When a presenter says "I can't hear you!" what is it for?

October 11, 2023 7:36 PM

At a presentation or show or meeting etc often a presenter will be like, "good morning!" and the audience will respond but then they'll be like, "I know you can do better!" and will prompt the audience to respond again louder. Or the presenter will ask, "are you ready?!" and the audience will say "yes!" and the presenter will respond, "I can't hear you!!" What is this for?

I can tell this works because I always hear the audience respond louder but it has the exact opposite affect on me. If I responded to the first prompt I definitely won't respond if they prompt me to do it again. I don't feel energized or more excited, I just get some 2nd hand embarrassment, feel annoyed, and lose some respect, any sort of geniality, and focus for the presenter. I can't be the only one who responds negatively to the prompting.

But why do they do this and why do people respond to it?

posted by simplethings to Society & Culture (20 answers total)

I think it is because if you didn't respond loud enough it is possible you are less engaged and-or not quite ready to transition to listening.

It is a verbal, everyone be quiet and listen now technique.

I respond the same as you, but I will say I do start more actively listening if I was in daydream mode, for example.
posted by aetg at 7:40 PM on October 11, 2023 [3 favorites]

I think it also lets them shift into a higher energy speaking mode without feeling out of sync with the room. (I don't like it either, but to be fair I probably didn't say 'good morning' back to them either time.)
posted by nobody at 7:55 PM on October 11, 2023 [6 favorites]

It’s to get the energy level up in the room and encourage the audience to focus on the speaker. Even if you’re annoyed, it works on both fronts.
posted by lunasol at 7:55 PM on October 11, 2023 [25 favorites]

For some people this is an indicator of engagement. For me it makes me really annoyed and I feel it is a waste of time.

However there are people these techniques really work for, and it does help some people feel more engaged or feel there is some unity in the crowd.
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:57 PM on October 11, 2023 [5 favorites]

I'm of two minds about this. As a self-conscious introvert I've never been the expressive and demonstrative type. That being said, I can see why this technique would be used to try and energize an audience at a rock show for instance. Unlike classical music, which of course demands absolute silence from the people in attendance in order to be enjoyed, I think rock/pop musicians generally find a quiet and immobile audience deflating. Of course, call-and-response can sometimes fall comically flat. Case in point, when I was at a Nets game years ago, and the announcer said "When I say 'Go!', you say 'Nets!'" in an attempt to get the crowed revved up:
"GO!"
[Half-assed, monotonous delivery by half of the fans at best]: "Nets."
"GO!"
"Nets."
"KEEP IT GOING! GO!"
"Nets."
posted by DavidfromBA at 8:28 PM on October 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

It's a technique to whip up audience engagement. I don't typically respond to it. But I'll admit, if they do it enough times I eventually cheer with the crowd so they'll stop haranguing us and get on with what they're meant to be doing. So I guess that is me, Engaging
posted by potrzebie at 8:40 PM on October 11, 2023 [3 favorites]

Whatever you call it, it makes me feel like the audience has all just shuffled into my middle school cafeteria for a school assembly.
posted by deludingmyself at 9:04 PM on October 11, 2023 [14 favorites]

Best answer: I can tell this works because I always hear the audience respond louder

Okay, so you know why the host does it.

Why do people respond to it? Because for them it’s a fun ritual that makes them feel connected to the host and other people in the crowd.

Usually it’s not my thing. It sounds like maybe it’s the opposite of your thing. But there is clearly a critical mass of people who are into it.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:41 PM on October 11, 2023 [7 favorites]

It can be a way for the host to signal that they are going to expect some active listening or participation rather than just passive consumption. I would never "I can't hear you" but I've probably done something similar when faced with twenty people who just seem like they want to stare at me talking for the next hour even when I am asking them questions etc.
posted by Iteki at 11:22 PM on October 11, 2023 [4 favorites]

Here is somebody explaining how to warm up an audience (properly) and why it is important to do it.
posted by rongorongo at 12:02 AM on October 12, 2023 [6 favorites]

It really annoys me

a) I gave what I felt was an appropriate response the first time, and now you are telling me it is not good enough and try again?

b) the crowd response the second time is often loud enough to be physically painful
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 12:36 AM on October 12, 2023 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Oftentimes an audience comes in with a very scattered attention. They're still thinking about how frustrating the parking was, they're faffing with their coats and bags, they're continuing the conversations that they were having on the way in. Some of them are tired, or grumpy, or frustrated.

If the performers do a "cold open" right into the material, half the audience will miss the impact of the beginning completely and struggle to catch up.

This is why there's usually a compere or someone, or something, at the beginning doing SOMETHING with the intention of gathering the focus of the audience and then gently bringing their energy levels up or down to somewhere appropriate for the performance.

So if the performance is some sad song or deep meaningful monologue, the beginning might just be very slowly bringing the lighting down to focus tightly on a character walking slowly across the stage, maybe with some soundtrack to help draw the attention.

