October 14, 2025 • 22 mins
Discover how to keep your virtual audience focused for more than eight seconds! We reveal the brain science of attention and share easy ways to boost engagement, energy, and on-camera presence in Episode 59 of The Virtual Presentation Skills Podcast.
What You’ll Learn.......
- 🎯 Why audiences tune out online — and what the Reticular Activating System (RAS) has to do with it.
- 🧠 The dopamine connection — how to create mini “hits” of interest that keep people watching and learning.
- ⚡ Attention triggers and pattern interrupts that jolt the brain awake.
- 🗣️ How to use tone, pace, visuals, and pauses to reset focus every three minutes.
- 🪄 Slide design that works — visual cues instead of text walls to avoid cognitive overload.
- 💡 Practical fixes you can apply right now to make your next virtual presentation unforgettable.
Key Takeaways
- Attention = Dopamine + Novelty + Relevance
- No change = No dopamine = Disengagement
- Make micro-changes every 3 minutes—shift tone, visual, or energy.
- Start with a hook, not an agenda.
- Avoid “dopamine deserts” created by static slides and monotone delivery.
Virtual Office Audit — 30-minute group session to optimize your on-camera presence and engagement. 🔗Group Virtual Office Audit Registration
Challenge of the Week
During your next virtual meeting, time yourself. How often do you change something—your tone, your slide, your pace? If it’s more than three minutes, it’s too long. Remember:
Attention doesn’t drift—it gets pulled.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:12):
Hey, fellow humans.
Welcome back to the Virtual Presentation Skills podcast.
This is the show where we mix professional wisdom, a dash of humor, and a lot of really cool brain science.
I'm Kimberly, one of your cohos.
And I'm Kathy, the other co-host.
We are so happy you are here today.
(00:33):
We have good news to share.
Our show has been growing organically over the last few months, and you've been part of that, and I can't tell you how grateful I am for your support and your interaction and your participation.
If you're new to this community, welcome.
We are so happy to have you.
(00:55):
If you are one of our loyal listeners, you already know we love you.
We're so appreciative of you.
Today's topic is really interesting.
Of course, I love it when we have a rotation where we talk about brain science, the science of attention.
How to stop losing your audience in eight seconds.
Here's a number that'll blow your mind.
(01:17):
The average attention span for an online audience is less than eight seconds.
Some experts disagree and say that it's even less than that.
Now, mind you, that's.
Shorter than a goldfish.
You know, a goldfish attention is drawn to whatever shiny thing is in the room.
Before you blame social media, though, the truth is a little bit deeper than that, and this is where we jump into the really cool brain science.
(01:44):
Our brains are wired for survival.
Funny, that our brains are not wired for zoom meetings.
The human attention system.
Has evolved to constantly scan for movement novelty, as well as emotional relevance, which are things that signal danger or reward.
(02:06):
We'll talk a little bit more about dopamine later in the show.
It's completely related to this topic and how you can keep your audience attention instead of lose them.
In just eight seconds.
When your virtual presentations look the same for several minutes, for example, you're using the same tone or the same slide, you're just a talking head or a narrator.
(02:31):
Your brain decides.
There's nothing new here.
I'm gonna turn off my microphone.
I'm going to turn off my camera.
And we see this a lot in webinars and virtual meetings, and today we'll unpack why that happens and exactly what you can do to stop losing your audience in those first critical moments.
(02:55):
Kathy, I think you were going to share a story for our audience to kick us off.
Yes, Kimberly, what I was thinking about is the hook.
I know that we should always start a presentation with the hook to make sure that our audience is interested and alert to the, topic that we're going to share with them.
When the presenter is so close to the content in preparing the slide deck, it might be hard for them to come up with a hook.
(03:23):
So I was thinking about that and whether or not you like ai, it's here to stay and you can use it to create at least a draft hook for you to edit.
It will give you a starting point and it might, help you create your hook in a different way.
So hopefully that's a helpful tool for you. 44 00:03:43,956.66666667 --> 00:03:51,876.66666667 Kathy I know we talked a little bit about that before we started the podcast this morning, and I think that's a great example. 45 00:03:52,86.66666667 --> 00:03:54,186.66666667 We call that a grabber opening. 46 00:03:54,186.66666667 --> 00:03:58,806.66666667 Also in our presentation structure template hook credibility statement. 47 00:03:58,806.66666667 --> 00:04:04,596.66666667 There's lots of different terms people throw around, but essentially it is hooking your audience into. 48 00:04:05,571.66666667 --> 00:04:20,101.66666667 What you're going to tell them and what the topic is there's something called an attention trigger, and once you understand how to use these attention triggers, your meetings will never be the same. 49 00:04:20,101.66666667 --> 00:04:23,11.66666667 I've heard this over and over and over again. 50 00:04:23,461.66666667 --> 00:04:32,191.66666667 Having coached over 8,500 humans in 33 countries, you can imagine I've received a lot of feedback and. 51 00:04:32,726.66666667 --> 00:04:35,156.66666667 I know some of these stories are relatable to you. 52 00:04:35,786.66666667 --> 00:04:41,336.66666667 So let's get back to the brain science and the reason. 53 00:04:41,876.66666667 --> 00:04:48,446.66666667 Attention is so much more fragile online than in the in-person environment. 54 00:04:48,981.66666667 --> 00:04:50,481.66666667 Stay with me here. 55 00:04:50,841.66666667 --> 00:04:56,31.66666667 These are big numbers and these are probably going to blow your mind like they did mine. 56 00:04:56,721.66666667 --> 00:05:08,91.66666667 Our brains receive about 11 million, 11 million bits of sensory information per second, and you can slice and. 57 00:05:08,361.66666667 --> 00:05:09,531.66666667 This data different ways. 58 00:05:09,531.66666667 --> 00:05:20,361.66666667 Different experts did have different opinions, but this is the research that we pulled leads to this number 11 million bits of sensory information per second. 59 00:05:20,811.66666667 --> 00:05:29,761.66666667 Your conscious mind, however, can only process about 40 bits of those 11 million. 60 00:05:29,941.66666667 --> 00:05:33,481.66666667 So guess what happens? The rest gets filtered out. 61 00:05:33,811.66666667 --> 00:05:42,286.66666667 The brain's filtering system is something that's called RAS or reta reticular activating system, and it decides whether or not. 62 00:05:42,781.66666667 --> 00:05:47,941.66666667 It's worth paying attention to and what we should ignore, what we should walk away from. 63 00:05:48,331.66666667 --> 00:05:49,321.66666667 It's tuned in. 64 00:05:49,321.66666667 --> 00:05:54,91.66666667 The RAS is tuned in to novelty emotion as well as relevance. 65 00:05:54,271.66666667 --> 00:06:03,421.66666667 That's why a sudden movement, a change in tone, a surprising statement, really wakes people up and it tells the brain, Hey, this might be important. 66 00:06:03,481.66666667 --> 00:06:04,111.66666667 That's why I'm. 67 00:06:04,181.66666667 --> 00:06:07,421.66666667 Partially why I'm so passionate about gray out builds. 68 00:06:07,421.66666667 --> 00:06:13,201.66666667 As you know, I love to teach gray out builds because it's a skill I can teach in under four minutes. 69 00:06:13,201.66666667 --> 00:06:15,241.66666667 Doesn't matter if you're using a PC or a Mac. 70 00:06:15,661.66666667 --> 00:06:16,351.66666667 Look it up. 71 00:06:16,351.66666667 --> 00:06:17,881.66666667 We have a YouTube channel. 