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# Three types of tough crowd
- URL: https://www.howardgray.net/three-types-of-tough-crowd-2/
- Published: 2026-01-15T19:13:16.000Z
- Updated: 2026-01-15T19:13:16.000Z
- Author: Howard Gray
- Tags: Learning Innovation, Freelancing, Best of...

> *"Tough crowd."*

You've heard someone say this after a gig, a presentation, a workshop. But there's a few different flavours of tough crowd.

The first: arms crossed, screwface, tuned out. Elsewhere.

The second: people who aren't sure why they're there — or worse, they all have different reasons. This one's deceptively hard to deliver for.

The third: enrolled, urgent, high stakes. This matters. It needs to work. They're demanding — and not to be confused with crowd one.

The third crowd is the one you want. Easy rooms are fun - but they don't tend to make you better.