Public speakers who focus solely on the mechanics of their presentation may demonstrate agenda-driven listening. This listening challenge applies primarily to a speaker giving a presentation who also has to accommodate questions and comments from audience members. For example, this speaker might ignore raised hands from the audience or “listen” to questions while scanning her notes. Or she might provide monosyllabic and overly brief responses—revealing that she’s not really listening to her audience. Not surprisingly, this behavior can annoy audience members and damage the speaker’s credibility. This type of speaking is especially common with speakers who are anxious: they may be focusing so strongly on their task that they fail to notice their audience.
To avoid this problem, make sure you are constantly analyzing your audience to confirm that they are keeping up with and understanding your speech (see Chapter 5 for more on audience analysis). Happily, this also may help to quell any nerves because you’ll be taking the focus off yourself and putting it on your audience.