72 00:06:17,981.66666667 --> 00:06:26,261.66666667 and it's worth a listen because our brains are also very attracted to achieving saliency. 73 00:06:26,566.66666667 --> 00:06:30,706.66666667 That is one way we can achieve saliency is with a gray out build. 74 00:06:31,706.66666667 --> 00:06:33,476.66666667 Let's just add dopamine to the mix. 75 00:06:33,476.66666667 --> 00:06:35,516.66666667 Everyone knows what dopamine is. 76 00:06:35,516.66666667 --> 00:06:39,86.66666667 It's that feel good chemical. 77 00:06:40,36.66666667 --> 00:06:46,726.66666667 it is tied to anticipation and motivation, and there's a reward that's happening in your brain. 78 00:06:46,966.66666667 --> 00:06:55,276.66666667 Small things just like hearing your name, for example, seeing motion, recognizing a problem you can solve, those are all hits of dopamine. 79 00:06:55,576.66666667 --> 00:07:02,116.66666667 If you think about saying someone's name, hi Kathy, what does that do for you? Well, it alerts me. 80 00:07:02,506.66666667 --> 00:07:03,406.66666667 Hello, right? Mm-hmm. 81 00:07:03,596.66666667 --> 00:07:06,536.66666667 Some of us have been hearing our names before we were born. 82 00:07:06,876.66666667 --> 00:07:22,126.66666667 In some of those additional training programs, we teach this specific technique as an engagement technique and one of the rules, quite frankly, of engagement, dopamine, however, isn't just the feel good molecule like people think it is. 83 00:07:22,456.66666667 --> 00:07:24,286.66666667 It's also the pay attention molecule. 84 00:07:24,466.66666667 --> 00:07:25,666.66666667 Static slides. 85 00:07:25,666.66666667 --> 00:07:29,116.66666667 Oh, don't even get me started, right, Kathy, please. 86 00:07:29,116.66666667 --> 00:07:30,46.66666667 No, no, no, no. 87 00:07:32,476.66666667 --> 00:07:33,556.66666667 Ah goodness. 88 00:07:33,556.66666667 --> 00:07:41,851.66666667 That's, that's one of the areas, I love to talk about because people's slides are typically just horrific. 89 00:07:42,56.66666667 --> 00:07:44,546.66666667 When I receive a slide deck for the first time. 90 00:07:45,251.66666667 --> 00:07:46,1.66666667 Not good. 91 00:07:46,211.66666667 --> 00:07:50,741.66666667 There's so much text on the slide and it's very static. 92 00:07:50,741.66666667 --> 00:07:56,921.66666667 There isn't a story to be told, or there's a lot of stories being told on one slide and our brains just can't process that. 93 00:07:57,641.66666667 --> 00:08:09,761.66666667 If there's too much on a slide or monotone delivery or we have a lot of static slides, it creates something called a dopamine desert, which means the brain stops caring. 94 00:08:10,211.66666667 --> 00:08:11,591.66666667 Our brains just stop caring. 95 00:08:12,311.66666667 --> 00:08:14,321.66666667 In contrast, even small changes. 96 00:08:14,966.66666667 --> 00:08:23,6.66666667 Like a new image, A quick question, A lean in gesture reactivate the reward network and reset focus. 97 00:08:23,306.66666667 --> 00:08:32,36.66666667 That's why several of our training programs teach how to gain, maintain, and regain virtual attention. 98 00:08:32,66.66666667 --> 00:08:34,166.66666667 That's one of our best programs. 99 00:08:34,916.66666667 --> 00:08:37,886.66666667 When we say our brains crave novelty. 100 00:08:37,946.66666667 --> 00:08:42,896.66666667 We're really saying keep giving your audience mini dopamine hits. 101 00:08:43,931.66666667 --> 00:08:47,211.66666667 Kathy, what's your takeaway from this section? I have a couple things actually. 102 00:08:47,211.66666667 --> 00:08:50,541.66666667 First of all, I like the term dopamine desert. 103 00:08:50,541.66666667 --> 00:08:51,921.66666667 I think that's pretty cute. 104 00:08:53,421.66666667 --> 00:08:54,411.66666667 I've not heard that before. 105 00:08:54,411.66666667 --> 00:08:55,521.66666667 I think that's a great term. 106 00:08:55,921.66666667 --> 00:09:05,686.66666667 But I also wanted to reference two of the prior episodes, episode 15, we talk about monotone to magnetic, which is what you're talking about here. 107 00:09:05,946.66666667 --> 00:09:06,166.66666667 Yes. 108 00:09:06,676.66666667 --> 00:09:08,166.66666667 Also, episode 37. 109 00:09:09,526.66666667 --> 00:09:21,106.66666667 A really fun episode too, and we talk about the energy advantage and the advantage of having really good, positive energy that we put into our presentation or the way that we speak. 110 00:09:21,956.66666667 --> 00:09:30,971.66666667 The summary takeaway I'm getting right now with what you've just gone over is attention equals dopamine plus novelty and relevance. 111 00:09:32,521.66666667 --> 00:09:37,921.66666667 No change equals no dopamine and disengagement. 112 00:09:37,981.66666667 --> 00:09:44,701.66666667 So I think we really need to pay attention and, make your presentation at least a little bit novel. 113 00:09:45,841.66666667 --> 00:09:46,291.66666667 Yes. 114 00:09:46,341.66666667 --> 00:09:54,801.66666667 Start thinking about your presentations from the perspective of a rhythm, and they almost follow a curve when they're really well built. 115 00:09:55,131.66666667 --> 00:10:05,781.66666667 We have lots of supporting research from Microsoft, Harvard, Stanford, some of the well-known researchers that show attention drops sharply. 116 00:10:06,256.66666667 --> 00:10:14,26.66666667 After about three minutes, and guess what, we've been teaching this principle for more than 20 years and it hasn't changed. 117 00:10:14,356.66666667 --> 00:10:16,246.66666667 It's a human brain thing. 118 00:10:16,906.66666667 --> 00:10:21,446.66666667 So our brains are wired a particular way and they're not wired for. 119 00:10:21,511.66666667 --> 00:10:32,791.66666667 For monotony, and by minute 10, if nothing has changed your attention span and that of your audience can fall by 80%. 120 00:10:33,301.66666667 --> 00:10:34,651.66666667 This is dismal. 121 00:10:35,41.66666667 --> 00:10:35,161.66666667 Mm-hmm. 122 00:10:35,401.66666667 --> 00:10:45,361.66666667 I have coached so many presenters who are well-meaning they come to me with their decks that they're really, really excited about, and. 123 00:10:45,646.66666667 --> 00:10:48,136.66666667 I listen the first time. 124 00:10:48,136.66666667 --> 00:10:49,426.66666667 I have them present to me. 125 00:10:49,426.66666667 --> 00:10:55,216.66666667 I listen, and then I hit a buzzer as soon as my brain starts to tune out. 126 00:10:55,306.66666667 --> 00:11:03,556.66666667 And guess what? It's always between the three and five minute mark, usually closer to the three minute mark. 127 00:11:03,556.66666667 --> 00:11:04,936.66666667 So we use this as. 128 00:11:05,401.66666667 --> 00:11:06,661.66666667 A framework. 129 00:11:06,661.66666667 --> 00:11:14,341.66666667 The three minute rule isn't perfect, but if you think about doing something different every three minutes, that gives you a place to start. 130 00:11:14,911.66666667 --> 00:11:18,481.66666667 Kimberly, here are a few examples I think that our listeners can use. 131 00:11:18,901.66666667 --> 00:11:20,71.66666667 Ask a question. 132 00:11:20,806.66666667 --> 00:11:24,406.66666667 Raise your hand if you've ever felt invisible in a Zoom call, for example. 133 00:11:25,212.75692455 --> 00:11:25,872.75692455 Me, me, me. 134 00:11:25,872.75692455 --> 00:11:27,672.75692455 You can't see me, but I'm raising my hand right now. 135 00:11:27,962.92597899 --> 00:11:30,362.92597899 Change your tone or energy. 136 00:11:30,692.92597899 --> 00:11:32,672.92597899 Speed up or slow down. 137 00:11:32,912.92597899 --> 00:11:34,22.92597899 We've talked about that. 138 00:11:34,82.92597899 --> 00:11:34,382.92597899 Yeah. 139 00:11:34,682.92597899 --> 00:11:34,802.92597899 Mm-hmm. 140 00:11:35,72.92597899 --> 00:11:35,822.92597899 That's a good one. 141 00:11:35,822.92597899 --> 00:11:38,162.92597899 Um, shift to a new visual. 142 00:11:38,462.92597899 --> 00:11:42,932.92597899 So in other words, don't stay on the same slide longer than 90 seconds. 