I suppose most of my readers know by now that when I'm speaking in public I push the limits most of the time to make sure my audience stays awake. It should be no surprise to you then that I will attack another common old style snoozer technique (and I know I will get letters from educational theory folks, but that is OK) . . . that is, telling the participants what you are going to cover during your presentation. I say let 'em figure it out as you go. If they think they know where you are going during a public speaking engagement, then it is easy for them to "zone out" since they "think" they know what you are going to say. The way I do it is to make them wonder, "What in the heck is he going to do next?", "What's going to happen?", or "Where is he going with this?" which forces them to stay alert to find out.
