A speaker’s confidence should not depend on pretending the audience has no useful knowledge.

Some confidence rests on the assumption that nobody in the room knows anything, which makes a talk brittle. The moment a listener turns out to be experienced, the speaker has to defend a position instead of thinking, and everyone can feel the shift. Real steadiness comes from knowing your material well enough to be corrected in public without losing your footing.

Before your next presentation, assume at least one person knows more than you about part of it. Decide in advance what you will say when that happens. A plain acknowledgement costs you nothing and buys back the room’s attention.