143 00:11:43,562.92597899 --> 00:11:44,612.92597899 And even 90 seconds. 144 00:11:44,612.92597899 --> 00:11:45,692.92597899 That's can be pretty long. 145 00:11:45,692.92597899 --> 00:11:47,72.92597899 That's a long time, honestly. 146 00:11:47,72.92597899 --> 00:11:49,292.92597899 Yeah, that's a long, long time. 147 00:11:49,292.92597899 --> 00:11:57,405.55205349 That was some of the research we pulled and we could also add a poll or a short story because what that does is resets the attention. 148 00:11:57,405.55205349 --> 00:11:59,565.55205349 It engages somebody when there's a story. 149 00:12:00,120.55205349 --> 00:12:00,540.55205349 Mm-hmm. 150 00:12:00,855.55205349 --> 00:12:03,555.55205349 And the last one is changing your frame. 151 00:12:03,855.55205349 --> 00:12:05,505.55205349 So here's the problem. 152 00:12:05,775.55205349 --> 00:12:07,845.55205349 Now here's the opportunity. 153 00:12:08,277.21872015 --> 00:12:08,547.21872015 Right. 154 00:12:08,547.21872015 --> 00:12:10,47.21872015 Those are all great examples. 155 00:12:10,47.21872015 --> 00:12:10,707.21872015 I love that. 156 00:12:10,707.21872015 --> 00:12:15,357.21872015 I'd also like to add passive engagement as well as active engagement. 157 00:12:15,897.21872015 --> 00:12:20,307.21872015 Active engagement is what you said first, ask a question and have them raise their hand. 158 00:12:20,517.21872015 --> 00:12:25,17.21872015 You could also have them do something silly like we do in the virtual office audit. 159 00:12:25,17.21872015 --> 00:12:33,717.21872015 For example, in the body language section, we have the audience show us their jazz hands and we have everybody. 160 00:12:34,47.21872015 --> 00:12:40,917.21872015 Demonstrate how annoying it is when the hands are close to the camera as opposed to closer to your body. 161 00:12:40,917.21872015 --> 00:12:47,997.21872015 And learning to gesture in a particular way in the virtual world is one of those skill sets you need to learn. 162 00:12:47,997.21872015 --> 00:12:49,587.21872015 It's not optional at this point. 163 00:12:49,707.21872015 --> 00:12:57,147.21872015 You need to learn these skill sets and the best way you can do that in 30 minutes and seven steps is the virtual office audit. 164 00:12:57,417.21872015 --> 00:12:59,607.21872015 We have so many opportunities this year for. 165 00:12:59,672.21872015 --> 00:13:01,412.21872015 For public training programs. 166 00:13:01,412.21872015 --> 00:13:09,332.21872015 We can also book private training programs as well, but the public ones are really easy to sign up for and it's $87. 167 00:13:09,542.21872015 --> 00:13:12,422.21872015 Again, these are a must have skillset. 168 00:13:13,82.21872015 --> 00:13:13,652.21872015 Absolutely. 169 00:13:13,707.21872015 --> 00:13:17,187.21872015 So why does this work? It's your brain's working memory. 170 00:13:17,487.21872015 --> 00:13:25,857.21872015 The part that holds the short term information can only hold about four to seven chunks of information at once. 171 00:13:25,907.21872015 --> 00:13:32,627.21872015 Statistically, I honestly believe it's closer to four, and this is a technique that we use in neurolinguistics. 172 00:13:32,657.21872015 --> 00:13:39,647.21872015 I'm also a neurolinguistics coach practitioner, which is why we get to be qualified to talk about the brain science of presentation skills. 173 00:13:39,707.21872015 --> 00:13:47,997.21872015 I like chunking with the number four, and I think that works better in the environment that we function in. 174 00:13:48,107.21872015 --> 00:13:56,177.21872015 We've only been this data driven for about the last 15 years, maybe 20. 175 00:13:56,497.21872015 --> 00:14:03,697.21872015 Some of these principles we have been teaching for over 20 years apply, and some of them need a little bit of a revamp. 176 00:14:04,2.21872015 --> 00:14:16,762.21872015 So we pull a lot of research and a lot of information before we go live, and I always like to tell you that there are different experts who have different opinions by introducing micro changes and micro gestures. 177 00:14:16,762.21872015 --> 00:14:20,482.21872015 For example, every few minutes you give the brain new. 178 00:14:20,747.21872015 --> 00:14:21,587.21872015 Anchors. 179 00:14:21,647.21872015 --> 00:14:30,167.21872015 Our brains love these anchors, and it keeps the information flowing from short-term to long-term memory. 180 00:14:30,437.21872015 --> 00:14:31,907.21872015 So think of it like a heartbeat. 181 00:14:31,907.21872015 --> 00:14:33,227.21872015 This is a really good example. 182 00:14:33,227.21872015 --> 00:14:35,987.21872015 It needs regular spikes to stay alive. 183 00:14:36,467.21872015 --> 00:14:38,447.21872015 I love that analogy. 184 00:14:39,167.21872015 --> 00:14:42,977.21872015 One other one I'm gonna add to that is the pause. 185 00:14:43,547.21872015 --> 00:14:45,167.21872015 We talked about that earlier today. 186 00:14:45,167.21872015 --> 00:14:48,932.21872015 When the presenter stops talking, you know, with that pause. 187 00:14:50,47.21872015 --> 00:14:52,327.21872015 And the audience is not paying attention or whatever. 188 00:14:52,327.21872015 --> 00:14:56,137.21872015 They look up Uhoh, what did I dismiss? Yes. 189 00:14:56,137.21872015 --> 00:14:59,17.21872015 Why are they not talking? So the pause is a good one too. 190 00:14:59,377.21872015 --> 00:14:59,737.21872015 Yes. 191 00:14:59,737.21872015 --> 00:15:00,427.21872015 I love that. 192 00:15:00,427.21872015 --> 00:15:07,57.21872015 We definitely can teach the power pause in some of our training programs. 193 00:15:07,57.21872015 --> 00:15:18,267.21872015 That's actually a separate module in several of our training programs, so I completely agree with you, and it's a little bit different in the virtual world than in person, but there is a way to adapt. 194 00:15:18,687.21872015 --> 00:15:19,17.21872015 Mm-hmm. 195 00:15:19,612.21872015 --> 00:15:30,712.21872015 We love to provide some practical fixes for these problems, and we talked about starting with a hook instead of an agenda. 196 00:15:31,312.21872015 --> 00:15:35,692.21872015 Honestly, folks, we stopped using agendas in the beginning of meetings. 197 00:15:36,147.21872015 --> 00:15:51,567.21872015 Almost 10 years ago, I have not been teaching the agenda structure for a very, very long time because after coaching so many people, thousands of people, I started seeing patterns. 198 00:15:51,657.21872015 --> 00:15:57,807.21872015 And if you're starting with an agenda that is, you slap up an agenda on a slide. 199 00:15:58,392.21872015 --> 00:16:05,112.21872015 In a meeting and you're expecting me to read through six or seven bullet points, it doesn't work. 200 00:16:05,202.21872015 --> 00:16:26,652.21872015 Like Kathy mentioned in the beginning, starting with a hook is much, much more powerful let me just remind you if your camera was off during your last meeting or your attendees cameras were off, you're probably costing or losing or both your company, lots of money. 201 00:16:27,342.21872015 --> 00:16:32,652.21872015 There is no reason for people's cameras to be off during these presentations. 202 00:16:32,702.21872015 --> 00:16:38,432.21872015 There are very few exceptions we agree to when we engage with a new client. 203 00:16:38,860.55205349 --> 00:16:41,980.5520535 Because you're not learning in the same fashion. 204 00:16:41,980.5520535 --> 00:16:45,700.5520535 Kathy, you said to me, gosh, I think this was a few episodes. 205 00:16:46,0.5520535 --> 00:16:50,990.5520535 Remember when I turned my camera off, I felt like I wasn't quite prepared for the meeting. 206 00:16:51,340.5520535 --> 00:16:56,410.5520535 The grand baby just left and I felt like I was a bit disheveled and I didn't wanna be on camera. 207 00:16:56,410.5520535 --> 00:16:56,500.5520535 Mm-hmm. 208 00:16:56,740.5520535 --> 00:17:02,710.5520535 And you said it would be better if you have messy hair and you look a little bit more disheveled. 