One of the most important things you need to do in any presentation is get the audience’s attention. It’s a topic that I’ve covered on many occasions but is something that needs to be repeated again because it is very important to understand how to get and keep the audience’s attention during a presentation.
Using Videos In Presentations

So today, I’m going to talk about one such way of getting the audience’s attention. There are several other ways that I will teach in the coming weeks but today we will start with using video to get and keep attention during a presentation. And notice that I say during the presentation and not at the beginning of the presentation.

Why Use Videos In Presentations?

The reason why is because we often forget how short a person’s attention span really is. It’s important to recapture a person’s attention in the middle of your presentation, as well as at the start of your presentation.

Check out the video below for the full details of using video in a presentation. You can also read the full transcript below the video. And be sure to leave a comment if you have any questions or feedback about what I taught. I would love to hear from you.

Video Transcript

Quick! What is something you have to do more than anything else in a presentation?

(Buzz) Time’s up!

If you said you have to know your audience, be well prepared, or practice a lot you would be correct. However, that’s not the right answer in this case. The correct answer and the thing that is most important in any presentation, is getting and keeping the audience’s attention. And I’m not just talking about at the beginning of your presentation. I’m talking about during your presentation because people have a limited attention span. So before you get bored, let me show you what to do.

You might not like TV commercials during your favorite TV programs but a video is a great way to get the audience’s attention and keep it for a short time during your presentation. You should prepare to use a video for every 3 to 5 minutes of speaking. That means that if your presentation is 20 minutes long you will need three to four videos. For a 10 minute presentation, one video will be okay.

The video should be short like a commercial, about 15 to 30 seconds or even 45 seconds at the most. It must also be relevant to your presentation topic and be interesting for your audience. The video could be an interview with somebody talking about your presentation topic, or a demonstration, or a story about somebody’s experience related to your topic.

If there is already a video available, great. But if not, it’s pretty easy to make your own video. Just make sure you have good lighting from a window or shoot the video outside in the morning or late afternoon. And if someone is speaking, try to get him or her close to the camera so the sound will be good and so you won’t need any special audio equipment.

Making a video does take some preparation but the effort will be worth it because your overall presentation will be that much better.

And this is really important, make sure you get to the presentation venue early to test your video on the equipment. Make sure your video works before you give the presentation or else your efforts will go to waste and you could be really embarrassed during your presentation if the video doesn’t work properly.

So there you have it. One of the most effective ways to get the audience’s attention during your presentation. Next time, I will talk about another great way to get and keep the audiences attention during a presentation. Let me know what you think about getting the audience’s attention by leaving a comment in the comments section below.

Thank you for watching and talk to you again next time.

Carl Kwan is a presentations, promo-video, and marketing consultant based in Seoul, South Korea. Carl specialises in presentations skills training, customised presentation design, video work to promote your company and marketing advice for local and global clients. Get in touch with Carl to discuss how he can help you and your organisation.