If it's a sports fixture where the audience is already very hyped up but maybe just a bit scattered, this "I can't hear you" trick works really well, because the audience is already pumped. They've been anticipating the thing all week and need very little excuse to shout in support of their sports team, which is all the focus that's necessary.

So the trouble with compering is that it's difficult to learn, and impossible to practice, without an audience. This means that at smaller and amateur gigs you'll often get someone who doesn't yet have the expertise to read the audience and bring out the right focus-and-energy-managing tool from a broad toolbox. The "Didn't hear you" thing is well-known, familiar and really really easy, so it's absolutely the go-to trick for beginners who haven't done this very much or given much thought to it.

You've correctly identified why it wasn't a good trick in this case: Not everybody came in hyped enough to easily go straight to that shouty energy level that the speaker was looking for. And it's quite likely that there was no need to get there, either! Most performances don't need the audience to start quite that hyped, and if they do then they need to take a lot longer, invest a lot more in getting the audience there, and risk the energy running out before the performance finishes.

I hope that helps understand some of the reasoning behind these things. It can be really interesting to watch different performances and see what kind of different tools they use to hold and release focus and to manage energy levels!
posted by quacks like a duck at 2:23 AM on October 12, 2023 [11 favorites]

Best answer: I am one of the people who respond louder and don’t mind these techniques. I don’t perceive it as insulting or infantilizing. I see it as a ritual to position the speech as different from a lecture, reading, panel, or meeting and place it in the genre of motivational speaking/conference opener, etc. I consider it a bit like “once upon a time…” let us enter the realm where the power of the inspirational message reigns. (And to some degree usually equally fantastical.)

I will say the best use of this technique I’ve seen lately was a speaker who used some hip hop music and her own charisma to get a largely white audience on its feet dancing in a half hearted and embarrassed way and then asking how everyone felt about that to launch into a DEI motivational speech about how inclusion and feeling like you belong count. You probably had to be there but it was great.
posted by warriorqueen at 3:06 AM on October 12, 2023 [9 favorites]

When I use it, it’s because the situation I am leading is explicitly not a passive one and I can see that at least 3/4 of my audience is not ready for active engagement.
posted by tchemgrrl at 4:08 AM on October 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

Maybe it's not about you? Maybe the speaker is nervous and this is a way to psych themselves up and feel like people want to hear their talk and aren't just going through the motions of showing up and waiting for pastries at the coffee break. Maybe when they looked out half the people looked asleep or were on their phone being massively disrespectful. I dislike corporate mandated fun but as someone who does a lot of public speaking it's really disheartening when everyone is asleep or distracted. Any method to raise engagement in the room is valuable.
posted by chasles at 4:46 AM on October 12, 2023 [4 favorites]

Its call and response. From African / African-American culture, its a way to get people energized, excited, builds a sense of democratic participation, etc. The technique is certainly adopted by other communities, b/c as other commenters have noted, its effective.

I'm white and didn't grow up with this, so I understand your reaction, but in most cases this is a calling IN, not calling out. So just enjoy it and roll with it.
posted by RajahKing at 6:41 AM on October 12, 2023 [6 favorites]

I was at a folk concert once and the unmic-ed singer came out and shouted "are you ready to rock?" and everyone was like 'sure' and he shouted it again louder and everyone responded appropriately louder and then he said in a normal voice "well you came to the wrong show" and started playing a quietly without any PA.

I thought it was really well done.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:14 AM on October 12, 2023 [12 favorites]

My own attitudes toward it have changed and continue to vary, basically based on whether I WANT to be a participating member of the audience or whether I want to (metaphorically) eat chips and be on my phone while a show happens around me.

It's a common ritual so now I recognize it - I like "you can do better" and "louder!" better than "I can't hear you" but learning to recognize all of them as rote phrases rather than lying manipulation has helped too. But it's up to me whether I'm willing to give the speaker or band the credit of increasing my energy level (I can't yell but I can look at them and smile, and jump or pump my fist or clap where those are appropriate) or whether I'm like, "stop acting like you're worth my time when you haven't even said anything useful yet".

Having done an eensy bit of public speaking I have learned that being an engaged audience is a kindness, and being visibly disengaged sucks the life out of a room, so I try to give some energy back to the speaker in whichever ways I can, as long as it's not a mandatory all hands about layoffs in which case I'm not the one being tone deaf anyways.
posted by Lady Li at 7:44 AM on October 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

Some people respond because it does contribute to developing a sense of excitement about something and they aren't opposed to that.

Others respond because it seems impolite not to and also because it's the only way to make it stop.
posted by FencingGal at 8:27 AM on October 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

I understood that teachers did this because it was kinder than singling out the students who were still talking or reading or working. The other students replying so loudly would likely make it impossible for them to continue what they were doing, and was kinder than the teacher doing the yelling.

At the same time in public venues it is so annoying that it makes me highly tempted to get up and leave. I usually just stick my fingers in my ears to lower the volume though and listen to whatever it is with my fingers pinching off half the noise.
posted by Jane the Brown at 1:42 PM on October 12, 2023