209 00:17:02,710.5520535 --> 00:17:04,300.5520535 And you explained to me why. 210 00:17:04,785.5520535 --> 00:17:06,435.5520535 Than having you off camera. 211 00:17:06,435.5520535 --> 00:17:08,895.5520535 And I thought that was really, really interesting. 212 00:17:08,985.5520535 --> 00:17:18,235.5520535 And that is all part of the learning because what did you say to me specifically? Specifically, I like to talk to a person and not a blank screen. 213 00:17:18,270.5520535 --> 00:17:18,280.5520535 Mm-hmm. 214 00:17:18,565.5520535 --> 00:17:33,795.5520535 It's, it's hard to engage when there's only your voice on the other side and not a picture of you, Now we can learn together how to activate the RAS and and get the dopamine circuits firing. 215 00:17:33,845.5520535 --> 00:17:35,915.5520535 So that's the first practical fix. 216 00:17:35,915.5520535 --> 00:17:36,815.5520535 Simple and easy. 217 00:17:36,815.5520535 --> 00:17:40,445.5520535 Consider starting with a hook, not an agenda. 218 00:17:40,895.5520535 --> 00:17:45,305.5520535 What's next, Kathy? The next one is use pattern interrupts. 219 00:17:45,560.913085 --> 00:18:08,420.913085 Pattern interrupts our small changes that jolt the brain awake, for example, a gesture that breaks your frame, a sudden visual or prop, a rhetorical question, or even standing up mid-sentence because our brains are built to detect change, not sameness. 220 00:18:08,795.913085 --> 00:18:09,605.913085 Hmm. 221 00:18:09,695.913085 --> 00:18:11,615.913085 That is very, very powerful. 222 00:18:12,245.913085 --> 00:18:13,25.913085 Okay, great. 223 00:18:13,25.913085 --> 00:18:17,645.913085 And we have one more practical fix, and that is with slide design. 224 00:18:17,645.913085 --> 00:18:26,855.913085 And we have talked about this before, but this will just be a reminder for you if you're using slides as visual cues, not walls of. 225 00:18:27,40.913085 --> 00:18:31,480.913085 Text, not a crutch, not something that you're hiding behind. 226 00:18:31,480.913085 --> 00:18:31,570.913085 Mm-hmm. 227 00:18:31,930.913085 --> 00:18:42,760.913085 Because our visual cortex processes images 60,000 times faster than text when your slide is very dense with bullet points and lots of words. 228 00:18:43,445.913085 --> 00:18:48,605.913085 Your audience brain goes into what I call virtual cognitive overload. 229 00:18:48,915.913085 --> 00:18:58,575.913085 The overarching term is cognitive overload, but I like to put the virtual spin in there because we're talking about virtual presentation skills when we go into virtual cognitive overload. 230 00:18:59,490.913085 --> 00:19:00,780.913085 They stop listening to you. 231 00:19:01,136.7848615 --> 00:19:01,706.7848615 Instead. 232 00:19:01,706.7848615 --> 00:19:13,76.7848615 If you just keep it simple and focus on one story or one topic per slide, you are going to see that your presentations. 233 00:19:13,266.7848615 --> 00:19:17,556.7848615 Change drastically as well as your engagement rates. 234 00:19:17,766.7848615 --> 00:19:21,396.7848615 Now remember, clients come to us oftentimes with engagement rates. 235 00:19:21,606.7848615 --> 00:19:34,364.1193887 We see at about the 15% marker, and by the time they are done with training, we see them soar to well over 95% and beyond. 236 00:19:34,994.1193887 --> 00:19:36,224.1193887 We have your back. 237 00:19:36,224.1193887 --> 00:19:41,174.1193887 We know what we're doing in this arena, and we want to help. 238 00:19:41,419.1193887 --> 00:19:54,109.1193887 The reason I continue to be so passionate about this industry is because you all keep giving feedback and telling me, Kimberly, the group virtual office audit was the first step in my journey towards success. 239 00:19:54,109.1193887 --> 00:20:01,129.1193887 Or after we booked a series of training programs and one-on-one coachings for our team, our team culture changed. 240 00:20:01,234.1193887 --> 00:20:01,724.1193887 Changed. 241 00:20:01,729.1193887 --> 00:20:02,689.1193887 That's huge. 242 00:20:02,689.1193887 --> 00:20:04,279.1193887 Knowing this training. 243 00:20:04,509.1193887 --> 00:20:13,269.1193887 Can change a team culture and set somebody on the journey towards success, whatever that might look like for you. 244 00:20:13,449.1193887 --> 00:20:20,709.1193887 So please give us the opportunity to meet you in our next group Virtual Office audit, virtual office audit.com. 245 00:20:21,189.1193887 --> 00:20:21,279.1193887 Mm-hmm. 246 00:20:21,519.1193887 --> 00:20:24,129.1193887 Now here's a challenge for you for the week. 247 00:20:24,339.1193887 --> 00:20:38,469.1193887 What I'd like you to do is time yourself during your next virtual meeting or presentation and figure out how often you are changing something, whether it's your visuals, maybe your tone. 248 00:20:38,499.1193887 --> 00:20:44,409.1193887 If you go back and listen to any part of this episode, you'll see that my tone fluctuates. 249 00:20:44,859.1193887 --> 00:20:49,359.1193887 All the time, and that's something that you can learn as well. 250 00:20:49,359.1193887 --> 00:21:01,539.1193887 It's not something that comes naturally to most of us, but when we learn these techniques, because we know it meets the needs of our audience, ah, the world changes for the better. 251 00:21:02,229.1193887 --> 00:21:05,259.1193887 So time yourself in the next virtual presentation. 252 00:21:05,589.1193887 --> 00:21:11,799.1193887 If the answer is more than three minutes before you change something, it's too long. 253 00:21:12,544.1193887 --> 00:21:16,294.1193887 And there are some exceptions to the three minute rule like we talked about earlier. 254 00:21:16,594.1193887 --> 00:21:19,174.1193887 But take a look and be your own critic. 255 00:21:19,174.1193887 --> 00:21:20,584.1193887 Be your own coach. 256 00:21:20,634.1193887 --> 00:21:23,364.1193887 Remember, attention doesn't drift. 257 00:21:23,754.1193887 --> 00:21:24,894.1193887 It gets pulled. 258 00:21:25,314.1193887 --> 00:21:31,224.1193887 So your job as the presenter is to keep pulling the attention back with purpose. 259 00:21:31,704.1193887 --> 00:21:32,94.1193887 Hmm. 260 00:21:32,274.1193887 --> 00:21:33,714.1193887 That is very powerful. 261 00:21:33,714.1193887 --> 00:21:34,644.1193887 Absolutely. 262 00:21:35,334.1193887 --> 00:21:48,264.1193887 If you're ready to transform your online presence into something magnetic instead of monotone where people can't look away from you, join us in the group Virtual office audit, virtual office audit.com. 263 00:21:48,624.1193887 --> 00:22:03,114.1193887 In just 30 minutes, we'll optimize your lighting, lay out on camera performance, and teach you how you can start the learning journey toward success because you'll be able to hold your audience attention from start to finish. 264 00:22:03,534.1193887 --> 00:22:05,394.1193887 Your audience is waiting. 265 00:22:05,424.1193887 --> 00:22:07,284.1193887 Make sure they never look away again. 266 00:22:07,511.9797039 --> 00:22:08,891.9797039 Kathy, this feels like a wrap to me. 267 00:22:08,891.9797039 --> 00:22:11,591.9797039 What about you? I do think this is a wrap. 268 00:22:11,711.9797039 --> 00:22:12,461.9797039 Thanks, Kimberly. 269 00:22:13,91.9797039 --> 00:22:13,721.9797039 Perfect. 270 00:22:13,721.9797039 --> 00:22:14,861.9797039 This was so awesome. 271 00:22:14,861.9797039 --> 00:22:16,661.9797039 Thank you so much for your time. 272 00:22:17,51.9797039 --> 00:22:26,81.9797039 If you have a moment, Please take the time to download, like and listen to some of our previous episodes. 273 00:22:26,81.9797039 --> 00:22:28,31.9797039 We really appreciate your support. 274 00:22:28,31.9797039 --> 00:22:39,521.9797039 Just one like, or one download, believe it or not, that helps us grow and that is less than 10 seconds of your time if you're just downloading and saving to listen to it later. 275 00:22:40,181.9797039 --> 00:22:44,846.9797039 We look forward to sharing time with you in the next episode where we go live from the waist up.
