T YOU BUT NOT REALLY
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That may seem cynical, but the reality
is that speakers have to work harder
and more deliberately to engage
minds, impact learning and truly shift
their audiences, because the world is
filled with distractions competing for
their attention.
Her are some tips based on neuroscience that will help you compete for
space in their minds:
1 GATHER VS. LEARN.
People don’t learn when you talk. They
learn when they apply your concepts
to their lives and practice them consistently. They’re certainly not doing that
during your session. Many keynote
speakers say they speak to change
attitude, not aptitude. According to
neuroscience, neither is happening, at
least not permanently.
When you speak, your audience
gathers information and stores it for
later use. That is, if they remember
anything you said. Gathering happens
when there is density of attention. For
example, if you give the audience 15
different things to remember, their
brains will select a maximum of four
new things to attend to, and you don’t
get to choose which ones. Give them a
few related points to increase density.
Build your speech for density instead of
using three or four disparate points in
your topic area. If brain science means
anything, your talk should be a single
symphony with various movements and
not a greatest hits album.
When the brain is tired, most information bounces off of it. Glucose
levels (brain fuel) are usually low midafternoon and late evening. If you’re
speaking at those times, your talk will
be absorbed better if the talk is shorter,
sweeter and/or more tactical in nature.
If you’re a humorist after dinner, you
get by because you’re probably short
and sweet. If you’re a high-content
speaker, usable pieces of information
are critical for the tired brain, regardless of how amazing your story is. For
example, ask the audience to try a
couple of things in the next week and
show them how they make things better
