Dear @Sundar, I do not control sleepy audience at a Conference sessions where I do chair a session, while in a classroom I try to do it. Sometimes, I do try to to make a conversation to a sleepy student, which is solution rarely. The other way is to send him out of classroom if student need some refreshment, or make a pause for whole class. I do talk personally to sleepy students in presence of good students and such efforts bring some results, but not a big one!

This is important for lectures in teaching as well. The problem with unfocused students/conference delegates is that teachers/lecturers don't interact with the audience. There are at least two ways to deal with it. 

1. If your classroom/lecture hall is equipped with mentometer buttons, you can ask a question with a "yes"/"no" answer. Old Skool mentometers are special hand-held units, but you can also prepare the question(s) online, and ask people to go there and answer. Once answers are in you the system gathers the information, and you then can take a few minutes to discuss with the audience WHY they ticked the button they did, and that discussion is not only good because of breaks the pattern, but that you can get interesting opinions. 

2. In your presentation, take a break every now and then - but not more often than once every 30 minutes or so - to ask a short question, having a short answer. (This could be a calculation based on the lecture material, or an example you are developing in the blackbard.) Let the audience know that they have 4 minutes to think, and then you take answers from a few members of the audience. If the question is not just of a "yes"/"no" character, but requires some deep thinking (and I do not only mean calculations), then you can have an interesting discussion. 

Dear @Sundar, I do not control sleepy audience at a Conference sessions where I do chair a session, while in a classroom I try to do it. Sometimes, I do try to to make a conversation to a sleepy student, which is solution rarely. The other way is to send him out of classroom if student need some refreshment, or make a pause for whole class. I do talk personally to sleepy students in presence of good students and such efforts bring some results, but not a big one!

 As presenters, let us not get so caught up in their presentation that we DRONE ON, unaware that people are tuning them out.  LET US:

• Know the warning signs.
• Prepare before we speak.
• Use a strong opener—one that grabs your audience from the start. Plan your opening words carefully. Avoid the hackneyed. 
• Use the right body language to connect with your listeners—and hold their attention.
• Use your voice as another means of both projecting and keeping control. 

'In short, think of body language as part of your presenter's toolkit. Stance, gestures, facial expression—all are part of the package. The right stance conveys authority and confidence. The right gestures add animation, helping to relax you while also adding emphasis to your remarks. The right facial expression can further engage your listeners. Your facial expression should look natural, as if you were in conversation with one or several individuals. Again, your body language becomes even more important when you need to re-focus listeners whose thoughts may be elsewhere.'

• Break out of the pattern you're in by pausing for a few seconds once in a while.
• Throw questions out at the audience now and then.
• Allow your listeners to have a stretch.

You may not need to use all the suggested ways, and still make a fine presentation. (I have edited from the link below.)

http://totalcommunicator.com/vol2_2/losingaudience.html

Dear Sir,

I admit that all the points mentioned are significant.  We can not  handle the sleepy students in a class and sleepy audience in a conference hall in the same manner. 

Students may be discouraged from sleeping in the class by asking frequent questions or giving the whole class a short break for getting refreshed. We, as teachers, can ask them to change their seats in the class room.  We can try to participate them in the discussions and ask them to present a small topic in order to ensure that they are benefited from our class. Some times we can ask them prepare notes on the topic that has been discussed in the class so far. Teachers have so many other ways to handle sleepy students in the class.

But all these methods can not be implemented. in a conference hall. The audience may include academicians, researchers and working people in addition to students.   I admit that sleepy audience is definitely a demoralising factor for the speaker. But we can not insist the participants to be attentive if the topic of presentation is not an interesting area for him.

You control sleepy audience when you know why they sleep?

Dear Marcel, Ljubomir, Umachandran, Sundar, my students are great SLEEPY HEADS because they study until 2 am.  They do not use their time very efficiently.  So in a cool, air conditioned lecture theatre, it seems a lecturer can put 200 students to sleep, whereas a MOTHER struggles and needs to use lullaby to put one child to sleep.  So I found the above link a great help.

Dear Miranda,

You gave examples to be a better communicator, but communication consist of a sender-receiver system. There are reasons why receivers/students sleep whatever the communication skills of the sender/teacher, right?

Yes. Absolutely correct. That is correct. There are several reasons for sleepy people in classes and in conference halls. many of them are beyond the control of the speaker/teacher.

Excellent replies by Michael Patriksson, Ljubomir Jacić, Miranda, Sudev Naduvath, and Marcel. We give great values to individual perspectives. Nice points by all.

Regarding Marcel's query - "You control sleepy audience when you know why they sleep?". As Miranda pointed out, some students study very late or watch some late night baseball or cricket or some sports games. When I visited Monastir, Tunisia in 2014, some big game was going on a big TV in a bar in the hotel, and everyone was cheering up. It was past 11 in the night, and I asked my Conference friends, "what game is it?"

