Mouth-breathing: [mouth-breeth-ing] A common respiratory state caused by severe boredom, similar to yawning but prolonged. Often accompanied by a slack jaw and light to moderate drooling.
One individual mouth-breathing is almost impossible to detect. But when an audience lulled by an endless procession of indecipherable charts and graphs begins to mouth-breath in unison, the effect is like an entire stadium of fans singing, “We Will Rock You,” with one voice. Only minus the enthusiasm. And inspiration. And camaraderie of collective participation. And fun.
OK, group mouth-breathing is just loud and distracting. But contriving duct tape jaw bras for every person in the audience is problematic: they breath through the mouth because the nasal passages are grossly insufficient for delivering oxygen to a brain floundering in profound boredom. Death-by-presentation is a bad way to go; death-by-asphyxiation-by-duct-tape-jaw-bra-because-of-a-terrible-presentation is the worst.
Improve your presentation by remembering one simple truth: humans are animals. They like shiny objects, funny things, good tasting foods, and enjoying themselves. Find a way to include one or all of these simple pleasures into your presentation and watch as the mouth-breathing ceases without the need for any duct tape jaw bras.
The Takeaway: Boring audiences is bad. Enthralling them with incredibly hilarious, mentally stimulating content that inspires, motivates, and boosts profits and incomes for all is good. You should always try to enthrall.
