One reason stories are so effective is because, when presented with conviction, enthusiasm, and clarity, they are memorable—and you need a speech to be memorable because people have short attention spans.
According to Gloria Mark, a psychologist and the chancellor’s professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, attention spans have been shrinking over the past two decades.
In 2004, Mark’s research found that the average attention span on a screen was two and a half minutes. In 2012, it was 75 seconds; in 2018, 47 seconds.
This means the speaker doesn’t have time to waste when talking. And even if the speech isn’t going to be on a screen, the principle remains the same: Get to the point.
According to molecular biologist John Medina and reported in Forbes, people seem to get bored after approximately ten minutes. I found other sources that said the average is seven minutes, but it might be five if the topic is dull, is presented badly, or if the speech is after a meal or late in the evening.
I repeat: Get to the point.
A speaker simply can’t slowly build up to the point, so when writing a speech, it’s critical to start strong and stay focused, using only the minimum necessary words to convey what you want. If you write too many unnecessary words, you’ll lose your audience. If you don’t vary things, you’ll lose your audience. If you use passive verbs or write flowery prose for flowery prose’s sake, you’ll lose your audience.
Here are some tips:
Start differently. It’s almost cliche to start a speech with a joke, so don’t unless it’s really funny and, much more importantly, really relevant to the point you’re making. Start with an appropriate story, or invite audience participation by asking a question and letting members answer.
In looking at recent speeches I’ve written, zero began with a joke. Many had the first sentence state what the speech was about, then went into an illustrative story.
And only one was longer than five minutes. Need help? Read this.
Change things up. If the speech includes visual aids, vary them. Show a video, then show a slide with only words on it (but never write out the entire point of the slide on the slide!), then show a slide with some animation (but keep it simple). Then have no slide for a minute.
I can’t tell you how boring it is to have a speech be nothing more than the speaker reading what’s on a slide. It insults the audience because the speaker obviously didn’t do the necessary due diligence to write a more compelling speech.
If your speech is just you talking with no visual aids, then write sentences of different lengths. Quote other people and attribute the words to them (but do your research to make sure that person actually said that!).
Remember effective language. This means be vivid, clear, and concise.
When writing a story, use descriptive words so the audience will picture the images in their minds.
When using statistics, quote the percentage.
When describing something, use active voice and active verbs.
Remember the rule of three.
Mix in some alliteration.
Know your audience. Will those listening be educated? Will they appreciate a good blue joke? Do you know what topics could offend?
I once gave an Intro to Ghostwriting speech to a writer’s club. I knew the audience wasn’t going to hire me, so I eliminated all the pitches and instead included a lot of “you know this, I’m sure” so as to not insult their intelligence and to make them feel like they’re with me. I really didn’t know what they knew, and it didn’t really matter.
These tips will help you craft a speech that will counter an audience’s collective short attention span and make for a more successful talk with a more engaged audience.
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