The first of our advanced techniques to grab your audience’s attention is the use of statistics. In global communication situations, numbers are one of the universal things that people find easy to connect with. Here are four ways to use statistics to peak audience interest:
1. Surprising
2. Extreme
3. Imaginative
4. Negative
1. Surprising
Find something in your presentation content that can be introduced as a statement that is beyond common expectations.
Believe it or not, you are more likely to be killed by a toaster than a shark?
Did you know that in 1989 only 3% of Americans had a passport?
2. Extreme
Talk in either extremely big figures:
millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, billions, trillions
Or very, very small amounts:
zero point zero, zero, zero percent.
3. Imaginative
Re-present your number in an unusual context.
The average smartphone has more computing power than the entire Apollo program that put men on the moon.
In 2013 one billion smartphones are set to be sold. If they were laid end to end, they would stretch 100,000 kilometres. Or, in other words, more than a quarter of the distance from the Earth to the Moon.
4. Negative
Many of us might like to imagine that it is best to relay a positive message in our presentation. However, psychological research strongly suggests that it is potential risks and losses that cause us to pay attention and take action.
For example, rather than saying:
If we implement this project, we will save one million dollars a year.
It would be more effective to say:
If we don’t implement this project, we will lose a million dollars every year.
