Make the most of your 47 seconds
Simple tips for gaining cut-through in a world of distractions.
The average attention span for people viewing content on any given screen is 47 seconds.
Less than one minute!
This is according to the University of California’s Professor Gloria Mark, who last year released the book Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity.
Professor Mark began researching the topic back in 2004, when people spent an average of around two and half minutes on a screen before switching.
In less than two decades, our on-screen attention decreased more than three-fold.
Finding the path to attention
Of course, the figures in Mark’s research take into account many different activities – from social scrolling to reading to quickly checking facts, all of which impact the average – but the significant decline between 2004 and 2022 is relevant when we consider on-screen written communication like emails, articles, presentations and social media posts.
There’s an important broader conversation around the impact of our dwindling attention spans on learning, comprehension and wellbeing (to name only a few), but the purpose of this article is to share some simple tips to increase the chances of your audience understanding your writing, given the context we live in.
Because a message hasn’t been effectively communicated unless it’s been understood in the way we intended it to be, and clearly we have far less time to achieve this than we used to.
Here’s three tips to help maximise your 47 seconds
(and maybe keep your reader’s attention for just a little longer)
You have probably seen or heard these before and may have already mastered them.
For me, the research served as a good reminder that these techniques are more important than ever when crafting our written communication.
1. Use plenty of white space.
Our brains love white space. We’re sub-consciously averse to big blocks of text, and you’re much more likely to lose your reader if you include them.
Designers define white space – or negative space – as “the space found inside and surrounding the other design elements”.
It’s what organises the visual elements and helps guide the eye.
White space is breathing space, it welcomes your reader and subtly indicates they won’t be overwhelmed by what you have to say.
If in doubt, separate a few more paragraphs to add a little more white space.
2. Make your text scannable.
This builds on the white space principle and in fact enhances it. Use:
sub-headings,
lists or bullet points,
images or breakout boxes
…wherever you can.
It’s rare that people will read every word of your content these days, so focus on making your text as scannable as possible.
3. Review your writing and delete unnecessary words or information.
This gets easier as you practice, but it takes time to get it right. We don’t want to lose context or meaning, but we want to avoid unnecessary repetition or excessive scene setting.It can be helpful to link to other relevant documents or previous communication to avoid repeating context.
According to this study, the average reading speed for non-fiction is now 238 words per minute.
Based on that rate, if you’re still reading I’ve managed to hold your attention for more than three times the average – so I’m not going to push my luck further. Happy scrolling.
Thank you for being here,
Larissa