到底是什么導(dǎo)致了粗心（且成本高昂）的家務(wù)事故？是科技的快速進(jìn)步，還是因?yàn)橛刑嗍虑橐龅珔s沒(méi)有足夠的時(shí)間？抑或兩者皆有？為了探明究竟，英國(guó)銀行勞埃德TSB集團(tuán)（Lloyds TSB）進(jìn)行了一項(xiàng)研究，結(jié)果有了一個(gè)有趣的發(fā)現(xiàn)：成年人的平均注意力持續(xù)時(shí)間從十年前的12分鐘已經(jīng)縮短到現(xiàn)在僅有5分鐘。每年到了現(xiàn)在這個(gè)季節(jié)尤其如此，因?yàn)槲覀兇蠖鄶?shù)人寧愿待在海灘上。

假如你正在規(guī)劃一次至關(guān)重要的陳述，它可能會(huì)決定你的職業(yè)生涯未來(lái)是向著更好的方向還是更壞的方向發(fā)展，而陳述的時(shí)間是半個(gè)小時(shí)。西恩?奧布萊恩說(shuō)：“因?yàn)槁?tīng)眾平均注意力持續(xù)時(shí)間只有5分鐘，所以在30分鐘的演講期間，聽(tīng)眾有84%的時(shí)間是在走神?！薄?，你能找到保持聽(tīng)眾注意力的方法。

奧布萊恩是亞特蘭大一家在線會(huì)議與合作公司PGi的執(zhí)行副總裁。他將為讀者提供一些吸引聽(tīng)眾注意力的建議。這些建議來(lái)自PGi的一本新電子書(shū)（可在該公司網(wǎng)站上免費(fèi)下載）——《講演妙招黑皮書(shū)》（The Little Black Book of Presentation Ideas）

1. 你確定要用幻燈片嗎？奧布萊恩說(shuō)：“人們往往會(huì)求助于PowerPoint，因?yàn)樗?jiǎn)單且很常見(jiàn)?？蓡?wèn)題在于，幻燈片不會(huì)讓你脫穎而出。同一種格式，觀眾們可能看過(guò)不下一千次，所以他們對(duì)幻燈片已經(jīng)麻木了?！?SPAN lang=EN-US>Prezi、Easel.y或者SlideRocket等替代工具不僅易于使用，而且可以提供更多的視覺(jué)效果。

他補(bǔ)充說(shuō)：“或許，你根本就不需要使用幻燈片。有時(shí)候，幻燈片只是作為一種精神依靠?！眾W布萊恩喜歡引用史蒂夫?喬布斯的話。喬布斯曾說(shuō)過(guò)：“知道自己在說(shuō)什么的人根本不需要PowerPoint?！贝送猓玫恼{(diào)查數(shù)據(jù)顯示，41%的美國(guó)員工寧愿去繳稅或看牙醫(yī)，也不愿意等著幻燈片放完——62%的美國(guó)員工為了逃避冗長(zhǎng)無(wú)聊的幻燈片，曾經(jīng)打過(guò)瞌睡，甚至干脆離開(kāi)會(huì)議室。

2. 如果確實(shí)需要幻燈片，越少越好。奧布萊恩說(shuō)：“第一張幻燈片或開(kāi)場(chǎng)白一定要能讓人興奮，要使用一些能吸引眼球的視覺(jué)效果和簡(jiǎn)練的語(yǔ)言?！?SPAN lang=EN-US>30分鐘的陳述不要使用超過(guò)五到十張幻燈片。奧布萊恩說(shuō)：“如果你硬是要在三十分鐘里放30張幻燈片，那你的陳述注定不會(huì)成功。此外，每一張幻燈片上只需要列出一條要點(diǎn)，字?jǐn)?shù)不能超過(guò)15個(gè)單詞?！碧咸喜唤^地說(shuō)太多，聽(tīng)眾會(huì)失去興趣，所以一定要簡(jiǎn)明扼要，突出主題。

3. 巧妙使用不常見(jiàn)的字體和顏色。使用Microsoft Office和Keynote主流字體之外的其他字體，增加幻燈片的視覺(jué)效果，可以吸引聽(tīng)眾的注意力，Dafont、1001 Free Fonts、Fontsbytes和Fonts.com等網(wǎng)站都提供各種字體的下載。奧布萊恩補(bǔ)充道：“別忘了讓文字之間的間距更開(kāi)闊。文字的大小應(yīng)該確保站在房間后面的人也能看清楚?！?SPAN lang=EN-US>

顏色也很重要。奧布萊恩發(fā)現(xiàn)，產(chǎn)品營(yíng)銷人員和室內(nèi)設(shè)計(jì)師會(huì)依靠顏色來(lái)激發(fā)不同的反應(yīng)——紅色代表了權(quán)力和緊迫性，藍(lán)色代表冷靜，橘色代表能量與激情。你同樣可以利用顏色：“賦予陳述中所使用的顏色一定的內(nèi)涵。人們通常過(guò)于關(guān)注事實(shí)內(nèi)容，結(jié)果忘記考慮視覺(jué)效果?！?SPAN lang=EN-US>

Maybe it's the speed-of-light pace of technology, or the stress of having too much to do and not enough time to do it, or both, but when British bank Lloyds TSB set out to study what causes careless (and costly) household accidents, the researchers made an interesting discovery: The average adult attention span has plummeted from 12 minutes a decade ago to just 5 minutes now. That may be especially true at this time of year, when most of us would rather be at the beach.

