????到底是什么導(dǎo)致了粗心（且成本高昂）的家務(wù)事故,？是科技的快速進步，還是因為有太多事情要做但卻沒有足夠的時間,？抑或兩者皆有,？為了探明究竟，英國銀行勞埃德TSB集團（Lloyds TSB）進行了一項研究,，結(jié)果有了一個有趣的發(fā)現(xiàn)：成年人的平均注意力持續(xù)時間從十年前的12分鐘已經(jīng)縮短到現(xiàn)在僅有5分鐘,。每年到了現(xiàn)在這個季節(jié)尤其如此，因為我們大多數(shù)人寧愿待在海灘上,。

????假如你正在規(guī)劃一次至關(guān)重要的陳述,，它可能會決定你的職業(yè)生涯未來是向著更好的方向還是更壞的方向發(fā)展，而陳述的時間是半個小時,。西恩?奧布萊恩說：“因為聽眾平均注意力持續(xù)時間只有5分鐘,，所以在30分鐘的演講期間，聽眾有84%的時間是在走神,?！薄牵隳苷业奖３致牨娮⒁饬Φ姆椒?。

????奧布萊恩是亞特蘭大一家在線會議與合作公司PGi的執(zhí)行副總裁,。他將為讀者提供一些吸引聽眾注意力的建議。這些建議來自PGi的一本新電子書（可在該公司網(wǎng)站上免費下載）——《講演妙招黑皮書》（The Little Black Book of Presentation Ideas）

????1. 你確定要用幻燈片嗎,？奧布萊恩說：“人們往往會求助于PowerPoint,，因為它簡單且很常見?？蓡栴}在于,，幻燈片不會讓你脫穎而出。同一種格式,，觀眾們可能看過不下一千次,，所以他們對幻燈片已經(jīng)麻木了,。”Prezi,、Easel.y或者SlideRocket等替代工具不僅易于使用,，而且可以提供更多的視覺效果。

????他補充說：“或許,，你根本就不需要使用幻燈片,。有時候，幻燈片只是作為一種精神依靠,。”奧布萊恩喜歡引用史蒂夫?喬布斯的話,。喬布斯曾說過：“知道自己在說什么的人根本不需要PowerPoint,。”此外,，他引用的調(diào)查數(shù)據(jù)顯示,，41%的美國員工寧愿去繳稅或看牙醫(yī)，也不愿意等著幻燈片放完——62%的美國員工為了逃避冗長無聊的幻燈片,，曾經(jīng)打過瞌睡,，甚至干脆離開會議室。

????2. 如果確實需要幻燈片,，越少越好,。奧布萊恩說：“第一張幻燈片或開場白一定要能讓人興奮，要使用一些能吸引眼球的視覺效果和簡練的語言,?！?0分鐘的陳述不要使用超過五到十張幻燈片。奧布萊恩說：“如果你硬是要在三十分鐘里放30張幻燈片,，那你的陳述注定不會成功,。此外，每一張幻燈片上只需要列出一條要點,，字數(shù)不能超過15個單詞,。”滔滔不絕地說太多,，聽眾會失去興趣,，所以一定要簡明扼要，突出主題,。

????3. 巧妙使用不常見的字體和顏色,。使用Microsoft Office和Keynote主流字體之外的其他字體，增加幻燈片的視覺效果,，可以吸引聽眾的注意力,，Dafont,、1001 Free Fonts、Fontsbytes和Fonts.com等網(wǎng)站都提供各種字體的下載,。奧布萊恩補充道：“別忘了讓文字之間的間距更開闊,。文字的大小應(yīng)該確保站在房間后面的人也能看清楚?！?/p>

????顏色也很重要,。奧布萊恩發(fā)現(xiàn)，產(chǎn)品營銷人員和室內(nèi)設(shè)計師會依靠顏色來激發(fā)不同的反應(yīng)——紅色代表了權(quán)力和緊迫性,，藍色代表冷靜,，橘色代表能量與激情。你同樣可以利用顏色：“賦予陳述中所使用的顏色一定的內(nèi)涵,。人們通常過于關(guān)注事實內(nèi)容,，結(jié)果忘記考慮視覺效果?！?/p>

????Maybe it's the speed-of-light pace of technology, or the stress of having too much to do and not enough time to do it, or both, but when British bank Lloyds TSB set out to study what causes careless (and costly) household accidents, the researchers made an interesting discovery: The average adult attention span has plummeted from 12 minutes a decade ago to just 5 minutes now. That may be especially true at this time of year, when most of us would rather be at the beach.

????So there you are, planning a presentation that could have a big impact on your career, for better or worse, and it's half an hour long. "With an attention span of five minutes, the average audience is going to tune out 84% of your 30-minute speech," says Sean O'Brien -- unless, that is, you find ways to keep them interested.

????An executive vice president at Atlanta-based online meeting and collaboration firm PGi, O'Brien offers these suggestions for doing just that. They're drawn from a new PGi e-book (free on the company's website) called The Little Black Book of Presentation Ideas.

????1. Are you sure you need PowerPoint? "People fall back on PowerPoint because it's easy and familiar," O'Brien notes. "The trouble is, it doesn't stand out. The audience has seen the same format 1,000 times, so they turn into zombies." Alternatives like Prezi, Easel.y, or SlideRocket "are designed to be easy to use, and they can make more of a visual impact.

????"But maybe you don't need slides at all. Sometimes they're just a crutch," he adds. O'Brien likes to quote Steve Jobs, who said, "People who know what they're talking about don't need PowerPoint." He also cites research showing that 41% of U.S. employees would rather do their taxes or go to the dentist than sit through a slideshow -- and 62% have either fallen asleep or left the room to escape a boring batch of slides.

????2. If you do use slides, less is more. Start with "a killer first slide or opening remark," O'Brien says, "with eye-catching visuals and concise language." Then, for a 30-minute presentation, plan on no more than five to 10 slides. "If you have a slide deck with 30 slides in it, your presentation is doomed," O'Brien says. "You also need to have each slide make just one main point of 15 words or fewer." Talk too much and you'll lose 'em, so get to the point.

????3. Make smart use of unusual fonts and colors. Varying your visuals with different fonts, beyond the mainstream Microsoft Office and Keynote typefaces, can help you hold people's interest, and they're readily available from sites like Dafont, 1001 Free Fonts, Fontsbytes, and Fonts.com. "Don't forget to give your text room to breathe," O'Brien adds. "It should be big enough to be read from the back of the room."

????Color counts too. O'Brien notes that product marketers and interior designers rely on color to evoke different responses -- red denotes power and urgency, blue is calming, orange conveys energy and enthusiasm, and so on -- and you can do the same: "Give the colors in your presentation some thought. Often people get so focused on the factual content that they forget to consider the visual impact."