I’m a broken-record evangelist for making live web seminars interactive (see this), but audiences often just ‘sit there’ until…

…you call out someone’s name and answer their question.

I’ve done it over and over without fail.  The minute you get your first question or two in the question queue, take a second to pause your presentation long enough to answer one.

“Hey, James has a great question…he asks what time of day is best for launching widgets.  Well, James…”

Your Q&A manager will LIGHT UP.  Then it’s your job to do something with it, but then if I have anything to do with it, you’ll never again make a presentation where you hold all questions to the end.

Get them on the edge of their virtual seats.  Answer a question early, and use their name.