How to Direct Visual Attention

The Importance of Being Seen (Visual vs. Auditory)

The sense of sight is dominant in how we process information.

Studies show that 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual, and that people remember 80% of what they see, compared to only 20% of what they hear.

This has a direct and crucial implication: if you are talking to someone but they are not looking at you, they will not understand or remember most of what you say.

If you are trying to convince someone, you need to catch their gaze to ensure that your arguments get through and are processed effectively.

Gaze follows gaze (Addressing)

In addition to making eye contact, you can use your own body to direct your audience's attention. The first rule is that people follow your gaze.

If you want to draw someone's attention to something (an object, a part of a screen presentation), you must first look in that direction yourself.

If you try to show something with your arm, but keep looking the person in the eye, it is confusing.

You must look at what you are showing. This helps illustrate your point and directs attention naturally.

Presenters do this all the time: to introduce someone on stage, they turn their body and gaze in that person's direction.

Techniques for regaining attention (Silence, the pen).

What do you do if you have lost your audience's attention? If you are in a meeting and people are still talking or looking at their computers while you present, a very powerful technique is to simply stop talking.

Sudden silence immediately attracts attention. People think "something has changed, this silence is not normal" and look back at you.

Another technique, if you are reviewing a document with someone, is to use an object. Naturally, people will look at the document you point to.

When you want them to look back at you, if you are pointing to something on the document with a pen or finger, simply lift the pen or finger off the document and slowly bring it close to your face, close to your eyes.

People's gaze will instinctively follow the moving object, and once you have their eye contact, you can resume the conversation.

Summary

The sense of sight is dominant in how we process information. People remember 80% of what they see, but only 20% of what they hear.

If you are talking to someone but they are not looking at you, they will not remember most of what you say. You need to capture their gaze to be effective.

To regain attention, a powerful technique is to simply stop talking. Sudden silence gets their attention immediately and they look at you again.