Hey, fellow humans.
Welcome back to the Virtual Presentation Skills podcast.
This is the show where we mix professional wisdom, a dash of humor, and a lot of really cool brain science.
I'm Kimberly, one of your cohos.
And I'm Kathy, the other co-host.
We are so happy you are here today.
(00:33):
We have good news to share.
Our show has been growing organically over the last few months, and you've been part of that, and I can't tell you how grateful I am for your support and your interaction and your participation.
If you're new to this community, welcome.
We are so happy to have you.
(00:55):
If you are one of our loyal listeners, you already know we love you.
We're so appreciative of you.
Today's topic is really interesting.
Of course, I love it when we have a rotation where we talk about brain science, the science of attention.
How to stop losing your audience in eight seconds.
Here's a number that'll blow your mind.
(01:17):
The average attention span for an online audience is less than eight seconds.
Some experts disagree and say that it's even less than that.
Now, mind you, that's.
Shorter than a goldfish.
You know, a goldfish attention is drawn to whatever shiny thing is in the room.
Before you blame social media, though, the truth is a little bit deeper than that, and this is where we jump into the really cool brain science.
(01:44):
Our brains are wired for survival.
Funny, that our brains are not wired for zoom meetings.
The human attention system.
Has evolved to constantly scan for movement novelty, as well as emotional relevance, which are things that signal danger or reward.
(02:06):
We'll talk a little bit more about dopamine later in the show.
It's completely related to this topic and how you can keep your audience attention instead of lose them.
In just eight seconds.
When your virtual presentations look the same for several minutes, for example, you're using the same tone or the same slide, you're just a talking head or a narrator.
(02:31):
Your brain decides.
There's nothing new here.
I'm gonna turn off my microphone.
I'm going to turn off my camera.
And we see this a lot in webinars and virtual meetings, and today we'll unpack why that happens and exactly what you can do to stop losing your audience in those first critical moments.
(02:55):
Kathy, I think you were going to share a story for our audience to kick us off.
Yes, Kimberly, what I was thinking about is the hook.
I know that we should always start a presentation with the hook to make sure that our audience is interested and alert to the, topic that we're going to share with them.
When the presenter is so close to the content in preparing the slide deck, it might be hard for them to come up with a hook.
(03:23):
So I was thinking about that and whether or not you like ai, it's here to stay and you can use it to create at least a draft hook for you to edit.
It will give you a starting point and it might, help you create your hook in a different way.
So hopefully that's a helpful tool for you. 44 00:03:43,956.66666667 --> 00:03:51,876.66666667 Kathy I know we talked a little bit about that before we started the podcast this morning, and I think that's a great example. 45 00:03:52,86.66666667 --> 00:03:54,186.66666667 We call that a grabber opening. 46 00:03:54,186.66666667 --> 00:03:58,806.66666667 Also in our presentation structure template hook credibility statement. 47 00:03:58,806.66666667 --> 00:04:04,596.66666667 There's lots of different terms people throw around, but essentially it is hooking your audience into. 48 00:04:05,571.66666667 --> 00:04:20,101.66666667 What you're going to tell them and what the topic is there's something called an attention trigger, and once you understand how to use these attention triggers, your meetings will never be the same. 49 00:04:20,101.66666667 --> 00:04:23,11.66666667 I've heard this over and over and over again. 50 00:04:23,461.66666667 --> 00:04:32,191.66666667 Having coached over 8,500 humans in 33 countries, you can imagine I've received a lot of feedback and. 51 00:04:32,726.66666667 --> 00:04:35,156.66666667 I know some of these stories are relatable to you. 52 00:04:35,786.66666667 --> 00:04:41,336.66666667 So let's get back to the brain science and the reason. 53 00:04:41,876.66666667 --> 00:04:48,446.66666667 Attention is so much more fragile online than in the in-person environment. 54 00:04:48,981.66666667 --> 00:04:50,481.66666667 Stay with me here. 55 00:04:50,841.66666667 --> 00:04:56,31.66666667 These are big numbers and these are probably going to blow your mind like they did mine. 56 00:04:56,721.66666667 --> 00:05:08,91.66666667 Our brains receive about 11 million, 11 million bits of sensory information per second, and you can slice and. 57 00:05:08,361.66666667 --> 00:05:09,531.66666667 This data different ways. 58 00:05:09,531.66666667 --> 00:05:20,361.66666667 Different experts did have different opinions, but this is the research that we pulled leads to this number 11 million bits of sensory information per second. 59 00:05:20,811.66666667 --> 00:05:29,761.66666667 Your conscious mind, however, can only process about 40 bits of those 11 million. 60 00:05:29,941.66666667 --> 00:05:33,481.66666667 So guess what happens? The rest gets filtered out. 61 00:05:33,811.66666667 --> 00:05:42,286.66666667 The brain's filtering system is something that's called RAS or reta reticular activating system, and it decides whether or not. 62 00:05:42,781.66666667 --> 00:05:47,941.66666667 It's worth paying attention to and what we should ignore, what we should walk away from. 63 00:05:48,331.66666667 --> 00:05:49,321.66666667 It's tuned in. 64 00:05:49,321.66666667 --> 00:05:54,91.66666667 The RAS is tuned in to novelty emotion as well as relevance. 65 00:05:54,271.66666667 --> 00:06:03,421.66666667 That's why a sudden movement, a change in tone, a surprising statement, really wakes people up and it tells the brain, Hey, this might be important. 66 00:06:03,481.66666667 --> 00:06:04,111.66666667 That's why I'm. 67 00:06:04,181.66666667 --> 00:06:07,421.66666667 Partially why I'm so passionate about gray out builds. 68 00:06:07,421.66666667 --> 00:06:13,201.66666667 As you know, I love to teach gray out builds because it's a skill I can teach in under four minutes. 69 00:06:13,201.66666667 --> 00:06:15,241.66666667 Doesn't matter if you're using a PC or a Mac. 70 00:06:15,661.66666667 --> 00:06:16,351.66666667 Look it up. 71 00:06:16,351.66666667 --> 00:06:17,881.66666667 We have a YouTube channel. 72 00:06:17,981.66666667 --> 00:06:26,261.66666667 and it's worth a listen because our brains are also very attracted to achieving saliency. 73 00:06:26,566.66666667 --> 00:06:30,706.66666667 That is one way we can achieve saliency is with a gray out build. 74 00:06:31,706.66666667 --> 00:06:33,476.66666667 Let's just add dopamine to the mix. 75 00:06:33,476.66666667 --> 00:06:35,516.66666667 Everyone knows what dopamine is. 76 00:06:35,516.66666667 --> 00:06:39,86.66666667 It's that feel good chemical. 77 00:06:40,36.66666667 --> 00:06:46,726.66666667 it is tied to anticipation and motivation, and there's a reward that's happening in your brain. 78 00:06:46,966.66666667 --> 00:06:55,276.66666667 Small things just like hearing your name, for example, seeing motion, recognizing a problem you can solve, those are all hits of dopamine. 