If you ever had the opportunity to present before a group of people in a board room, and most likely this group of people would be the decision makers, the big bosses (CEO, President, SVPs, EVPs, Board of Directors, etc.), more often than not something to drink will be served during the meeting. Usually it’s water, but it can be coffee, iced tea, maybe even soda.

There’s nothing wrong about drinking water or other forms of refreshment during a meeting in a board room, but during the course of your presentation, you can make this a gauge of how well you’re presentation is going. If your audience leaves their drink untouched or barely takes a sip from it while you are presenting, then that means you have their attention and you’ve got them hooked to what you’re saying and showing. Otherwise, if your audience has been consistently drinking and their glass or cup is now almost empty then it’s about time to inject something to break their boredom and carefully try to get them hooked to what you are presenting. If they have just re-filled their glasses and again have been constantly taking sips as you continue to present, then it’s quite possible you are boring them to death. Either that or they are just very, very thirsty.