How far should you go to keep you audiences attention?
How far should a presenter go to keep their audiences attention? Especially if they are doing a presentation in the evening hours when their audience has worked all day and has the potential of falling asleep?
Great question. I would say to go as far as you can, within reason. Clearly you always want to be a professional & not kill that reputation in an effort to keep attention.
One thing I would suggest is to explore ways of increasing audience interaction & participation, often this will help those who are battling fatigue. A technique I've found & often use is to periodically ask the audience a thought provoking question & they are required to get up, move around & find someone to discuss this with. Give them like 3 minutes total & then have them sit by "their new best friend." It's a little crazy but keeps them moving & guessing.
Beyond this, there is the reality that if we are presenting in the evening, there will always be those who are struggling to stay awake. Don't take it personally, they are probably just worn out & this is the first time they've stopped all day.
Hope this helps.
Ryan
Hi, Barbara. Thanks for your question. Keeping an audience’s attention starts the minute the speech development begins. The audience analysis, the pre-mingle with the audience to get to know them a bit and allow them to get to know you a bit, the introduction where you fully disclose your goal for the speech and tell the audience how the speech will benefit each of them personally, the de-stress moments during the introduction where you encourage your audience to leave behind the stresses of the day, your visual aids, and your nonverbal communication including your eye contact or “listening†with your eyes should all be carefully constructed to keep your audience’s attention while focusing on your speech goal.
The speech must offer some solution to some problem the audience is having or it should, at a minimum, offer the audience something that will help them personally. The audience analysis allows speakers to figure out what is personally important to each member of the audience. The audience analysis must be thoroughly conducted before the exact topic of the speech can even be finalized. After the needs, interests, and desires of each audience member are assessed, then the topic can begin to take shape. Developing the speech for the particular audience will help to keep their attention more than nearly anything else.
Before the speech begins, mingle with the listeners, shake their hands, ask them to have some snacks you have provided, and inquire about the temperature of the room and any other possible distractions. Provide snacks such as coffee, chocolate, cookies, chips, cola, water, homemade goodies, fruit, or whatever you feel is appropriate for this audience. Avoid wrappers that make noise because this will be distracting during your speech. Make an announcement two to three minutes before you begin the speech setting the rules, such as no mobile devices (“turn them off and please give me your full attention for the duration of the speechâ€) and hold questions to the end (if this is the most effective way to get through your speech and hold the audience’s attention). Announce where the restroom is located and let the audience know you will be starting in about three minutes so they have time to visit the restroom before you begin your speech.
During the introduction, acknowledge that you realize it has been a long day and that everyone is tired. Guarantee your audience that you have developed this speech especially for them and that you will be solving a specific issue for them or providing them with information that will help them in a personal way. Make sure the audience knows this is not a generic speech that they are about to hear. Call a few audience members by name and mention some work issues they may be having that your speech will help them solve, or refer to personal ways that your speech will help specific audience members (call the audience members by name). Make sure this part of your speech is upbeat and uplifting. Let the audience know that you have developed the speech to be only 25 minutes long—or the very minimum of time that was required to help them solve the issues or help them in a personal way. Use visuals you have developed for your speech if they fit into any part of your introduction. Visuals help to keep your audience’s attention, they help you settle your nerves when you have to pick up the visuals, and they emphasize the two or three main points of your speech.
Depending upon your audience analysis, your topic, and your presentation, you might want to ask the audience to stand and move around a little bit to de-stress, or you might ask them to go through a guided-meditation or de-stressing moment with you. Ask them to shake off any negativity from the day so that they can best focus on your speech. If you decide to incorporate any kind of game or activity into your presentation to help keep your audience’s attention, it absolutely must be directly related to your topic. Do not use a game or activity that is going to detract from your topic because it is completely unrelated to your topic. Be very selective when using games or activities because you do not want the audience to only pay attention for the sake of playing the game because that might be all that the audience can recall after your presentation.
