Key Messages
How To Grab The Attention You Need For Your Career, Projects Or Life
Getting the attention you want and deserve can be a daunting task.
But with the right strategy in place, you can make sure that those who matter most to you notice your presence.
In this book, Got Your Attention?, you’ll learn tips and tricks that will help you succeed in a variety of scenarios – from job interviews to conferences and even entrepreneurial projects.
You’ll learn why opening with fire is an effective way to get attention, why no one cares about your GPA in a job interview, as well as how a 13-year-old girl grabbed the attention of thought leaders.
With proper execution, these methods can help you land the jobs or projects you’re after and set yourself apart from the competition.
So read up to find out how to get the attention you want and deserve!
How Can You Make Your Audience Curious? Use The Power Of Did You Know? Questions To Engage Their Imagination
If you want your audience to remain engaged and hanging on every word that you say, it’s important to pique their curiosity and fuel their imagination.
As soon as they open their mouth, they have already formed an opinion on what kind of person you are and what you can do for them, so it’s essential to give them something interesting to latch onto in order to avoid losing their attention.
One way to do this is by creating Did You Know? questions related to the subject that you’re discussing.
Offer them three pieces of information about the problem at hand, then fuel their imagination by pitching a solution for that problem.
For example, let’s say you’re giving a talk about landing a job in today’s tough market.
Your Did You Know? questions might be about 80 percent of the 3.6 million jobs available not being advertised, only 20 percent of applicants actually getting an interview and 53.6 percent of college graduates being jobless or underemployed in 2013 -all questions that your audience would be eager to know the answers to.
Then once you have made people curious and piqued their interest, present them with an outcome: imagine that once they read your book they’ll stand a chance of finding 40 percent more openings for the perfect job or boosting their chances getting an interview by 30 percent!
With this technique, your audience will be keenly invested in every word that comes out your mouth simply because it proves valuable information with clear potential solutions presented as outcomes.
Making Your Pitch Stick: Using Show And Ask To Grab Attention
Getting your audience excited about the product, service, or idea you’re pitching can be hard, but there is a way to make it easier.
Instead of explaining the problem and its solution in detail all at once, try showing it and asking your audience to imagine how they would solve it.
This is called Show and Ask.
This was demonstrated perfectly by Cari Carter when she pitched her car hook for hanging your purse concept.
She brought a full-sized car seat to the front of the room and asked if anyone had ever been driving along only to have their phone fly off the passenger seat.
It immediately made people think of solutions to this problem – like a car hook!
The same principle applies even if what you are proposing is more complicated than a car hook, like a “receipt aggregator”.
Instead of just explaining what that is, guide your audience towards understanding why it’s needed by presenting a pressing problem rather than jumping right into talking about a solution.
After presenting them with an issue such as “Have you ever returned home from a business trip and been faced with the impossible task of tracking down your receipts?” they will begin picturing possible solutions on their own without you having to explain anything more in depth!
So if you want to grab your audience’s attention and get them envisioning creative solutions to problems, act out the problem you plan on solving by showing and asking instead of telling!
Your audience will do the rest!
Show How You Top The Competition To Get The Attention Of Those In Authority And Set Yourself Apart From The Pack With Measurable Results, Specific Examples, And Unique Strengths
The key to standing out from the competition is to share what makes you unique.
That way, even if competitors have similar skills or accomplishments as you, you can still shine by showing the qualities that set you apart.
For example, if your peers all have great GPAs and are competing for a job at NASA, share the unique fact that you won an international competition to plan a manned mission to Mars instead.
That’s sure to turn heads and make them take notice of your special skillset.
Sharing unusual characteristics also helps put your best foot forward in situations which may be overcrowded with applicants boasting very similar qualifications.
So be sure to emphasize any “secret” weaknesses in order to let decision makers and employers see that you’re the one for the job.
Bottom line – if you want to place yourself at front-and-center and obtain the attention of those who matter, it pays off to showcase both your standard AND ‘secret’ strengths – they could be just what lands you that interview!
Turning “No” To “Yes”: How To Overcome Prejudice And Change Minds Through Effective Negotiation
When making a proposition, it is important to first ask yourself why your subject might say no.
Your words need to be carefully crafted in order to persuade the other person and get a yes.
Take Cassandra Lin as an example: at 13 years old, she pitched an idea at the Business Innovation Factory conference.
She acknowledged her age right away, knowing that her audience would distrust her because of it.
By tackling their concerns head-on, she won everyone over quickly.
