Stop Asking Your Audience to Multitask!

Let me ask you if you’re driving down the highway and you look next to you and there’s a teenager driving zooming past you and they are texting on their cell phone at the time.

Does that make you feel comfortable or make you feel at home.

I could actually call off the road.

This is a disaster waiting to happen.

If you’re like me and those same people think you’re probably in the second category Why is that.

It’s because human beings are inherently awful at multitasking.

We all think we’re great at multitasking and everyone talks about it.

We like to text and send e-mail and phone conversations at the same time.

We think we’re being productive we’re not.

All the research shows that if someone gives you three tasks lets you focus on one and finish that.

Go to the second finish that go to the third.

Finish it versus just giving me all three and I try to do all three at once you actually finish sooner than I will.

With fewer mistakes no matter how great I think I am at multitasking.

All the research is conclusive on this.

Now why am I talking about multitasking and teenagers driving.

It’s because when most people deliver PowerPoint presentations they’re asking their audience to multitask.

What you’re saying to your audience is hey look at me and watch me speak.

No no.

Ignore me.

Look at this strain over here and read this stuff at the same time.

There’s no no.

Ignore that read a handout.

So you’re forcing your audience to constantly multitask and make a decision.

Do I watch the speaker.

I read what’s on their slide.

Do I read their hand.

Well look and what happens to so many audience members it’s overwhelming.

They shut down when there’s a fourth choice.

Oh let me check the sports scores on my favorite team.

That’s the problem with you are creating competition years.

Yes.

How often if you had to give a new business pitch for your business would you call up all your competitors and say Hey I’m giving it a business pitch at 9 a.m. tomorrow at the Acme Widget Company.

Why don’t you come at 9 10 and give your pitch and then do another 10.

Once you get to 9 20 again you wouldn’t do that guess what.

That is what you’re doing to your audience.

If you’re asking them to multitask.

If you’re speaking and you have a slide up you’re asking them to make a decision.

Do I ignore T.J. do I ignore this line don’t do that.

Ask your audience to do one thing at a time.

If you’re speaking when I’m speaking I don’t have slides on when I put a slide up I closed my mouth and I let you look at if I want you to read something I will give the handout closed my mouth.

Turn off the slot and let you read it.

You cannot go wrong asking your audience to do one thing at a time and only giving them one thing to do at a time.

That way they don’t have to make a choice.

Audiences if you’re consistently putting out interesting stuff for them from your out the screen handouts are more than happy to focus on one thing at a time.

They will follow your lead.

But if you lead them to three different directions you’re just going to create confusion.

So my advice ask them to do one thing at a time when you’re speaking don’t have a slide up slide up close your mouth.

You give them a hand.

Give them time to read it without you talking without any new stuff up on a screen.