Most human beings want attention. If they’re Kris or Kim Kardashian, they probably crave it in a not-so-healthy way, but that’s another story.
Ben Parr, the author of Captivology believes that success in your career or your business depends on how effectively you can capture people’s attention. According to his March 2015 Harvard Business Review article, his book sources thousands of studies and interviews with “attention-grabbing thought leaders, including Sheryl Sandberg, Steven Soderbergh, and David Copperfield, just to name a few.” Mr. Parr also draws his experience with startups as a VC and co-editor of Mashable.
You can use seven techniques to get someone’s attention, which is closely linked to motivation. Three of my favorites—and the article is worth reading to discover the other four—include:
Acknowledgment
We want validation and empathy, which are at the heart of acknowledgment. One way to get it is to belong to a community that cares about us—or at least appears to. Think church and Facebook. As Mr. Parr puts it, “create that feeling for anyone whose attention you’d like to capture, and they’ll repay you.”
Disruption
Because we need to determine whether an incident is threatening or positive, we tend to pay attention to anything that doesn’t conform to our expectations. So do something that’s a pleasant surprise. Give a “Tuesday present” to a friend, or invite a colleague or client for a walk instead of a cup of coffee.
Reward
Seek out incentives that really appeal to your colleagues, employees, or managers—or loved ones, for that matter—because they pay attention to what they anticipate and are motivated by. Make sure you paint a vivid picture of what they can expect to enjoy. Companies routinely do this with slick brochures or email campaigns that publicize their yearly “President’s Circle” trips.
These days, I think one of the best ways of getting someone’s attention is to give them yours. We all talk—quite often too much. How refreshing it must be in this noisy, self-promoting world to find someone who is willing to pipe down and listen.
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