The same can be applied to any situation.
Ask yourself why the person would refuse your offer before actually making it.
Adjust your pitch if necessary to counter those reasons and make sure you are providing solutions or benefits for them that make them want to say yes.
For instance, one father found new evidence for his son’s sponsor proposal by offering social media coverage or a signed copy of the store owner’s book – incentives which made this accept this proposition instead of turning it down again.
Doing so is an effective way of helping others see how agreement works in their favor and meaningfully show the benefits of accepting your request in order to secure the desired result!
The Key To Persuasion Is Listening And Speaking In The Right Language
If you want to be listened to and appreciated, you have to pay attention and listen to the other person.
That’s the message from the US Department of Labor Statistics in its study on why 46 percent of employees quit their jobs – they felt like they weren’t being heard.
Elon Musk confirmed this same message when he told an audience at the National Press Club not to tell him about the positions they had held, but instead explain the problems they had solved.
By learning how Musk speaks, it will help you in persuading decision makers.
And understanding that listening is a fundamental aspect of connection further increases your chances of success.
When conversing with another person, don’t stare over their shoulder at someone passing by or finishing their sentences for them.
Instead, pay quality attention to them by really listening and understanding what they have to say.
Doing this will also show them that you respect them and can increase your chances of success as well!
The Importance Of Keeping References Current For Maximum Engagement
If you want to make sure your information is interesting, it’s essential that you keep it current.
Quoting famous figures from long ago, like Aristotle or Thomas Edison, won’t cut it–millennials can hear those references in their sleep and will just tune out!
Instead, discussing topics such as innovative thoughts from contemporary leaders like Ken Blanchard or Steve Jobs will resonate far more with young adults who are looking for insights into leadership.
The speaker at the global young entrepreneur’s conference provides a great example of this phenomenon in practice–after discussing Eddie Arcaro, a jockey active in the 1940s, and then making references to World War II events, he lost his entire audience who were all in their 20s.
He should have taken the time to get to know his target audience better; then he could have chosen references that were more relevant and likely beneficial for them.
To summarize, when trying to distribute your knowledge and experience whether through a book or speech–making sure your topics are kept up-to-date will help keep people interested and engaged.
Nobody wants to hear information they’ve heard before!
Be Relevant, Provide Solutions — Make Your Message Come Alive For Your Audience
When crafting a speech, one of the most important elements is relevance.
Every audience wants to know that what’s being said applies to them, and making your speech extremely relevant is key to keeping everyone engaged.
Take, for example, Dr.
Joan Fallons TEDx talk on autism.
Rather than beginning with in-depth facts and statistics surrounding the disease, she first asked her audience how many of them knew someone with autism or understood the difficulties faced by families of autistic children.
By doing so, she made it very apparent that this presentation had meaning for everyone there.
Similarly, when speaking at a political rally about inadequate school funding, rather than harping on the problem of teacher pay or lack thereof – which didn’t offer any solution – the candidate could have proposed a plan they’d already discussed with members of the board of education as a way to make it more relevant.
By keeping your message focused on your audience’s experience and tying it all back to a larger goal you are working towards, you can effectively grab their attention and gain their support!
The Power Of Anecdotes: Why Real-Life Examples Can Help You Connect With Your Audience
It’s important to illustrate your ideas with a real-life example of someone who had a similar experience.
Doing this will help increase the credibility of your stories and points, and make them more resonant with your audience.
Take, for instance, the story of the captain of an oil tanker who lost his beloved dog when his ship caught fire off the coast of Hawaii.
Although he was glad that all his crew were rescued, he couldn’t stop thinking about his missing pup.
His extraordinary story spread quickly online and donations started coming in from all over so that a rescue mission could be mounted – which ended up costing around $250,000!
The empathy telescope states that it’s easier for one person to care about another individual than a larger group – this was definitely demonstrated here.
In order to engage people effectively, it’s essential to use stories that are short and succinct.
Adding real-life examples like this gives your pitch validity and adds an element of believability to it as well.
To make sure you get maximum impact, aim to keep your story around 60 seconds long.
Wrap Up
The main takeaway from Got Your Attention? is that everyone can make an impact if they pay others quality attention and learn to confidently grab their attention.
To do this, one must use a confident posture which can be achieved in three easy steps: hold the head and chin up with the eyes facing forward, keep the feet shoulder-width apart and stay rooted and centered, and hold the hands slightly apart as if you’re holding a basketball.
With these simple steps, anyone can command attention like a true master.