79 00:06:55,576.66666667 --> 00:07:02,116.66666667 If you think about saying someone's name, hi Kathy, what does that do for you? Well, it alerts me. 80 00:07:02,506.66666667 --> 00:07:03,406.66666667 Hello, right? Mm-hmm. 81 00:07:03,596.66666667 --> 00:07:06,536.66666667 Some of us have been hearing our names before we were born. 82 00:07:06,876.66666667 --> 00:07:22,126.66666667 In some of those additional training programs, we teach this specific technique as an engagement technique and one of the rules, quite frankly, of engagement, dopamine, however, isn't just the feel good molecule like people think it is. 83 00:07:22,456.66666667 --> 00:07:24,286.66666667 It's also the pay attention molecule. 84 00:07:24,466.66666667 --> 00:07:25,666.66666667 Static slides. 85 00:07:25,666.66666667 --> 00:07:29,116.66666667 Oh, don't even get me started, right, Kathy, please. 86 00:07:29,116.66666667 --> 00:07:30,46.66666667 No, no, no, no. 87 00:07:32,476.66666667 --> 00:07:33,556.66666667 Ah goodness. 88 00:07:33,556.66666667 --> 00:07:41,851.66666667 That's, that's one of the areas, I love to talk about because people's slides are typically just horrific. 89 00:07:42,56.66666667 --> 00:07:44,546.66666667 When I receive a slide deck for the first time. 90 00:07:45,251.66666667 --> 00:07:46,1.66666667 Not good. 91 00:07:46,211.66666667 --> 00:07:50,741.66666667 There's so much text on the slide and it's very static. 92 00:07:50,741.66666667 --> 00:07:56,921.66666667 There isn't a story to be told, or there's a lot of stories being told on one slide and our brains just can't process that. 93 00:07:57,641.66666667 --> 00:08:09,761.66666667 If there's too much on a slide or monotone delivery or we have a lot of static slides, it creates something called a dopamine desert, which means the brain stops caring. 94 00:08:10,211.66666667 --> 00:08:11,591.66666667 Our brains just stop caring. 95 00:08:12,311.66666667 --> 00:08:14,321.66666667 In contrast, even small changes. 96 00:08:14,966.66666667 --> 00:08:23,6.66666667 Like a new image, A quick question, A lean in gesture reactivate the reward network and reset focus. 97 00:08:23,306.66666667 --> 00:08:32,36.66666667 That's why several of our training programs teach how to gain, maintain, and regain virtual attention. 98 00:08:32,66.66666667 --> 00:08:34,166.66666667 That's one of our best programs. 99 00:08:34,916.66666667 --> 00:08:37,886.66666667 When we say our brains crave novelty. 100 00:08:37,946.66666667 --> 00:08:42,896.66666667 We're really saying keep giving your audience mini dopamine hits. 101 00:08:43,931.66666667 --> 00:08:47,211.66666667 Kathy, what's your takeaway from this section? I have a couple things actually. 102 00:08:47,211.66666667 --> 00:08:50,541.66666667 First of all, I like the term dopamine desert. 103 00:08:50,541.66666667 --> 00:08:51,921.66666667 I think that's pretty cute. 104 00:08:53,421.66666667 --> 00:08:54,411.66666667 I've not heard that before. 105 00:08:54,411.66666667 --> 00:08:55,521.66666667 I think that's a great term. 106 00:08:55,921.66666667 --> 00:09:05,686.66666667 But I also wanted to reference two of the prior episodes, episode 15, we talk about monotone to magnetic, which is what you're talking about here. 107 00:09:05,946.66666667 --> 00:09:06,166.66666667 Yes. 108 00:09:06,676.66666667 --> 00:09:08,166.66666667 Also, episode 37. 109 00:09:09,526.66666667 --> 00:09:21,106.66666667 A really fun episode too, and we talk about the energy advantage and the advantage of having really good, positive energy that we put into our presentation or the way that we speak. 110 00:09:21,956.66666667 --> 00:09:30,971.66666667 The summary takeaway I'm getting right now with what you've just gone over is attention equals dopamine plus novelty and relevance. 111 00:09:32,521.66666667 --> 00:09:37,921.66666667 No change equals no dopamine and disengagement. 112 00:09:37,981.66666667 --> 00:09:44,701.66666667 So I think we really need to pay attention and, make your presentation at least a little bit novel. 113 00:09:45,841.66666667 --> 00:09:46,291.66666667 Yes. 114 00:09:46,341.66666667 --> 00:09:54,801.66666667 Start thinking about your presentations from the perspective of a rhythm, and they almost follow a curve when they're really well built. 115 00:09:55,131.66666667 --> 00:10:05,781.66666667 We have lots of supporting research from Microsoft, Harvard, Stanford, some of the well-known researchers that show attention drops sharply. 116 00:10:06,256.66666667 --> 00:10:14,26.66666667 After about three minutes, and guess what, we've been teaching this principle for more than 20 years and it hasn't changed. 117 00:10:14,356.66666667 --> 00:10:16,246.66666667 It's a human brain thing. 118 00:10:16,906.66666667 --> 00:10:21,446.66666667 So our brains are wired a particular way and they're not wired for. 119 00:10:21,511.66666667 --> 00:10:32,791.66666667 For monotony, and by minute 10, if nothing has changed your attention span and that of your audience can fall by 80%. 120 00:10:33,301.66666667 --> 00:10:34,651.66666667 This is dismal. 121 00:10:35,41.66666667 --> 00:10:35,161.66666667 Mm-hmm. 122 00:10:35,401.66666667 --> 00:10:45,361.66666667 I have coached so many presenters who are well-meaning they come to me with their decks that they're really, really excited about, and. 123 00:10:45,646.66666667 --> 00:10:48,136.66666667 I listen the first time. 124 00:10:48,136.66666667 --> 00:10:49,426.66666667 I have them present to me. 125 00:10:49,426.66666667 --> 00:10:55,216.66666667 I listen, and then I hit a buzzer as soon as my brain starts to tune out. 126 00:10:55,306.66666667 --> 00:11:03,556.66666667 And guess what? It's always between the three and five minute mark, usually closer to the three minute mark. 127 00:11:03,556.66666667 --> 00:11:04,936.66666667 So we use this as. 128 00:11:05,401.66666667 --> 00:11:06,661.66666667 A framework. 129 00:11:06,661.66666667 --> 00:11:14,341.66666667 The three minute rule isn't perfect, but if you think about doing something different every three minutes, that gives you a place to start. 130 00:11:14,911.66666667 --> 00:11:18,481.66666667 Kimberly, here are a few examples I think that our listeners can use. 131 00:11:18,901.66666667 --> 00:11:20,71.66666667 Ask a question. 132 00:11:20,806.66666667 --> 00:11:24,406.66666667 Raise your hand if you've ever felt invisible in a Zoom call, for example. 133 00:11:25,212.75692455 --> 00:11:25,872.75692455 Me, me, me. 134 00:11:25,872.75692455 --> 00:11:27,672.75692455 You can't see me, but I'm raising my hand right now. 135 00:11:27,962.92597899 --> 00:11:30,362.92597899 Change your tone or energy. 136 00:11:30,692.92597899 --> 00:11:32,672.92597899 Speed up or slow down. 137 00:11:32,912.92597899 --> 00:11:34,22.92597899 We've talked about that. 138 00:11:34,82.92597899 --> 00:11:34,382.92597899 Yeah. 139 00:11:34,682.92597899 --> 00:11:34,802.92597899 Mm-hmm. 140 00:11:35,72.92597899 --> 00:11:35,822.92597899 That's a good one. 141 00:11:35,822.92597899 --> 00:11:38,162.92597899 Um, shift to a new visual. 142 00:11:38,462.92597899 --> 00:11:42,932.92597899 So in other words, don't stay on the same slide longer than 90 seconds. 143 00:11:43,562.92597899 --> 00:11:44,612.92597899 And even 90 seconds. 144 00:11:44,612.92597899 --> 00:11:45,692.92597899 That's can be pretty long. 145 00:11:45,692.92597899 --> 00:11:47,72.92597899 That's a long time, honestly. 146 00:11:47,72.92597899 --> 00:11:49,292.92597899 Yeah, that's a long, long time. 147 00:11:49,292.92597899 --> 00:11:57,405.55205349 That was some of the research we pulled and we could also add a poll or a short story because what that does is resets the attention. 148 00:11:57,405.55205349 --> 00:11:59,565.55205349 It engages somebody when there's a story. 149 00:12:00,120.55205349 --> 00:12:00,540.55205349 Mm-hmm. 150 00:12:00,855.55205349 --> 00:12:03,555.55205349 And the last one is changing your frame. 