The Active Reset

When you have lost the room, passive techniques — talking louder, fancier slides — rarely work. The audience needs an active reset that changes their physical or mental state. Once attention has drifted, only a pattern break pulls it all the way back.

Nothing snaps attention back faster than a direct, named question: "Sarah, what has been your experience with this?" The named person re-engages instantly, and everyone else snaps to attention because they might be next.