Combating "The Fade" in Online Presentations - A Few Quick Activities
By Scott J. Allen & Maria Soriano Young
In previous posts, we talked about attention spans, and how research shows that after about 7–10 minutes, a presenter risks losing the full attention of their audience members if they just…keep…talking. In online environments, where distractions, notifications, and the temptation to do other tasks abound, re-capturing your audience’s attention periodically is even more important. But how can you do so in a way that is meaningful, not just an out-of-nowhere checkpoint that causes the session to feel disjointed? Whatever you choose for your alternative to presenting, it must be connected to your purpose for the presentation, as well as the point in your roadmap in which you’re including it. An activity or puzzle is an engaging way to introduce a topic or reinforce a point. In terms of time allotment, the “activity” may take up 2 minutes, or 2 hours, depending on your objectives.
An example of a quick activity is as follows: Scott will often discuss the concept of conceptual blocks, which are “mental barriers that impede an individual’s ability to define or solve a problem.” After providing the definition, he will often share the following puzzle, asking the participants to identify the answer or explanation:
“A young boy and his father were out playing football when they were caught at the bottom of a giant pileup. Both were injured and rushed to the hospital. They were wheeled into separate operating rooms and two doctors prepped up to work on them, one doctor for each patient. The doctor operating on the father got started right away, but the doctor assigned to the young boy stared at him in surprise. ‘I can’t operate on him!’ the doctor exclaimed to the staff. ‘That child is my son!’”
Scott then asks participants to digitally raise their hands when they have the answer(s). He uses this story on purpose because it reinforces the concept of conceptual blocks. In this instance, many people have subconscious rules in their heads that surgeons are only “men,” and thus may not immediately come to the conclusion that the doctor who is assigned to operate on the young boy is his mother (did you get the answer right before we revealed it?). While we are certain that many of you are not presenting on the topic of “conceptual blocks,” this example illustrates our point that a quick activity can make a point, emphasize a concept, and ensure engagement.
As a writing teacher, Maria will often set aside some time to ask her students (or workshop participants) to do some freewriting on their own, perhaps for 5–7 minutes. She’ll share her screen to display a few questions, and then she’ll encourage people to turn their cameras off for a few minutes while they write. When the group comes back together, hopefully everyone will be ready to share out what they wrote in their reflections. Another option is to have everyone contribute to a shared Google Doc, typing in “live” (just remember that those who are accessing your session on tablets or phones might not be able to switch windows easily). And as we wrote about in another earlier blog post, you could use the chat box for rapid, few-word or one-sentence responses!
Admittedly, conducting activities in an online environment is an interesting challenge, and we would love to hear your thoughts and ideas about what has worked and what has flopped. There are a few other options that we’d like to share. These fun little activities catch people’s attention and set a tone of curiosity and wonder.
1. If participants have a common set of supplies, perhaps the presenter tasks them with a universal challenge that requires them to build, draw, or create something.
2. There are several online resources, such as www.mural.co, that allow for visual collaboration. Resources such as Mural allow users to actively participate in ways similar to face-to-face meetings.
3. Task participants with securing a “special object” that represents their passion for the topic being discussed, their family, a hobby, or a concept.
4. Perform a quick demonstration or some other physical manifestation of your opening point. For instance, Scott has used the Changing Perspective Activity to discuss the importance of perspective. He has also used the Point North Activity to highlight the challenge of getting everyone on the same page and moving in one direction.
5. Play a quick game of online Rock, Paper, Scissors to add a little chance to the experience; perhaps the winner receives a small prize or a work-related benefit for winning.
Particularly in the online work era, designing for “The Fade” is a real necessity. While the examples we shared may not meet your specific needs, the point is that you are building your experience in a way that facilitates engagement. Ultimately, we are all working to slay boredom and provide a learning experience that people say was fast, fascinating, and maybe even fun!
We explore this topic and others in our new book Captovation: Online Presentations by Design.