151 00:12:03,855.55205349 --> 00:12:05,505.55205349 So here's the problem. 152 00:12:05,775.55205349 --> 00:12:07,845.55205349 Now here's the opportunity. 153 00:12:08,277.21872015 --> 00:12:08,547.21872015 Right. 154 00:12:08,547.21872015 --> 00:12:10,47.21872015 Those are all great examples. 155 00:12:10,47.21872015 --> 00:12:10,707.21872015 I love that. 156 00:12:10,707.21872015 --> 00:12:15,357.21872015 I'd also like to add passive engagement as well as active engagement. 157 00:12:15,897.21872015 --> 00:12:20,307.21872015 Active engagement is what you said first, ask a question and have them raise their hand. 158 00:12:20,517.21872015 --> 00:12:25,17.21872015 You could also have them do something silly like we do in the virtual office audit. 159 00:12:25,17.21872015 --> 00:12:33,717.21872015 For example, in the body language section, we have the audience show us their jazz hands and we have everybody. 160 00:12:34,47.21872015 --> 00:12:40,917.21872015 Demonstrate how annoying it is when the hands are close to the camera as opposed to closer to your body. 161 00:12:40,917.21872015 --> 00:12:47,997.21872015 And learning to gesture in a particular way in the virtual world is one of those skill sets you need to learn. 162 00:12:47,997.21872015 --> 00:12:49,587.21872015 It's not optional at this point. 163 00:12:49,707.21872015 --> 00:12:57,147.21872015 You need to learn these skill sets and the best way you can do that in 30 minutes and seven steps is the virtual office audit. 164 00:12:57,417.21872015 --> 00:12:59,607.21872015 We have so many opportunities this year for. 165 00:12:59,672.21872015 --> 00:13:01,412.21872015 For public training programs. 166 00:13:01,412.21872015 --> 00:13:09,332.21872015 We can also book private training programs as well, but the public ones are really easy to sign up for and it's $87. 167 00:13:09,542.21872015 --> 00:13:12,422.21872015 Again, these are a must have skillset. 168 00:13:13,82.21872015 --> 00:13:13,652.21872015 Absolutely. 169 00:13:13,707.21872015 --> 00:13:17,187.21872015 So why does this work? It's your brain's working memory. 170 00:13:17,487.21872015 --> 00:13:25,857.21872015 The part that holds the short term information can only hold about four to seven chunks of information at once. 171 00:13:25,907.21872015 --> 00:13:32,627.21872015 Statistically, I honestly believe it's closer to four, and this is a technique that we use in neurolinguistics. 172 00:13:32,657.21872015 --> 00:13:39,647.21872015 I'm also a neurolinguistics coach practitioner, which is why we get to be qualified to talk about the brain science of presentation skills. 173 00:13:39,707.21872015 --> 00:13:47,997.21872015 I like chunking with the number four, and I think that works better in the environment that we function in. 174 00:13:48,107.21872015 --> 00:13:56,177.21872015 We've only been this data driven for about the last 15 years, maybe 20. 175 00:13:56,497.21872015 --> 00:14:03,697.21872015 Some of these principles we have been teaching for over 20 years apply, and some of them need a little bit of a revamp. 176 00:14:04,2.21872015 --> 00:14:16,762.21872015 So we pull a lot of research and a lot of information before we go live, and I always like to tell you that there are different experts who have different opinions by introducing micro changes and micro gestures. 177 00:14:16,762.21872015 --> 00:14:20,482.21872015 For example, every few minutes you give the brain new. 178 00:14:20,747.21872015 --> 00:14:21,587.21872015 Anchors. 179 00:14:21,647.21872015 --> 00:14:30,167.21872015 Our brains love these anchors, and it keeps the information flowing from short-term to long-term memory. 180 00:14:30,437.21872015 --> 00:14:31,907.21872015 So think of it like a heartbeat. 181 00:14:31,907.21872015 --> 00:14:33,227.21872015 This is a really good example. 182 00:14:33,227.21872015 --> 00:14:35,987.21872015 It needs regular spikes to stay alive. 183 00:14:36,467.21872015 --> 00:14:38,447.21872015 I love that analogy. 184 00:14:39,167.21872015 --> 00:14:42,977.21872015 One other one I'm gonna add to that is the pause. 185 00:14:43,547.21872015 --> 00:14:45,167.21872015 We talked about that earlier today. 186 00:14:45,167.21872015 --> 00:14:48,932.21872015 When the presenter stops talking, you know, with that pause. 187 00:14:50,47.21872015 --> 00:14:52,327.21872015 And the audience is not paying attention or whatever. 188 00:14:52,327.21872015 --> 00:14:56,137.21872015 They look up Uhoh, what did I dismiss? Yes. 189 00:14:56,137.21872015 --> 00:14:59,17.21872015 Why are they not talking? So the pause is a good one too. 190 00:14:59,377.21872015 --> 00:14:59,737.21872015 Yes. 191 00:14:59,737.21872015 --> 00:15:00,427.21872015 I love that. 192 00:15:00,427.21872015 --> 00:15:07,57.21872015 We definitely can teach the power pause in some of our training programs. 193 00:15:07,57.21872015 --> 00:15:18,267.21872015 That's actually a separate module in several of our training programs, so I completely agree with you, and it's a little bit different in the virtual world than in person, but there is a way to adapt. 194 00:15:18,687.21872015 --> 00:15:19,17.21872015 Mm-hmm. 195 00:15:19,612.21872015 --> 00:15:30,712.21872015 We love to provide some practical fixes for these problems, and we talked about starting with a hook instead of an agenda. 196 00:15:31,312.21872015 --> 00:15:35,692.21872015 Honestly, folks, we stopped using agendas in the beginning of meetings. 197 00:15:36,147.21872015 --> 00:15:51,567.21872015 Almost 10 years ago, I have not been teaching the agenda structure for a very, very long time because after coaching so many people, thousands of people, I started seeing patterns. 198 00:15:51,657.21872015 --> 00:15:57,807.21872015 And if you're starting with an agenda that is, you slap up an agenda on a slide. 199 00:15:58,392.21872015 --> 00:16:05,112.21872015 In a meeting and you're expecting me to read through six or seven bullet points, it doesn't work. 200 00:16:05,202.21872015 --> 00:16:26,652.21872015 Like Kathy mentioned in the beginning, starting with a hook is much, much more powerful let me just remind you if your camera was off during your last meeting or your attendees cameras were off, you're probably costing or losing or both your company, lots of money. 201 00:16:27,342.21872015 --> 00:16:32,652.21872015 There is no reason for people's cameras to be off during these presentations. 202 00:16:32,702.21872015 --> 00:16:38,432.21872015 There are very few exceptions we agree to when we engage with a new client. 203 00:16:38,860.55205349 --> 00:16:41,980.5520535 Because you're not learning in the same fashion. 204 00:16:41,980.5520535 --> 00:16:45,700.5520535 Kathy, you said to me, gosh, I think this was a few episodes. 205 00:16:46,0.5520535 --> 00:16:50,990.5520535 Remember when I turned my camera off, I felt like I wasn't quite prepared for the meeting. 206 00:16:51,340.5520535 --> 00:16:56,410.5520535 The grand baby just left and I felt like I was a bit disheveled and I didn't wanna be on camera. 207 00:16:56,410.5520535 --> 00:16:56,500.5520535 Mm-hmm. 208 00:16:56,740.5520535 --> 00:17:02,710.5520535 And you said it would be better if you have messy hair and you look a little bit more disheveled. 209 00:17:02,710.5520535 --> 00:17:04,300.5520535 And you explained to me why. 210 00:17:04,785.5520535 --> 00:17:06,435.5520535 Than having you off camera. 211 00:17:06,435.5520535 --> 00:17:08,895.5520535 And I thought that was really, really interesting. 212 00:17:08,985.5520535 --> 00:17:18,235.5520535 And that is all part of the learning because what did you say to me specifically? Specifically, I like to talk to a person and not a blank screen. 