DRAM 2100 Chapter 5: Dramatic Art 24-210 Chapter 5: Attention: Getting People to Listen

• School: University of Windsor
• Department: Dramatic Art
• Course: DRAM 2100
• Professor: Simon Du Toit

Document Summary

It is easier to get your audience attention at the beginning of a speech than to hold their attention throughout the middle. Telling short stories that are relevant to the material (cid:272)a(cid:374) help keep the audie(cid:374)(cid:272)e"s atte(cid:374)tio(cid:374) National survey showed that the top ranked skill for preparing and delivering a speech was the a(cid:271)ilit(cid:455) to keep the audie(cid:374)(cid:272)e"s atte(cid:374)tio(cid:374) People te(cid:374)d to ha(cid:448)e a (cid:448)er(cid:455) short atte(cid:374)tio(cid:374) spa(cid:374), espe(cid:272)iall(cid:455) i(cid:374) toda(cid:455)"s i(cid:374)sta(cid:374)t-gratification society. During a speech, it is very important to keep the audience on their toes: excited, engaged, touched, and anxious to hear what is going to come next. Not all speeches are about entertainment, but if the audience is bored the message will not get across. U(cid:374)dersta(cid:374)di(cid:374)g ho(cid:449) atte(cid:374)tio(cid:374) (cid:449)orks (cid:272)a(cid:374) (cid:271)e (cid:448)er(cid:455) helpful i(cid:374) getti(cid:374)g people"s atte(cid:374)tio(cid:374) Attention: the act of focusing on a specific stimulus to the exclusion of competing stimuli.