"To die, to sleep — to sleep, perchance to dream." Shakespeare's Hamlet was weighing up eternal rest. Most conference speakers just want their audience to make it to the closing line. A sleeping audience member isn't a novelty. Joe Biden famously drifted off during a Barack Obama budget speech. Hillary Clinton was photographed asleep in Yangon during another Obama address. David Cameron managed the same trick to his own audiences as Prime Minister.
Make Sure Your Audience Doesn't Nod Off with These Tips
So when Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband was caught napping during Prime Minister Andy Burnham's address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, it joined a long and slightly comic tradition.
Who's a sleepy Ed? Foreign Secretary Miliband seemingly struggles to stay awake during Burnham's first speech to the United Nations General Assembly https://t.co/1CDgo9NKow
— Daily Mail (@DailyMail) September 23, 2026
We've a lot of sympathy for the audience members here — some speeches are simply hard going, however important the subject. But the responsibility sits with the speaker. Here are five ways to make sure your next audience stays with you.
How to Keep Your Audience Awake
- 1Ignite. Enthusiasm is contagious, and its absence is too. If you don't sound like the subject matters to you, no one in the room will believe it matters to them. Bring energy to your opening line, not just your closing one.
- 2Fascinate. Being interesting isn't a personality trait, it's a set of choices. Lead with the detail your audience hasn't heard before, not the one you're most comfortable repeating.
- 3Project. Volume is a tool, not an accident. Speak to be heard by the person furthest from you, and use quieter moments deliberately, not because the microphone let you down.
- 4Modulate. A monotone voice is a lullaby. Vary your pitch and pace to signal what matters — energy up for the important point, a pause before the punchline.
- 5Vary. Sentence length shapes attention as much as content does. Mix short, punchy lines with longer ones, so the rhythm itself keeps your audience listening rather than drifting.
It isn't easy being an audience member at a long conference speech, and the best speakers know it. Recognising that is half the battle — the other half is doing something about it.
How You Can Keep Your Audience From Dozing Off
Keeping your audience from dozing off shouldn't really be your focus as a speaker. But someone has to give the conference speeches after lunch or at the end of the long day's session. So these tips should help keep your audience from nodding off.
For more public speaking and presentation tips, you'll find our full series here. And when you're ready to sharpen your own public speaking skills or discover more on how to keep an audience awake, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
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