Yeah, but I am moving around,” he muttered or something to that effect.

What do you think about that answer? How would you handle this answer as an audience member? Do you think the speaker’s response was well received? What happens when the audience cannot see the demonstration or hear the demonstration? Is this motivated attendee going to lose interest in a hurry? What is the goal of the speaker? Needless to say, this is a big distraction. As a member in the audience and a speaker, I was shocked, especially since he had a professional camera crew filming. His answer was not what I would expect from a professional speaker. What was the good reason for limiting the audience’s learning to the front row seats? Maybe the stage has the same affect on him as Kryptonite has on Superman. To us mortal listeners, the 8′x12′ stage seems harmless enough and serves more as a speaker’s friend; hoisting up the individual who’s calling out for everyone’s attention. He got on the stage with ease for a moment and didn’t seem to have any mobility issues. If he is going to invest in videography for this session, wouldn’t he want to have a recording where he is easily identified as the speaker? He left the audience in the dark of why he avoided the stage and the program was less than valuable and damaging to his credibility.

As an audience member, we have many choices, but we chose to be in this session because we believed Gerty has valuable information. Gerty made it challenging for us to get the information. With 150 people in the room, we could have tweeted, blogged, bookmarked and raved about the ideas we learned and put him on “center stage.” However, he did not get on center stage literally or figuratively. Audience, it is important for you to communicate your needs to the speaker, because he can’t fix what he doesn’ t know.

As a speaker, it is our job to make it easy for the audience to listen, absorb and understand the information. If you see obstacles blocking this process, do something. If your eager audience asks you to use the stage, use the mic, or repeat the point, do it. Yes, this seems so obvious, but I wouldn’t write about it if I didn’t see it constantly happening by professional speakers.

Make it easy for the audience to listen, learn and they will promote you. By the way, I term this problem as a “Mismanaged Messenger”. In the “Eliminate Distractions” Program, you will learn the definitions of the major distractions and how to prevent and eliminate them. Read other articles to see other related Mismanaged Messenger Distractions.

Jolene Jang, The Meeting Maximizer

President, NSA Northwest, National Speakers Association