What was an audience of UK business executives thinking about, rather than listening to presentations?

A survey of a sample of 200 people, done by the Aziz Corporation, had some surprising results:

“….Perhaps of greatest concern to speakers is the proportion of the audience, who, far from paying attention, are thinking about sex. 69 per cent admit that they typically spend at least part of their time thinking about whether or not they are attracted to the speaker or a fellow member of the audience, whilst 60 per cent habitually daydream about sex.”

The survey found that 76 percent of men and 35 percent of women let their minds turn to sex while they should be listening to presentations. Alarmingly, 88 percent of those over 60 admitted to thinking about sex.

Now that I have your attention, what else was the audience actually thinking about? Well:

82 percent were frustrated by poor delivery

78 percent were annoyed by over-reliance on complicated slides

75 percent wondered how long the speaker would go on, and

73 percent worried about work they had to do back in the office

Those executives also had serious concerns about presenting:

80 percent were worried about doing a television interview

71 percent were nervous or worried about addressing a large conference

42 percent said public speaking was the most daunting aspect of their job, &

34 percent had at least one bad experience with public speaking

The survey of 200 senior managers and directors in the UK was reported on May 24, 2007 in a press release.