During PitchVantage practices, the audience will give you real-time feedback every 20 seconds or so based on how engaging you were. If you vary your pitch, pace, and volume appropriately, the audience will nod their heads and indicate to you that they are interested. If you are monotonous in your voice, then the audience are going to act like they feel bored and start doing things such as looking at their watches, looking outside of the Window, or even talking to each other.
No one likes to be distracted. You lose your train of thought and it's hard to pick up especially during a presentation when people are focusing on you, the speaker. While PitchVantage team completely agrees that distraction sucks, we went ahead and designed this element into the simulation anyway.
Why? Because the real life is distracting! Think about the last time you were on the other side as an audience. Were you engaged or distracted? Did your attention drift when the presenter failed to grab your attention? With all due respect, did you start tapping on your phone?
The last thing you want is to be distracted in an important presentation or a key job interview and freeze there. You are in a far better position to experience the distraction in PitchVantage now. Work on your vocal variability to sound more engaging; one of your goals in this simulation is to receive more head nods from the audience. Next time you get distracted again by PitchVantage virtual audience, start thinking about the strategies you can implement to get back into your rhythm. Maybe a long pause with a deep breathe, walking a few steps (if applicable) while referring back to visual aids, or some humor that could turn the situation around completely.
