by Olivia Mitchell | Content
I get frustrated at presentation advice which says you have to do something clever or dramatic at the beginning of a presentation to grab your audience’s attention. That’s for three reasons: 1. You don’t have to grab the audience’s attention at...
by Olivia Mitchell | Content
Lisa Braithwaite from Speak Schmeak has commented on my post about the attention-getting myth. I started responding to her comment, but my response got so long I decided it was worth a blogpost in its own right. The issue is how to best help nervous speakers at the...
by Olivia Mitchell | Content
I came across this intriguing story from the Washington Post which was blogged by both Seth Godin and Laura Fitton when it was first published last year. A world-class violinist, Joshua Bell, was asked by the Washington Post to busk during the morning commute at a...
by Olivia Mitchell | Content, Presentation research
In my last post I wrote about the attention-getting myth. I argued that the idea that you have to grab attention at the beginning of a presentation is a myth. Here’s the evidence to back that up. Studies have been done measuring the attention levels of students...
by Olivia Mitchell | Content
There is a pervasive myth in public speaking and presenting that you have to have an attention-getting opening. I would argue to the contrary. The beginning of your talk is the one time that you can guarantee that the audience is paying attention. They will pay...