If you walked this earth 100 years ago, you would have had the luxury of someone’s undivided attention because the average attention span of the human race was about 20 minutes!
Today it’s a challenging 8-9 seconds and that sucks!
Try making a sale, running a meeting or just creating a higher degree of IMPACT under those conditions and it can become rather challenging.
Here are 3 ideas to help you . . .
Numero Uno: Shorten Your Messaging!
I learned this one the hard way as some of my emails a few years ago were the equivalent of mini novels.
So what do people do when then get a mini novel email or even one that is just too lengthy by their definition?
They scan it or they make a note to get back to it later. Sadly, they might just delete it.
Not cool!
Guy Kawasaki, in his book Enchantment, suggests that we keep our emails to no more than 6 sentences. I believe Daniel Pink has talked about 3 sentence emails.
Some other messaging guidelines to think about . . .
Voicemails . . . no more than 15 seconds. 10 would be ideal.
Powerpoints: No more than 10 slides with strict adherence to the . . .
“1-6-6 Rule” 1 theme. 6 bullets of no more than 6 words each on each slide. Personally, I prefer no words and just one really strong graphic per slide but I’m a complex carbohydrate like that.
Numero Uno And A Half: Get To The Point Already!
I see way too many people prefacing, and talking about what they’re going to be talking about and it’s sad. It’s sad because they ramble on as if their audience has the patience to wait for them to make their point. They don’t!
Our brains have this way of letting us know “Aint nobody got time for that!” and then fixes our attention elsewhere. Do you think there’s a possibility that this happens with your clients and prospects?
Numero Dos: Use “3’s” To Help People Process
I’ve seen this technique used with customer service agents reciting back an order number, sales reps using selling points bundled in “3’s” and even this sentence where I just used “3’s”. 🙂
Numero 3ish Be Interactive.
The longer we talk, or write the easier it is for our audience to pack their mental bags for an outer body experience.
When you present (formally or informally) follow the 2 minute rule! This is simply asking a question or involving the other party every 2 minutes.
Note: This is particularly important on conference calls where you have a high degree of multitasking, playing Angry Birds etc. 
Don’t forget to make your emails more interactive by ending them with a question.
Make sense?
See . . . that was me practicing what I preach!
Until next time . . .
Make sure you shorten your messaging, package your thoughts in 3’s and make it more interactive!
Your turn . . .
What do you do to keep the attention of someone who has way too many things on the brain?
Hurry up; your success is waiting . . .
I help individuals and organizations sell more and embrace new levels of AWESOME! Click here when you’re done stalling and ready to get to work!
