It is well known that the attention span of humans has decreased over time. According to a study by Microsoft, the average human being has an attention span of only eight seconds.
What does this mean?
Your message has to catch the attention of an individual and keep it. This is one of the difficulties that has had to be faced in recent years. Communications need to be shortened or they, unfortunately, will not be read.
This means we need to brief, even though it can be difficult to do. Our world is busy and fast-paced. There is not enough time to read a one thousand-word article unless it can truly capture attention.
We need to work on adapting our communications for a world based on short tweets and bite-sized information. This article will go through the three P’s of short form communication that you can use to get a better response from your audience.
Press Release
Yes, the press release seems very old-fashioned. In fact, it is over one hundred years old! However, this piece of writing is still a great tool used today for SEO purposes.
If it can be kept below four hundred words and still capture the main focus of your message, then you did a good job.
Pitch
I’m sure that we have all heard of the elevator pitch. It involves explaining ourselves or our product in at least thirty seconds. The key is to keep the listener engaged and interested in what you have to say. If the listener can care one or two sentences in, then consider it a success.
Presentation
We have all been listening to a presentation that just feels boring. It could be the speaker’s lack of enthusiasm. Or, it could very well be the PowerPoint.
The key to a PowerPoint is leaving as little text as possible. If we are too focused on reading the text on the slide, then we will miss what the speaker is saying.
The visual element is important as well. Make sure your presentation has a professional design that does not distract from the presentation, yet keeps the audience hooked.
The 3 P’s of short form communication can be difficult to get used to. However, as we keep creating content either for social media or for a work presentation, remember that the goal is to get the viewer or reader hooked. Short form communication is one of the best ways to do just that.