213 00:17:18,270.5520535 --> 00:17:18,280.5520535 Mm-hmm. 214 00:17:18,565.5520535 --> 00:17:33,795.5520535 It's, it's hard to engage when there's only your voice on the other side and not a picture of you, Now we can learn together how to activate the RAS and and get the dopamine circuits firing. 215 00:17:33,845.5520535 --> 00:17:35,915.5520535 So that's the first practical fix. 216 00:17:35,915.5520535 --> 00:17:36,815.5520535 Simple and easy. 217 00:17:36,815.5520535 --> 00:17:40,445.5520535 Consider starting with a hook, not an agenda. 218 00:17:40,895.5520535 --> 00:17:45,305.5520535 What's next, Kathy? The next one is use pattern interrupts. 219 00:17:45,560.913085 --> 00:18:08,420.913085 Pattern interrupts our small changes that jolt the brain awake, for example, a gesture that breaks your frame, a sudden visual or prop, a rhetorical question, or even standing up mid-sentence because our brains are built to detect change, not sameness. 220 00:18:08,795.913085 --> 00:18:09,605.913085 Hmm. 221 00:18:09,695.913085 --> 00:18:11,615.913085 That is very, very powerful. 222 00:18:12,245.913085 --> 00:18:13,25.913085 Okay, great. 223 00:18:13,25.913085 --> 00:18:17,645.913085 And we have one more practical fix, and that is with slide design. 224 00:18:17,645.913085 --> 00:18:26,855.913085 And we have talked about this before, but this will just be a reminder for you if you're using slides as visual cues, not walls of. 225 00:18:27,40.913085 --> 00:18:31,480.913085 Text, not a crutch, not something that you're hiding behind. 226 00:18:31,480.913085 --> 00:18:31,570.913085 Mm-hmm. 227 00:18:31,930.913085 --> 00:18:42,760.913085 Because our visual cortex processes images 60,000 times faster than text when your slide is very dense with bullet points and lots of words. 228 00:18:43,445.913085 --> 00:18:48,605.913085 Your audience brain goes into what I call virtual cognitive overload. 229 00:18:48,915.913085 --> 00:18:58,575.913085 The overarching term is cognitive overload, but I like to put the virtual spin in there because we're talking about virtual presentation skills when we go into virtual cognitive overload. 230 00:18:59,490.913085 --> 00:19:00,780.913085 They stop listening to you. 231 00:19:01,136.7848615 --> 00:19:01,706.7848615 Instead. 232 00:19:01,706.7848615 --> 00:19:13,76.7848615 If you just keep it simple and focus on one story or one topic per slide, you are going to see that your presentations. 233 00:19:13,266.7848615 --> 00:19:17,556.7848615 Change drastically as well as your engagement rates. 234 00:19:17,766.7848615 --> 00:19:21,396.7848615 Now remember, clients come to us oftentimes with engagement rates. 235 00:19:21,606.7848615 --> 00:19:34,364.1193887 We see at about the 15% marker, and by the time they are done with training, we see them soar to well over 95% and beyond. 236 00:19:34,994.1193887 --> 00:19:36,224.1193887 We have your back. 237 00:19:36,224.1193887 --> 00:19:41,174.1193887 We know what we're doing in this arena, and we want to help. 238 00:19:41,419.1193887 --> 00:19:54,109.1193887 The reason I continue to be so passionate about this industry is because you all keep giving feedback and telling me, Kimberly, the group virtual office audit was the first step in my journey towards success. 239 00:19:54,109.1193887 --> 00:20:01,129.1193887 Or after we booked a series of training programs and one-on-one coachings for our team, our team culture changed. 240 00:20:01,234.1193887 --> 00:20:01,724.1193887 Changed. 241 00:20:01,729.1193887 --> 00:20:02,689.1193887 That's huge. 242 00:20:02,689.1193887 --> 00:20:04,279.1193887 Knowing this training. 243 00:20:04,509.1193887 --> 00:20:13,269.1193887 Can change a team culture and set somebody on the journey towards success, whatever that might look like for you. 244 00:20:13,449.1193887 --> 00:20:20,709.1193887 So please give us the opportunity to meet you in our next group Virtual Office audit, virtual office audit.com. 245 00:20:21,189.1193887 --> 00:20:21,279.1193887 Mm-hmm. 246 00:20:21,519.1193887 --> 00:20:24,129.1193887 Now here's a challenge for you for the week. 247 00:20:24,339.1193887 --> 00:20:38,469.1193887 What I'd like you to do is time yourself during your next virtual meeting or presentation and figure out how often you are changing something, whether it's your visuals, maybe your tone. 248 00:20:38,499.1193887 --> 00:20:44,409.1193887 If you go back and listen to any part of this episode, you'll see that my tone fluctuates. 249 00:20:44,859.1193887 --> 00:20:49,359.1193887 All the time, and that's something that you can learn as well. 250 00:20:49,359.1193887 --> 00:21:01,539.1193887 It's not something that comes naturally to most of us, but when we learn these techniques, because we know it meets the needs of our audience, ah, the world changes for the better. 251 00:21:02,229.1193887 --> 00:21:05,259.1193887 So time yourself in the next virtual presentation. 252 00:21:05,589.1193887 --> 00:21:11,799.1193887 If the answer is more than three minutes before you change something, it's too long. 253 00:21:12,544.1193887 --> 00:21:16,294.1193887 And there are some exceptions to the three minute rule like we talked about earlier. 254 00:21:16,594.1193887 --> 00:21:19,174.1193887 But take a look and be your own critic. 255 00:21:19,174.1193887 --> 00:21:20,584.1193887 Be your own coach. 256 00:21:20,634.1193887 --> 00:21:23,364.1193887 Remember, attention doesn't drift. 257 00:21:23,754.1193887 --> 00:21:24,894.1193887 It gets pulled. 258 00:21:25,314.1193887 --> 00:21:31,224.1193887 So your job as the presenter is to keep pulling the attention back with purpose. 259 00:21:31,704.1193887 --> 00:21:32,94.1193887 Hmm. 260 00:21:32,274.1193887 --> 00:21:33,714.1193887 That is very powerful. 261 00:21:33,714.1193887 --> 00:21:34,644.1193887 Absolutely. 262 00:21:35,334.1193887 --> 00:21:48,264.1193887 If you're ready to transform your online presence into something magnetic instead of monotone where people can't look away from you, join us in the group Virtual office audit, virtual office audit.com. 263 00:21:48,624.1193887 --> 00:22:03,114.1193887 In just 30 minutes, we'll optimize your lighting, lay out on camera performance, and teach you how you can start the learning journey toward success because you'll be able to hold your audience attention from start to finish. 264 00:22:03,534.1193887 --> 00:22:05,394.1193887 Your audience is waiting. 265 00:22:05,424.1193887 --> 00:22:07,284.1193887 Make sure they never look away again. 266 00:22:07,511.9797039 --> 00:22:08,891.9797039 Kathy, this feels like a wrap to me. 267 00:22:08,891.9797039 --> 00:22:11,591.9797039 What about you? I do think this is a wrap. 268 00:22:11,711.9797039 --> 00:22:12,461.9797039 Thanks, Kimberly. 269 00:22:13,91.9797039 --> 00:22:13,721.9797039 Perfect. 270 00:22:13,721.9797039 --> 00:22:14,861.9797039 This was so awesome. 271 00:22:14,861.9797039 --> 00:22:16,661.9797039 Thank you so much for your time. 272 00:22:17,51.9797039 --> 00:22:26,81.9797039 If you have a moment, Please take the time to download, like and listen to some of our previous episodes. 273 00:22:26,81.9797039 --> 00:22:28,31.9797039 We really appreciate your support. 274 00:22:28,31.9797039 --> 00:22:39,521.9797039 Just one like, or one download, believe it or not, that helps us grow and that is less than 10 seconds of your time if you're just downloading and saving to listen to it later. 275 00:22:40,181.9797039 --> 00:22:44,846.9797039 We look forward to sharing time with you in the next episode where we go live from the waist up.
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