The One Minute Millionaire Diamond Mine
 Inner Wealth Perspective
 Law of Involvement: Create & Awaken Curiosity
 by Kurt Mortensen
     
 
   

Keeping Attention: A Bored Mind Says NO!

It is common sense to realize you have to keep your audience’s attention in order to persuade them. If you lose them, you lose your chance for them to understand and accept your proposal. We know from our own personal experience that we tend to let our minds naturally drift when we are listening to other people. We cannot focus on one item for too long unless we are forced to do so. Master Persuaders can make a person want to pay attention and stay focused. You may lose your audience’s attention from time to time but it is your job to bring them back to full attention status. You can help your prospect lose track of time.

Some estimate that the average adult attention span is about 18 minutes. What’s more, studies indicate that attention spans have been decreasing steadily over the past decade. After our attention span is lapsed, we fall into boredom and no longer listen. You have to be creative to maintain the mental involvement that is required to persuade a mind. One way to keep the mind harnessed is to give your audience enough time to process what you are telling them. You can tell by the look in their eyes if you have lost them. I’m sure you have taken seminars or college classes where you have been completely lost. When the professor asks questions, you don’t raise your hand because you have no idea what is going on. Give your listeners enough time to absorb what you’re saying, but obviously not so long that they become totally bored and detached.

Some more ideas on ways to help people choose to pay attention:

  • Use questions
  • Make startling statements
  • Use quotes
  • Change mediums
  • Provide relevant examples
  • Make them feel important
  • Speak in the first person
  • Keep your body moving
  • Give them short-cuts or tips
  • Present new and innovative ideas
  • Avoid excessive detail
  • Make sure your transitions flow (or your prospects will get lost)

You can see that these techniques are used to grab back the attention of your listeners when their minds have started wandering. Employed properly, they will bring your audience’s attention back to you.

Thousands of sales are lost each day simply because the salesperson talks too much. Salespeople tend to oversell by making a laundry list of reasons why people should buy their product. This is not what people want to hear. As a result, they will always find one reason or another not to buy. The more benefits you list, the greater the chances that your prospect will find a reason not to buy. Overselling will also kill the emotions of the prospect.

Movement is another common technique for grabbing attention. It causes us to be alert. Stores utilizing movement-oriented end-caps (displays at the end of the aisle) always have more shoppers around than those end-caps without movement. This strategy can be used to your advantage when doing a presentation. Be sure your movements are purposeful and well-timed and your audience will be more tuned in to your message.

 

In the next Millionaire Diamond Mine
The Art of Questioning

   
 

Excerpts taken from Magnetic Persuasion by Kurt Mortensen
www.magneticpersuasion.com

Kurt Mortensen, author of Exponential Success Skills and Weapons of Influence, is one of American’s leading authorities on Persuasion, Motivation and Influence. After receiving a Masters of Business Administration and a Bachelors of Arts, he began many successful entrepreneurial ventures, through which he has acquired many years of both experience and success. In addition to his extensive entrepreneurial and sales experiences, Kurt is a sales and persuasion coach helping thousands of people reach higher levels of success, income and persuasion mastery. Currently, he is a speaker, consultant, and a Trainer for Mark Victor Hansen and Robert G. Allen Protégés.