Did you know that the average attention span of a human being is less than that of a goldfish? Wait, you heard that before, but you forgot, right? I know I did.
In 2015, a study led by Microsoft concluded that the average human attention span dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to eight seconds in the last 15 years. The same researchers also found that humans’ ability to multitask has improved.
Your job as a speaker becomes more difficult with each passing year. His audience is now checking the stock market, texting his family, delivering a gift on his connected dog app, maybe even taking a selfie while they’re supposedly listening. Phew! Is it any wonder you now have to work twice as hard to get his attention? No matter how good you already are, you will have to significantly improve your game.
#1 Have a conversation
I work with a business leader who captivates the public. Every time he makes a speech, he steals the show. The audience can’t get enough of him, and other speakers prefer not to take the stage after him. I asked people why they love it, and the universal answer is that it makes them feel like they’re having a personal conversation, the message aimed especially at them.
If, like him, you want your audience’s constant attention, talk to your audience, don’t just talk to them. He speaks, then pause and listen. Keep your audience active and focused on you by making them part of your speech.
Here are some fun and easy techniques we use to engage the audience:
have a raised hand
use technology to conduct a live “in-room” survey
leave some blank spaces on your slides and invite the audience to guess or fill them in
Ask for volunteers to help you demonstrate a process.
after sharing an idea, give them a minute to practice it
share an idea and ask the audience how they would apply it to their own situation
#2 Tell a story
I heard you moan, didn’t I? It seems that storytelling is the new “thing”, and everyone wants to participate. Yes, that’s because it works.
Everyone loves a good story. It is the oldest form of human communication. Stories are how children first learn to understand the world around them, and it works just as well later in life. So use a story to establish your theme, weave a thread through your speech, and draw your audience’s attention to your key messages.
Recently, I was preparing a speaker who wanted to show the value of industry ecosystems as enablers of the Internet of Things. To establish this claim, we tell a story of India’s struggle for independence. The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, also known as India’s first revolt against British rule, would never have come to fruition had the East India Company not laid the foundations for a railway network in the country in 1851. For decades, there had been an escalation of unrest among various sections of Indian nationalists, manifesting as isolated, small-scale protests scattered across the country. These uprisings failed to capitalize on each other’s momentum, due to a lack of communication and coordination.
The Sepoy mutiny began in the Meerut barracks, when the soldiers rebelled against the use of beef and pork fat in bullets. At any other time, this is where it would have started and ended, but this time it was different. The railway network, which connected some major cities in North and Central India, allowed news of the uprising to spread. It also allowed several riot leaders to congregate in a short period of time and turned a localized riot into India’s first war of independence.
We then draw a parallel between this episode and how different industry groups are going to get online and collaborate to build the Internet of Things. This helped listeners see the network as an enabler of ecosystems and growth.
#3 Timing is everything
The way people process information is changing. A 2010 study asked students to self-report attention spans while attending three lectures, with different speakers and teaching styles.
The results revealed a pattern of attention loss, with “spikes” in
30 seconds after the conference, indicating an “adaptation” period
about five minutes after the initial distraction
seven to nine minutes into reading
nine to ten minutes, just a couple of minutes after the last peak
I’ve found that it’s possible to keep your audience engaged when you use attention-raising techniques to counteract these attention spans. Encourage your audience to actively listen by varying the tone and pace of your presentation. Display an eye-catching image or write on a board to keep their eyes focused on you. The conversation/interaction tactics we discussed earlier work particularly well at these times.