A Quick Betcha

    As a speaker you will have the experience of feeling your listeners drift. It happens to all of us. It's not always your fault. But there are things you can do to hold attention. The basic plan is to make sure your talk is relevant to your audience. If you have done your homework this will happen at the stage where you choose your topic. As you plan your actual talk, though, there are other items to be considered. One of them is attention span. It is normal for a listener's attention to drift, and you can find ways to draw them back into your talk using activities that create a change of pace. Here is one that can be adapted to several topics as an illustration.

    You will need a dollar bill. If you choose to use a bill of a larger denomination you will add opportunites for humor. Or you can borrow the bill, again giving yourself a chance to use some humor. Hold the bill near one end between your thumb and first finger, letting it dangle. Bring the opposite hand up a few inches under the the bill, with the thumb and first finger in position to close on the bill. Let go of the bill and catch it with the opposite hand. Do this a few times to demonstrate to your audience what you want them to do. Make sure that everyone has a clear view as you bring a volunteer up, Hold the bill up for them to catch, and when their hand is in the catch position release the bill. They will find it almost impossible to catch the bill. You can repeat this several times, it is very unlikely that they will be able to react quickly enough to catch the bill.

    This illustration is easy to adapt to themes like having inside knowlege, or the fallacy of waiting to react in important situations. And the best part is you will almost always have the required material at hand.