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Are You Paying Attention to Me?Yes ... Well ... Maybe

Richard Skaare

When I stepped into the university classroom as a guest lecturer for a course titled “Computer-mediated Communication,” I faced 40 students sitting in rows of tables peering politely at me from behind computer screens while tapping on keys.  I was well prepared to use human-mediated communication (that’s me!). I was not prepared, however, to compete against other media.

Picture yourself in a room full of unfamiliar people — say, at a community meeting — who, unbeknown to you,  have moderate interest in being there and minimal interest n the presentation you’ve been asked to make.

You launch enthusiastically into your choreographed Powerpoint presentation, and become engrossed in reading the five detailed points on your first slide. You then turn to the audience to check their enthusiasm only to realize that many attendees are looking down, not taking notes but checking emails and social networks on their phones.

Media competes against media.

I suppose you could ask the group politely to put away their phones, as I could have admonished the students to turn off their machines and listen to me.

But even if they were to store away physical distractions, that does not mean they would then pay attention.  People choose to focus on what interests them most at the time: you the presenter, their iPhones, daydreaming, or, in my case, computers.

For me in the university classroom, rather than becoming a frustrated lecturer, I became inquisitive. I wanted to know:

  • Can humans rapidly switch between two sources of communication and still absorb information?
  • Was the choice either-or: could these students simultaneously link to my messages and to their networks
  • In short, how could I – how can you — get important messages and information into heads with short attention spans?

Here is what I learned – or relearned:

1

Eye contact doesn't always reflect listening

Much of the time time, an audience will appear to be attentive by sitting upright and staring at you. But are they listening or simply being polite? Who knows?

Sure, there are obvious signs of distraction: a smiling student typing while looking at her computer screen meant an Instant Message had supplanted you; or your audience may suppress yawns.

2

No eye contact doesn't always reflect distraction

Social analyst use the phrase “continuous partial attention” to describe the ability to prioritize one source of information such as your remarks as primary but staying accessible and jumping impulsively and often emotionally between any opportunity at the moment – for instance, a rumor on Facebook — that lets people feel connected and alive.

3

Attention Relies on Emotional Connection

People learn best by connecting with people who connect them with information. If we cannot connect with the speaker at the front of the room talking at us, then we will connect with the people next to us through whispers or with our colleagues and friends through our phone screens — or, in my case, computer screens.

So how do you as a presenter connect emotionally when you are one and they are many, when you are standing separately from them, maybe on a stage, when you control the information, and when they know you only as “our esteemed speaker?” Here are four suggestions.

Connect Before You Present

I made a point of chatting with several students as everyone settled into the classroom. A much better approach is what I was told another guest lecturer does. He greets students as they enter and then uses their names in his remarks and in the Q&A. Smart. Swap names and you start a connection. Try it.

Walk around While Presenting

Scary, huh? Scary for you as you leave the security of the lectern and your PowerPoints and scary for the audience who doesn’t know what to expect from this unexpected move. Yet surprise spawns attention. The audience pays more attention to you and you pay more attention to their reactions (up close) and can adjust your message and animations accordingly.

Use Media to Connect

Ask a question and tell those with smartphone browsers to find the answer while you get the audience speculating. Or ask those with X (Twitter} on their phones or laptops to poll their groups for opinions on a particular question, and then read the results to the audience. Link what people know with what you know.

t

Turn what you know into questions

Rather than presenting your findings on a particular topic, insert questions such as, “How could I reconcile this piece of data with that piece? How would you?” Start with two or three people whom you met earlier. That will get a discussion rolling, after which flip to the visual that shows your conclusions.

Competing for attention is trying. Yet, trying to control an audience by over-talking, over-informing, and over-PowerPointing results in under-connecting. Remember, you are there not to be a memorable speaker but to make a memorable impression that changes the audience.

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