Use a poster board with your basic outline on it. Point to this outline as you progress through your speech—this will help to keep both you and your audience on track with where you are within your speech. Rely on your visuals to help you emphasize your two or three main points many times during your presentation. Keep very good eye contact with your audience. Read the nonverbal communication of your audience in order to determine when their interest is dwindling—when you see this, call on an audience member or ask someone to come up and help you with some visual aids. Of course, you will have to know your speech backwards and forwards in order to effectively be able to manage the attention of the audience and convey your two or three main points as effectively as possible. Review your outline several times during your speech so that the audience understands your organization, where you are within the organization of your speech, and where you are headed with the speech. Repetition will help the audience be able to more effectively recall the concepts you present, so strive to use the exact same words for your two or three main concepts every time you mention those concepts in your speech.
With sufficient preparation and practice, your speech should be able to keep your audience’s attention—even after a long day of work. The audience analysis, the pre-mingle with the audience, the introduction where you disclose your goal for the speech and tell the audience how the speech will benefit each of them personally, the de-stress moments during the introduction, your visual aids, and your nonverbal communication including eye contact or “listening†with your eyes should all be carefully constructed to keep your audience’s attention while focusing on your speech goal.
I've found that getting out from behind the podium and walking around your listeners, while asking questions that pertain to the subject matter and directly interacting with them.
Yes, it's similar to basic teaching methods when you are trying to maintain control or regain the attention of a student. Proximity helps listeners pay a little better attention & questions are a great way to keep them engaged.
Ryan
Attention is the key, Leave open ended comments so that the group or students will ask questions to keep there own attention and not fall asleep. When I do an afternoon class that is what I do.
I find having a state change and walking around durning the lecture will help keep their attention
Great idea & along with this splitting them into pairs or small groups to discuss is another way to keep them awake & moving.
Ryan
I too have found this technique to be very helpful, especially when combined with some good, strong questions.
Ryan
Our students just like ourselves lose focus if the lecture gets boring. Personal stories that are related to the lecture will break it up and keep thier attention
This is so true Marvin. I have been surprised how much attention my students pay to my personal stories & examples from my experience.
Ryan
Sometimes you have to change course to get their attention. You may have to stop and do something visual or audible to have them refocus
We are taught to do a state change in our methodology class before we teach our first training class. I find that is a key to keeping some students alert and tuned in, however there are some that are going to tune you out no matter waht you do. I often try to tell relative stories to the topic of discussion that come from my work in the past, and many times the students are more ready to hear those than the intended discussions.
This man clearly has wisdom beyond his years and is a valuable part of our education department, I could not say it better
Ray,
Specifically what struck you about the comments? What are your plans to implement the ideas?
Ryan
You make a great point. While we obviously have material that needs to be covered, occasionally allowing the discussion to pursue a slightly different path is beneficial to keeping students' attention.
Ryan
This is a great idea & one that we need to be ready to do. I suggest always having something like this in your "back pocket" ready to pull out & use.
Ryan
I agree to the attention span. I have heard that most people have a 30 minute attention span because we grew up watching 30 minute TV programs. I don't remember where I heard this however the logic seems reasonable.
I teach Math classes and I found that during lecture some students will be doodling on their paper or looking out the window. I believe this is due to the way they receive information. I was trained to change up the instruction with audible and visual media. So, when I teach students about discounts on products and percentages I bring in pictures of items they might see in a store for sale. For women, I will show clothing and personal items. For men, I will show computers, oil, and cell phones. The mix of items seems to be enough to keep the interest and when we talk about ordering truck loads of supplies for office buildings the discounts really add up. After showing the visual aids I transition back to the lecture and white board.
These are all great ideas & you are right, any real world examples that you can bring in to make a seemingly abstract concept concrete is a great idea.
Ryan
Sometimes I will just do the unexpected and change the days agenda by taking the class out for a lab project or a take a stroll the the parking lot to look at and or identify the subject that we are studying in class i.e., tire wear, suspension sag or alignment issues.