In my view, knowing why some people sleep in a Conference (long flight journey) or class (late night work/assignments/continuous classes, nice A/c hall) may be useful to understand only, and we cannot control audience (conference delegates or students) with this knowledge. In this regard, Michael Patriksson gave many useful tips how to hold students engaged all through the hour. As Miranda suggested, "Use a strong opener" is an excellent advice. My American Professor, (Late) Dr. Byrnes always started his class with a very strong opener, and he threw in some jokes now and then. It helped us (as students) to always look forward to his classes - so no question of sleeping in Byrnes' lectures!

Our students are very smart. Just by attending all lectures on the very first day itself, they evaluate their instructors and figure out who is the best, who are good, and who are bad. They also can easily tell who have come prepared and who have come without any preparation.  Usually the students pay close attention when a good Professor (whose lectures are interesting) or when a tough Professor (a disciplinarian) takes a class.

I also agree with Sudev that Conferences are altogether a different ball game. As the Conference Chair, I usually don't worry about sleeping audience. If people request, I also don't mind advancing their talks (if I get a free slot) in the Program Schedule so that these speakers can take rest in their rooms instead of the Conference halls. In some Conferences, when I give my plenary talks, I have noticed some people preparing their talks with their laptops instead of listening to my talks. This did not bother me at all, and I addressed only those who paid attention to my talks.

Thanks for your views!!

Conferences are beyond our control in terms of time and delivery of material and therefore sleepy audiences are just remain that way. But classrooms are under our control and we can pause, talk something related which you think will call the attention of students in particular of sleepy ones.

For instance we can make them actively engage in proposing a solution to a problem we pause and make sure they stay away from electronic gadgets while in class, because they want to become multipurpose during class, listening to lectures, surfing websites, texting to friends, these are all destructive unnecessary activities of unnecessary results during a time of utmost attention needed for a necessary result of learning.   

You have good points, Cecilia and Marcel.  The receiving end may not be so receptive.  Long ago, humans learned in an auditory manner.  Then with the great printing press, we got more visual.  In the recent past, people interact more with their devices and communication among Humans is through devices.  We have to be careful that we still have possession of A LISTENING EAR.

@Sundar, those people who prepare their talk on their laptop while you are speaking should have prepared much earlier.  They are only at conference to talk and not to learn.  What a loss!

I would like to do the following:

1. Know the motivation of your audience

2. Try to deliver its expectations as far as possible

3. Prepare yourself thoroughly

4. Use devices like PPTs and videos to support your key points

5. Involve the audience by using real life examples that could interest them

6. Use some exercise/s that can be of their interest

7. Allot marks for class participation (in case of students)

8. Punctuate your presentation/speech  appropriately

1.     Make a good connection from the beginning of speech and extended eye contact with audience.

2.     Avoid monotone voice and keep variable rate of your speech and voice modulation. Speaks a little bit louder and a little bit slower than you do normally while taking with someone.

3.     Involve audience by inviting their attention or asking their opinion one specific point of your speech.

4.     Look for humour that is comfortable and natural for you. Some great chuckle with stories can bring liveliness among the gathering.

5.     Make a quick illustration of a point in a highly visual, personal and memorable way.

Dear Debi & Yogesh - I like all your points. Comparatively, I like giving classes on Management than other subjects. I liked taking papers like Professional Ethics, TQM, Principles of Management, Technical Communication etc. Though my research areas are on Modelling & Control Systems, teaching Management classes are relatively a lot easier. I also tried giving Management Lectures in some invited lectures (for a general audience), and I met with some success.

Sometimes, the way the seminar is being chaired is a source of sleepy attitude. Hence, it is the quality of presentors that matters a lot. just like Pastors in church, it is encouraged for the presentors to have good presenting skills, that impose utility and affarnity for the audience to want more or participate. Seminars should be made short, or designed with breaks that allows audience to breathe and avoid saturation and hence sleeping. Also allowing dialogue among participants is of crucial importance, it makes people busy and involved completely.

There are several ways to help an audience to overcome their sleepiness or to prevent it in the first place:

• get their blood circulation going

- turn the temperature down

- increase light intensity

- get them moving, e.g.

     - applauding/ standing ovations,

     - write something on a card and pass it on, 

     - have them vote: chose a colored card on hold it up

• get their adrenalin pumping, e.g. by announcing that 

- some of them will be picked for a 3' flash podium discussion or ...

