Recent Microsoft research shows our attention span is now down to 8 seconds – 1 second less than a goldfish! Poor concentration is a modern malaise.
This fact should impact hugely on the way you start your presentations.
If you don’t quickly grab your audience’s attention, they’ll be off thinking about something that does. And this will normally be something that emotionally impacts on them like their problems back at the office.
And this is reinforced by the fact that humans can only really concentrate on one thing at a time – it’s called our “attention spotlight”.
So open your presentations by stating your purpose and identifying the ‘truth’ of what is at the core of the issue being discussed. Show ‘what’s in it for them’.
Appeal to your audience by finding an emotional connection to your argument.
Oh yes, and also tell them how long you plan to speak for – hopefully for no more than 15 minutes.
If you follow these 3 rules you’re likely to have your audiences’ rapt attention every time.
And you’ll have hit their “attention spotlight”.
[If you’d like to get some training in how to do just this, take a look at our 2017 Portfolio
www.speakersco.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Speakers-Corner-Training-Portfolio-2017.pdf]
Posted by Sally Clare on Wednesday, February 8th, 2017 in Features › News ›
Tags: best presenters, grabbing attention, impact presentations, memorable presentations