Tip 206: Be a host, not just another speaker
Most presenters think of themselves as just speakers, whose role is to read a speech out loud to a group of people.
This is a bad approach. For the duration of your talk at least - and preferably for the duration of the entire session in which you are talking - you should think of yourself as a host at a dinner party, and your audience as being your invited guests.
As with a dinner party, the host's job is to make the event a pleasurable experience for the guests. The host has organised the event and is responsible for coordinating the event and making sure everything runs as planned. It is the host's job to make sure each guest is entertained and finds the event interesting, and to make sure all the needs of each guest are catered for.
The same applies to you, the speaker at a meeting or conference.
Do not view your audience as your enemies or adversaries. They are not there to cause you problems. Rather, they are your valued and loved guests. The event that you are the host of is none other than your presentation.
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