- ... to summarize the session on the podium

- ... to interview a top expert on the podium

- they can win something exciting in a topic related contest

   at the end of the session

• get their active participation by

- collecting questions

- asking questions, have them answered/ discussed by the audience

- have them vote on preferred topics of interest

• captivate their interest

- dramaturgy

- brand new information

• make them smile/ laugh

“Learn to use ten minutes intelligently. It will pay you huge dividends.” - William Irwin

"As you lecture, you keep watching the faces, and information keeps coming back to you all the time" - George Wald

Dear Yogesh - I fully agree with your views. I once taught a class with Chinese, Russian & American students in US. This class timings were 4 to 5.30 (2 contact hours per week). I used to go to class at 3.40 pm (usual habit) and interact with them to see what help they need. Some students gave me suggestions I could have proved / approached the problem in a different manner, and often times I agreed to their views, and some times pointed out why my approach was better. It was as per their suggestion that I started compiling my hand-written notes to typed notes,and it was my first book in the market. In the preface of my book, I thanked these students.  One student (after graduation) read this book, and gave me feedback that it was very much like their class notes!

Best wishes, Sundar

Study states that adolescents do not get adequate sleep and that they have profound discrepancies in their sleep/wake patterns between school and weekend nights. Compared with previous studies from other countries, Students display even greater sleep deprivation and also more irregular sleep/wake patterns. This study also demonstrates that academic demands/stress and early school start time are the most important contributing factors for sleep deprivation among adolescents.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/115/Supplement_1/250.abstract?sid=fd7dc972-87f5-41ca-9ddc-dff17e30969d

Yes @Umachandran and all, I have also mentioned in an earlier post that my students are sleep deprived.  Besides that they eat a heavy lunch, and so they doze off during lectures, if they are left to themselves.  A heavy lunch of rice, chicken curry in coconut milk has that effect on my students.  I have told them to take care of their diet.  I notice that they don't like vegetables and fruits, but they eat the things that give a feeling of satiety.

I think,  sleepy audience in the conference - universal problem - moreover they are only fraction in a big auditorium

In a class room, sometimes, to wake-up the sleepy students, I'll tell them some jokes, in such a way whole class laugh louder.  It helps me a lot.

Pity thing is, they'll forget the subject after leaving the college but  remembering the jokes nicely even after few years. 

• Be engaged with your students as individuals; learn names and refer directly to comments they have made
• Demonstrate through your actions that you are willing to listen to their views respectfully and that you are committed to their learning.
• Role model the behavior you require of your students (e.g., being on time, treating students of differing opinions with respect).
• Provide a syllabus that accurately and fully communicates class requirements and schedule. Clearly communicate deviations from the syllabus. Many student complaints arise from syllabi that create misunderstandings about course expectations.
• Consider what your limits of acceptable conduct are regarding lateness, sleeping in class, use of cell phones, alarm watches, eating in class, unrelated talking in class, etc. You have a right to set forth what is acceptable or unacceptable in your classroom. Enforce your guidelines in a consistent and equitable way.

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=97&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CEEQFjAGOFo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcounseling.uoregon.edu%2FTopicsResources%2FFacultyStaff%2FDisruptiveThreateningStudents%2FDiscouragingDisruptiveBehavior.aspx&ei=0jczVfmbNs20uATTv4HYBQ&usg=AFQjCNHO9gvjvH__T0RD1epy3FB-zLYn0Q

Yes, this is very good resource brought by @Krishnan.

 Discouraging Disruptive Behavior :"

• Seek feedback from students at mid-semester or earlier to see how things are going.  This can be an informal mid-term evaluation or something more thorough.   Make sure you respond – and do so in a non-defensive way.  Be honest if something not working; change it or explain why it is persisting.
• Help students see the see the value of course.  Be excited and help them see the value of the knowledge/skills they are developing even if outside their major.  Take time to explain, perhaps repeatedly, why you have the requirements that you do.   (For example, short papers in my classes).
• Avoid grade surprises.  Make sure that students understand the grading system and that they have sufficient feedback so that the final grade is not a shock.   If you count participation, make sure you let them know how they are doing in this area as the semester goes along.
• Be careful about creating too much informality within the classroom environment."

Dear Ljubomir Jacić & Krishnan - Excellent replies ! Thanks for making great points!

Best wishes, Sundar

The subjects we handle also play a role in keeping the attention of students.

Those who handle Management papers are very lucky! It is very easy to handle those papers, and interest students with case studies, short papers, group discussions and interactions. When I taught Management papers, I was a regular reader of Harvard Business Review (HBR), but now I am taking control papers....

Agreed there are numerous reasons why audience feel sleepy in which some of them are beyond the presenter / lecturer's control.  But during conference session think we can plan & confine a presentation to max 20-30 mins and followed by Q&A for 5-10 mins.  Short presentation can force presenter summarizes to key points & attract audience concentration.  Also during Q&A most of the audience will wake up.  At the same time, how interesting the presentation topic & the presenter's presentation styles (non-monotonous voice, eyes contact, use of laser pointer etc) will also influence the audience concentration.

In classroom to control audience sleepiness, the lecturer can ask questions & invite sleepy students to answer.  I also came across a professor even perform simple magic tricks as interval break to refresh the students in which they worked.