Focus and attention: Why Apple’s speakers talk for 10 minutes or less
You may associate Apple’s product launches with the sight and sound of Tim Cook, but these days he’s only a small part of their presentations. Why? Because Apple understands the neuroscience behind focus and attention.
In his recent article for Inc, Carmine Gallo details how Apple is following neuroscientific research and swapping out their presenters or playing a video every ten minutes or less. Over the course of the first 30 minutes of their latest product launch, the audience watched three videos and heard four different voices to help get their message across. The science suggests that our brains are hard-wired to tune out within ten minutes.
It’s a useful reminder that the brain gets bored or distracted easily. We need to be aware of the limitations of focus and attention when trying to get our message across. We must structure our messages, our stories and our content accordingly to make it easy to navigate and digest – whether it’s video, website, presentations or pitches. If products as keenly anticipated as Apple’s need this kind of communication management to stand out and engage, then anyone not revealing the latest iPhone or Apple Watch definitely needs to pay attention to this.
