If a presentation is a learning occasion for the audience, it's also a listening occasion. It's an opportunity for them to hear, tune into and make sense of what's being said. But listening is hard work. It involves intellectual and physical effort on the part of the listener and, unless properly motivated, is something most people would rather not do.

So, how do you get an audience to listen? As it happens, people listen to presenters for three principal reasons: self-interest, who's telling it and how it's told.

Many audience members will arrive at a presentation with personal interests that serve as powerful motivators to listen. Some of those whom you'll speak to, in fact, are actively seeking out information on the subject of your speech. They're interested, enthusiastic, and eager to hear what you have to say. Others, not so much. They're in the room because they're told to be there, because someone else more interesting to them is speaking after you, or because they have no other obligations at that time. A small fraction of the audience honestly couldn't care less. They see this as just another opportunity to get away from the office or avoid doing real work.

Sometimes, an audience will be attracted to a presentation simply because of the speaker. The subject of the talk doesn't matter to many of them; it's the speaker they've come to hear. Celebrities often draw a crowd due to name recognition alone. Movie stars, musicians, television personalities and politicians can often fill an auditorium with eager listeners without ever publishing the title of their talks. Lesser-known speakers, on the other hand, have the uphill task of drawing a crowd based on the actual content of their presentation.

Then there is the issue of how it's told. Audiences are, in many important ways, much the same the world over. At the very least, they want something worthwhile in exchange for their time; they want to feel as if the effort and energy they invest in paying attention to and trying to make sense of a presentation is worth it. Most people want 13 more, though. They want entertainment. They want to be amused, captivated, excited, inspired, thrilled and more. That's asking a lot of a public speech.