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What can a marshmallow tell you about your audience?

Published on in Attention spans and digital natives. Closed Tags: , , , , , .

marshmallow

Whether you like marshmallows or not, a four-year-old child certainly does. What’s not to like? Chewy, sweet, synthetic colorful lumps of candy.  But how long can a child go between a marshmallow?  This was tested in the 1960s and brainy psychologists worked out that the longer a child could hold out – the higher their IQ and generally well-roundedness later in life.

Daniel Goleman has suggested that an important component of emotional intelligence is a concept called “delayed gratification”. People who lack this trait are said to need instant gratification and may suffer from poor impulse control.

The need for instant gratification is a feature of digital natives regardless of whether they like marshmallows or not.  But what has this got to do with presenting?  You don’t need to be a insightful commentator to realise that the developed world is trending towards instant gratification.  We are continually informed with our mobile phones, blogs and now Facebook and Twitter (instant gratification of connectedness). Online shopping means we can continue when the shopping mall closes (some never do!)(instant gratification of consumption). Reality shows, Pop Idol imitations all contribute to this trend (instant gratification of popularity).

Back to presenting, what this means for you is that your audience is increasingly likely to expect a reward during your presentation. A reward? You mean just listening to my presentation is not enough to keep the audience happy?  Don’t they know how smart, witty and insightful I am?

So what rewards can you use with your demanding audience?  It doesn’t need to cost you anything. Let the audience be a part of the ‘journey’, let them take part and participate along with you as the guide. A presentation shouldn’t be a dump of information, it should be a joint discovery. If you ever feel that your presentations are becoming too predictable and canned, it’s time to change it up. Enjoy the journey!

Ever feel like you are presenting to goldfish and puppies?

Published on in Attention spans, digital immigrants and digital natives. Closed Tags: , , , , , , .

Toddlers, goldfish and puppies are not the most especially attentive of audiences. But you can learn a lot from their attention spans. There’s short. And they won’t hang around if they feel bored.

toddlers-bored

Does your audience ever feel bored?  This often happens when you present too much information with not enough time to connect the dots with vivid examples and practical applications. The result? Very little digestion and a completely unmotivated audience.

Brain studies have shown that using graphics (images, charts, pictures) first while introducing a topic the retention and interest goes up. Digital natives – who have grown up with interactive technology (video games, internet) like to think in fast bursts. Use graphics to quickly show a path, overview a topic or summarise findings.

goldfish

Goldfishes are not known for having long memories.  But to be honest, today’s audiences can often resemble goldfishes. But that’s your fault. Test it. Ask someone who has listened to your presentation one week later, what some of the key messages were and you will be amazed if they even remember listening to the presentation. Boring information is like watching paint dry: it takes up some time and then you forget all about it.  Instead of delivering a “watermelon” of information to your audience, use spaced learning techniques.  Help your audience recall key points but going back to them during the presentation, refreshing them after breaks, inserting colorful summary slides or graphics and giving quick “Q&A quizzes” throughout the day.  The more you create chances for your audience to deepen their understanding, the higher their memory retention.

puppy

(Wo)man’s best friend he may be, but a puppy can be a real handful. Puppies learn through play and massive amounts of interactivity. They bring a digital native attitude to learning.  Growing up playing PlayStation, Xbox, and countlesss other handheld consoles, digital natives expect all experiences to be “fun”. Work and learning included.

Yes. It’s important to treat yourself seriously and be good at what you do. But don’t treat your presentation too seriously if you want your audience to stay engaged and remember what your key messages are. Humour works.  But even if you are not that funny, high amounts of interactivity will help you keep your audience awake. Pop quizzes, short discussion, role plays, two-player face offs (PK games) will all help increase interaction and keep the energy alive!

Is attention span falling?

Published on in Attention spans, digital immigrants and digital natives. Closed Tags: , , .

video-tv

According to media philosopher Marshall McLuhan, the average attention span for a TV viewer was four to five minutes. In 1976.  Today’s action movies with digital editing create cuts every three to four seconds.

Killian Avertising report on a recent study that concluded the average American spends two hours every day watching television. Reading, on the other hand, occupies seven minutes. So why are you forcing your audience to read PowerPoint slides full of text?

If you are presenting to a group of people who are used to watch movies with fast-paced, quick-changing action. And you deliver slide after slide of data-heavy content in a dead-pan voice, how long are they going to stay with you? Three minutes, four tops?

So why do so many presenters present like their audiences have attention spans of three hours.  One reason lies in the differences between digital natives and digital immigrants.blog_tv

Find out if you are digital native or digital immigrant.

Learn more about digital natives here. And digital immigrants here.

Your attention span is like a watermelon

Published on in Attention spans. Closed Tags: , .

180px-watermelonsAccording to Wiki, your attention span is the amount of time you can concentrate on a task without becoming distracted. Your ability to focus attention on a task is related to your success in achieving your goals.

As presenters we are relying on our audience’s attention to stay focused on our presentation, learn our key messages and act on our takeaways.

But just how realistic is this?

Not very. Take a look around. Nobody is listening. They are not paying attention to you. They are not focused on your presentation, your messages or takeaways.  Their attention span is more like this:

smashed-watermelon

It’s fragmented. In bits and pieces.  And it’s not their fault. So what are you going to so about it? As a presenter of information you are responsible for getting your messages across. If the audience don’t get the point. It’s your fault.  If they become distracted, bored or dis-engaged during your presentation. It’s your bad.

So what can you do to stop this (frightening) possibility from occurring.  First, understand more about attention spans.

Read more tips and articles on attention spans here.