How to Be a Good Audience
I recently attended a club meeting on the campus where I went to school and now teach. An accounting professional spoke about the next 15 years of an accounting career, what employers look for, and what the profession needs from the people coming up. It was exactly what students should hear, and it lands differently coming from an outside professional than from me in a classroom.
I also noticed some behavior in the audience that I'm going to address here. I know I sound old. I'm fine with that.
This Applies Everywhere
I'm using that event as my example, but this isn't about one speaker or one night. The same expectations apply in a classroom lecture, a club meeting, a team meeting at work, a client presentation, and a firm event. If you only behave well at the one big career event each semester, you haven't built a habit. You're putting on a performance, and people can tell.
The List
Here is what I've seen over the years, in classrooms, at events, and in offices.
Talking while someone is presenting. At the event I attended, other professors near me could hear students talking and commented on it. Talking carries further than you think. Wait until it's over.
Working on a laptop. Notes in a class with a test are fine. At a career talk or a meeting, looking at the speaker matters more than a page of typing. Bring a notepad and a pen. Most of what a speaker shares can be found online if you know what to search, and the value of being in the room is the conversation. If the speaker says laptops are fine, go ahead, but be honest with yourself. When mine is open, I check my email. Every time.
Big over-ear headphones. Covering your ears while a person talks to you says you aren't listening, about as loudly as anything can.
Playing games. I watched a student do this on a laptop with a crowd sitting behind them, and everyone back there could see the screen. If you plan to check out, sit in the back, where you're less likely to pull anyone else out of the talk.
Scrolling or texting on your phone. The speaker sees the glow.
Walking in late or leaving early without a reason, especially in front of the speaker.
Noisy snacks.
Sleeping or checking the time over and over.
Packing up before the speaker finishes. Zippers are loud.
Leaving without a word. Thank the speaker, ask a question, or at least introduce yourself.
Repeating a question that was just answered, or using your question as a personal pitch.
The Idea Behind the List
You don't need to memorize all that. If you zone out and ruin the talk for yourself, that's lazy, and it's your business. I'm okay with that. Once your behavior pulls the speaker or the people around you out of the talk, it becomes selfish and rude. Ask yourself whether the speaker or the person next to you would notice what you're doing. If yes, stop.
I hold my own classroom to the same standard. After 10 years of teaching, my syllabus says that if you take away from other people's experience, I will remove you from the room. I've enforced it for laptops, for cell phones, and for sleeping. A guest speaker can't enforce anything, so the rest of us have to.
Optional Means You Chose to be There
Some of these events are optional. Nobody made you come. If you aren't going to represent yourself and your university well in front of an outside speaker, stay home. I mean that literally. A guest who volunteered their evening is forming an opinion of you and your school, and an empty seat leaves a better impression than a distracting one.
Why This Follows You into Your Career
Sitting through a session and paying attention is a job skill. You will be in partner meetings, client lunches, and firm events. The people running them notice who is engaged, and those same people decide who gets promoted and who gets invited back.
A couple of times a year, my firm travels together to a local venue on a weekend for a 6-hour CPE session. The speaker is on a webcast. I wasn't there for this part, so take it secondhand, but I heard that at some of our other locations, people sat in the room and watched college football on their phones while the speaker talked. The presenter couldn't see them, so nothing they did cost the presenter anything. It still got noticed. It distracted the people sitting around them, and people at the firm talked to them about it. Stepping out to the restroom or checking your phone discreetly would have been fine. Sitting there with a game on did not reflect well on them.
That is the lesson in one story. The behavior says you aren't interested, you don't care, and you don't care how it looks. It doesn't matter whether the speaker is across the stage or on a screen. Accounting is a small world, and the person you distract today may be the one evaluating you next year.
What To Do Instead
Sit up and look at the speaker. Raise your hand when you have a question. Talk to people before the session starts and after it ends, and walk up to the speaker to introduce yourself and say thanks. Most students skip that last part, so it's an easy way to stand out.
Pass It Along!
If you've read this far, you probably already do most of these things. Here is my ask. Next time a friend has headphones on or a game open during a talk, tell them quietly why it looks the way it does.
I'd go one step further. When a presenter calls out one person for being rude, or says something afterward, it can leave a real mark. That doesn't happen very often, though, and it shouldn't have to be the speaker's job. It works a lot better when someone in the audience says it. A simple "hey, that's not cool" from the people sitting around you carries more weight than a stern look from the front of the room, and nobody has to feel like the bad guy.
Behaving well because you're afraid of getting called out only gets you so far. Behaving well because you have empathy for the speaker and for everyone else who came to get something out of the session lasts, and it follows you from the classroom to the conference room. You're allowed to protect the room. I'd encourage you to.
And yes, I know I sound old. I'm fine with that.