This article was first published in the October 2015 issue of WIRED magazine. Be the first to read WIRED's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Getting yourself noticed is challenging, but Ben Parr, San Francisco-based entrepreneur and author of Captivology, knows all the tricks. "Attention is the fundamental currency of the modern economy. It's our capability to listen, to remember something and care about it," he says. "But very few people understand how it works, how it applies, and how to harness it." After companies and startups repeatedly asked him about the best ways of grabbing attention from press, customers and investors, Parr started investigating. The trick, he claims, is to capture your audience's immediate, short-, then long-term attention, so that your listeners stay focused on what you have to say. Follow his steps and you'll be standing out in no time. Emiko Jozuka
"It's about doing the research to understand your audience. Once you've figured out how to appeal to them, you can leverage your ideas into a presentation," says Parr. Make sure you time your pitch well when approaching others. "Early in the day is typically better because people have fewer decisions to make and can feel more positively inclined to your ideas."
"Either brand yourself as an expert," says Parr, "or bring in experts to help make your point." Get training in your subject and create content - blog posts, white papers, conference speeches - around a subject in which you want to be considered a virtuoso. "Once you've established yourself, it's more likely that people will come to you than the other way around."
Disrupt people's thinking
If people aren't paying attention to your product, Parr recommends finding a way to disrupt their expectations. "We pay attention to things that violate our expectations of the world - it's a long psychological phenomenon," he says. "The main thing to remember about disruption is that it has to be surprising, simple and significant."
"We pay attention to mysteries because we want to complete storylines," says Parr. He recommends applying the cliffhangers or suspense techniques used in fiction to meetings. "You don't always have to give all the information upfront - you want to have a reason to make people come back and talk more," he explains.
"Rewards are fundamental to human nature; we pay attention to rewards we desire, and to the means that we need to get them," explains Parr. For example, if someone buys your product, surprise them with an unexpected reward. "If they didn't expect it, they're more likely to remember that kind act, and to have a better appreciation of the brand."
Illustration: Nick D Burton
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
