Sparkie's Ten Commandments #2

Thou shalt not drone on for more than fifteen minutes or thou wilst lose thine audience's attention.

Adults are independent, self-determining beings. We are used to being in control of our lives. Until it is evening and men go to watch the tv (fire) after a long day at the office (hunting), few people want to sit (without moving) and listen (in silence) to someone talk for hours on end. With a few exceptions (comedians or entertainers).

If your speech or workshop lasts more than about 15 minutes, then you need to chunk it down. Split it into segments, with some talking, some discussions, some exercises or interactions - with none of the talking bits lasting more than about 15 minutes.

Even with an audience of 500 people, you can intersperse your session with:
* discussions - ask them to talk to their neighbour/ the person in front or behind
* questions and answer segments - how might they do X? what is their experience of Y?
* polls - use either hands up, or a jack-in-the-box (stand up for yes, sit for no) approach to get people thinking about the questions and information
* small movements - even if it's something as simple as getting your audience to cross their arms, notice which arm is on top, then asking them to do it with the other arm on top. An old faithful for pointing out how new things always feel weird at first.

Think about the attention span of your audience before you plan your session. Last thing on a Friday (for instance) you may decide to have no speaking longer than 10 minutes. Whatever the time of day, design in sections to get them involved, get them thinking for themselves, get them moving and you will not only help keep them awake, alert and attentive, but you'll stimulate the blood flow to their brain and support their learning.