Scientifically Speaking
How to speak about your research with confidence and clarity
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
Menu

We now have a shorter attention span than a goldfish, so we haven’t got long to make our point!

Our attention span is rapidly declining, twenty years ago we were happy to focus on something for 12 seconds but this dropped to eight seconds fifteen years later, no doubt with the advent of smartphones and the increase of social media.  A report by the UK communications regulator found in 2018 that the British check their phones every 12 minutes and another survey found Americans apparently check it every 10 minutes. We are constantly bombarded with an abundance of information from multiple sources and our interest in topics lasts for less and less time.  A Danish study found that in 2013 Twitter hashtags trended in the top 50 for nearly 18 hours but within three years they had less than 12 hours of popularity.  With all this permanent distraction we have less and less time to make our point and ensure its heard.  So how can we do this and be effective?

Prepare your message in advance

Preparation is THE key element, if your audience is only listening for a short amount of time, it is critical to decide what the one key thing is you really want to say.  Then think about how you want to say it.   Make sure that your comments are real words, and that they are pitched at the right level for your target audience. Can you encapsulate your key message simply and clearly in under ten seconds?  If not, then have another go at the message.

Get your key message out quickly

Given we have exceptionally short attention spans it’s critical you don’t bury your point but instead state your main message early and upfront. You can always back it up afterwards with greater depth of detail, but be sure to say first what you want your audience to remember.

Repeat and repeat

When we speak to the media or give a presentation, we obviously have longer than mere seconds to talk, so use this time to repeat your message as often as possible, within reason. By repeating your message several times, you have more of a chance of it being heard in between people checking their WhatsApp groups.

True to the message of this blog, I’ve kept this advice short! However, if you’d like to learn more, you’ll find lots more information in my new book, Scientifically Speaking, available here.

“I am here live, I am not a cat”, Rod Ponton, lawyer, Texas, USA

The Covid-19 pandemic has without a doubt caused enormous devastation to millions of people around the world and the consequences are still unfolding.  But it has also revolutionised at breakneck speed, before most of us were even ready, how we communicate to each other remotely from the safety of our homes.

This has had a personal impact, but most notably a professional one too.  Before the pandemic, the stock price of Zoom was below the $100 mark, by October 2020 the price had more than quadrupled to $500 a share.  Zoom has become one of the most widely used platforms the world is using to speak to not only our families and friends, but also our colleagues and most of us 18 months ago had probably never even heard of it, let alone used it every day.

Earlier this year when COVID-19 still had most of the world within its deadliest grip, we were gratefully entertained by the mishaps of the lawyer Rod Ponton in Texas, USA, who was attending a remote court hearing with the unfortunate filter of a cat replacing his image.  This hapless experience gave us all an extremely humorous respite from the gloom of the pandemic, not only because it was completely adorable and zany, but also because we can all relate to the perils of Zoom and particularly filters our children may have put on when they were using it to talk to their friends.

Zoom, and platforms like it, have been a true lifesaver and without them we literally couldn’t have carried on conducting business as well as we have since the pandemic started.  But its also meant we have had to massively restructure how we communicate, not only because we’ve had to learn multiple new technologies, but also, we’ve had to understand how presenting or speaking to people virtually is different to how we speak when we’re in the same room.  Presenting to a screen when you cannot see or hear your audience can be disconcerting in the beginning, you have no gauge of how your presentation is being received, no visual cues, you are literally presenting to yourself.

However, there are some advantages, such as no distractions from the audience, no mobile phones ringing, you can entirely focus on what you are presenting.  Also, for those who find it nerve-racking presenting to a large audience, there is no stage to climb onto, no bright lights shining in your eyes, its all from the comfort of your home. Lastly of course, no travel is required, and you can participate with great ease at any time of day or night and attend more meetings in different locations.

Although we have all gotten more experienced and competent at Zoom, I would still like to share some tips so we can hopefully avoid the pitfalls of presenting remotely (and avoid being a cat or some other creature!)

These are just a few basic tips.  I could easily list more, as the capabilities of remote platforms are endless, but these pointers should have even the most techno-phobic presenter prepared!