So there you are, planning a presentation that could have a big impact on your career, for better or worse, and it's half an hour long. "With an attention span of five minutes, the average audience is going to tune out 84% of your 30-minute speech," says Sean O'Brien -- unless, that is, you find ways to keep them interested.

An executive vice president at Atlanta-based online meeting and collaboration firm PGi, O'Brien offers these suggestions for doing just that. They're drawn from a new PGi e-book (free on the company's website) called The Little Black Book of Presentation Ideas.

1. Are you sure you need PowerPoint? "People fall back on PowerPoint because it's easy and familiar," O'Brien notes. "The trouble is, it doesn't stand out. The audience has seen the same format 1,000 times, so they turn into zombies." Alternatives like Prezi, Easel.y, or SlideRocket "are designed to be easy to use, and they can make more of a visual impact.

"But maybe you don't need slides at all. Sometimes they're just a crutch," he adds. O'Brien likes to quote Steve Jobs, who said, "People who know what they're talking about don't need PowerPoint." He also cites research showing that 41% of U.S. employees would rather do their taxes or go to the dentist than sit through a slideshow -- and 62% have either fallen asleep or left the room to escape a boring batch of slides.

2. If you do use slides, less is more. Start with "a killer first slide or opening remark," O'Brien says, "with eye-catching visuals and concise language." Then, for a 30-minute presentation, plan on no more than five to 10 slides. "If you have a slide deck with 30 slides in it, your presentation is doomed," O'Brien says. "You also need to have each slide make just one main point of 15 words or fewer." Talk too much and you'll lose 'em, so get to the point.

3. Make smart use of unusual fonts and colors. Varying your visuals with different fonts, beyond the mainstream Microsoft Office and Keynote typefaces, can help you hold people's interest, and they're readily available from sites like Dafont, 1001 Free Fonts, Fontsbytes, and Fonts.com. "Don't forget to give your text room to breathe," O'Brien adds. "It should be big enough to be read from the back of the room."

Color counts too. O'Brien notes that product marketers and interior designers rely on color to evoke different responses -- red denotes power and urgency, blue is calming, orange conveys energy and enthusiasm, and so on -- and you can do the same: "Give the colors in your presentation some thought. Often people get so focused on the factual content that they forget to consider the visual impact."

4. 不要只談工作?！白畛錾年愂瞿茏屄?tīng)眾沉浸其中，在演講者與聽(tīng)眾之間建立一種情感上的聯(lián)系，”奧布萊恩說(shuō)?！叭绻阒v一個(gè)有趣的故事，或者分享一句最喜歡的名言，談一談一下自己，展示一下辦公室之外的自己是什么樣子，會(huì)令你更具有吸引力，給聽(tīng)眾留下更深的印象。”

當(dāng)然，一定要掌握分寸，只要處理得當(dāng)，一定能吸引聽(tīng)眾注意。謝麗爾?桑德伯格著名的2010年TED演講【（正是這次演講讓她決定寫(xiě)《向前一步》（Lean In）這本書(shū)】就是最好的證據(jù)。桑德伯格的坦率和自嘲式的幽默給所有人留下了深刻印象——而她在演講過(guò)程中沒(méi)有使用任何幻燈片。

5. 突破“第四面墻”。你有沒(méi)有過(guò)這樣的經(jīng)歷——在大學(xué)上課，不知道導(dǎo)師什么時(shí)候會(huì)突然點(diǎn)到你的名字，希望你能給出一些聰明的評(píng)論？這種歷史悠久的技巧可以讓聽(tīng)眾時(shí)刻保持緊張，因?yàn)闆](méi)有人希望在毫無(wú)防備的情況下被抓突然提問(wèn)，這種技巧同樣適用于演講。

奧布萊恩建議：“通過(guò)鼓勵(lì)聽(tīng)眾建設(shè)性地打斷演講，比如提出問(wèn)題等，讓聽(tīng)眾參與其中?；螂S機(jī)挑選聽(tīng)眾，邀請(qǐng)他們參與討論?！?SPAN lang=EN-US>

有一些演講大師，比如前通用電氣（GE）首席執(zhí)行官杰克?韋爾奇，會(huì)利用Twitter，讓聽(tīng)眾們提出問(wèn)題和評(píng)論，韋爾奇會(huì)實(shí)時(shí)進(jìn)行解答。這種技巧不適合膽小的人，但確實(shí)能讓聽(tīng)眾們集中注意力。這在當(dāng)今可謂是不小的壯舉。

4. It's not all about the work. "The best presentations draw people in and make an emotional connection between the speaker and the audience," says O'Brien. "You'll be much more engaging and memorable if you tell a funny story or share a favorite quote, talk a bit about yourself and reveal a little of who you are outside the office."

You don't want to overdo this, of course, but handled right, it can be riveting. For proof, check out Sheryl Sandberg's famous 2010 TED talk (the one that led to her writing Lean In). Sandberg's frankness and self-deprecating humor carries it -- and without a PowerPoint slide in sight.

5. Break through the "fourth wall." Ever take a course in college where you never knew when the instructor was going to call on you, out of the blue, and expect some intelligent comment? It's a time-honored technique for keeping an audience on its toes, since no one wants to be caught napping (literally or metaphorically), and it works for speeches, too.

"Involve your listeners by encouraging constructive interruptions, like questions," O'Brien suggests. "Or pick people in the audience at random, and ask them to weigh in."

Some expert speakers, like former GE (GE) chief Jack Welch, have made use of Twitter to let audience members Tweet a constant stream of questions and comments, which Welch then addresses in real time. It's not a technique for the faint of heart, but it does keep people's attention from wandering. These days, that's no small feat.