1. Meditate: your serene face will trick people into believing you are enjoying the talk.
2. Play noughts and crosses with yourself - this way you'll never be the loser!
3. Compile a thriller: get even with the speaker by constructing a plot in which he or she is the villain who gets his just deserts.
4. Work out: try the exercises you've read in most in-flight brochures that are said to improve blood circulation while being rooted to a spot.
5. Do a head count: check out how many people are dozing or looking bored.
6. Become an artist. Start with a caricature of the speaker, then the audience and, if you have the time, of yourself looking bored out of your mind.
7. Compile a list of gifts you'd like: apart from being pleasurable, it'll also look like you are taking down notes.
8. Be a chef and invent a dessert. After all, revenge is a dish best served cold.
9. Be a poet: compile limericks on boring lectures.
10. Self help: write an imaginary note to the boring speaker on how to spice up a lecture. It could be your own guide to becoming a good speaker, if you are not already one!
