Speakers turn off the lights for many reasons. One of the obvious is
that the need to see presentation slides clearly. As you have read, you
will want to minimize your dependence on slides, when possible, and
also have the font big enough that the audience doesn’t need to strain,
which may, in turn, allow for just dimming the lights or even keeping
them on altogether. Personally, I turned off the lights in my early
public-speaking experience because of the blotchiness on my neck and
face that I didn’t want seen. I also suspect that I didn’t want to look
the audience in the eyes. I might also add that I often accomplished
that mission because audience members’ eyelids would close when
the darkness came. Just think back to any school experience when the
teacher turned down the lights to show a movie, for example, in class.
When the lights go down, the comfort level of the audience goes
up. Regardless of how engaging you are, you will always fight audience
drowsiness. If you do need to project a presentation, do it in short
spurts, or simply turn the lights down, but not off. If there is background
lighting, try to use that. If you must turn off the lights, try using
interactive responses from the group to keep them focused on the message.
Don’t disengage the audience by putting them in the dark.
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