ENGLISH 10 QUARTER

1 LESSON 8

EFFECTIVE
AT T E N T I O N -
GETTING DEVICES
AESTHETIC
Aesthetic refers to the appreciation of beauty, art,
and visual or sensory qualities. It relates to the principles
of what is visually pleasing or artistically appealing.
E X P E C TAT I O N S

THIS LESSON WILL HELP

YOU LEARN AND
U N D E R S TA N D : E F F E C T I V E
AT T E N T I O N - G E T T I N G
DEVICES.
PRETEST
Directions: Write True if you think that the
statement below will get or hold the
attention of the audience, and False if
you think that the statement will not get or
hold the attention of the audience. Write
your answer on the space provided
before each number.
__________1. Today‘s celebration is a symbol of unity of hearts. It is a
pleasure to witness a celebration of your love, Carlo and Dessa.
__________2. Imagine you have gifted with the power to change the world,
what change will you prioritize to work on?
__________3. I am going to discuss to you how we are going to be healthy.
__________4. In the fall of 2008, I decided that it was time that I took my life
into my own hands. After suffering for years with the disease of obesity, I
decided to take a leap of faith and get a gastric bypass in an attempt to
finally beat the disease.
__________5. Listen to what I have to say!
ANSWER
 TRUE
__________1. Today‘s celebration is a symbol of unity of hearts. It is a
pleasure to witness a celebration of your love, Carlo and Dessa.
TRUE Imagine you have gifted with the power to change the world,
__________2.
what change will you prioritize to work on?
FALS I am going to discuss to you how we are going to be healthy.
__________3.
E
__________4. In the fall of 2008, I decided that it was time that I took my life
intoTRUE
my own hands. After suffering for years with the disease of obesity, I
decided to take a leap of faith and get a gastric bypass in an attempt to
finally beat the disease.
__________5. Listen to what I have to say!
FALSE
RECAP

We have learned the implicit and explicit signals are used

by speakers and writers to highlight significant points. These
communicative signals may be verbal or non-verbal. The main
point of a written text may be explicitly signaled by transition
devices and conjunctions. Other times, the message may be
implicitly signaled by tone, mood or manner of expression, or by
symbolism used by the author.
LESSO
N

There are various devices that you can use to attract and
hold the attention of your audience. Presentation coach, Patricia
Fripp, claims that a speaker has approximately 30 seconds
to capture interest before an audience‘s attention gets lost.
Of course, losing our audience‘s interest is not our goal but the
opposite.
LESSO
N

Today, let us identify some of the necessary devices that

we can use to attract and hold our audience‘s attention; the
effective attention-getting devices.
COMMON
AT T E N T I O N -
GETTING DEVICES
 An attention-getter is the device a
speaker uses at the beginning of a speech
to capture an audience‘s interest and make
them interested in the speech‘s topic.
 1.
ANECDOTES
– short stories that illustrate the main points of the speech.

a. Personal anecdote – this story describes your personal experience with

the topic.
b. Historical anecdote – this story describes a historical event.
c. Hypothetical example – this device asks your audience to envision a
scenario as if it was happening to them. This can be accomplished with a
hypothetical situation, ―Imagine that you are walking through the forest‖,
or with an anecdote ―Imagine that you are Sam, a forest ranger in
Alaska‖.
 2. QUOTE

— these are humorous, insightful, or emotional; can add color

to an introduction, and boost credibility to the speaker. Avoid
quotes that are irrelevant, inappropriate, unethical, or
misleading, and always remember to cite your sources.
 3 . S U R P R I S I N G S TAT E M E N T

— statements that reveal facts or statistics that would surprise

the audience. When used correctly, this device can boost the
speaker‘s credibility and the audience‘s interest in the topic.
Make sure to avoid facts or statistics that may not be true, or are
published by a questionable source.
4. QUESTION
— these are questions posed directly to the audience.
a. Rhetorical questions – designed to make your audience consider your
argument, and do not elicit a response.
b. Overt-response question – designed to elicit a response from your
audience.
i. Polls – these questions poll your audience.
ii. Free-response – these questions are less commonly used but may
be appropriate for some contexts. Classroom lectures, for example,
frequently use free-response questions as a way to encourage student
participation.
 5. HUMOR

— can be effective, but they are very difficult to execute

effectively. When writing a humorous introduction, make sure
that it is appropriate for the situation and the audience, relevant
to the topic of the presentation, and flows naturally into the rest
of the introduction.
 6. REFERENCE TO AUDIENCE/OCCASION

— for significant events or ceremonies, it may be effective to

begin your introduction by describing the audience or occasion.
a. Audience – referencing the audience is only effective when all
audience members share a common identity.
b. Occasion – for special occasions—such as weddings,
funerals, or award ceremonies; reminding the audience of the
meaning behind the event can bring them together and boost
your credibility.
T E N WAY S G R E A T S P E A K E R S C A P T U R E
P E O P L E ' S AT T E N T I O N

First, you must grab your listeners'

attention. Then you need to hold it. Check
out these simple ways to do both:
1 . S TA R T W I T H T H E
UNEXPECTED.
Start with a bang, not a whimper.
Smokers like matches that light with the first
strike, and listeners like presentations that
ignite interest with the first sentence.
2. MAKE IT ABOUT THEM.
Now that you've gotten listeners'
attention with your magnetic opening, make
the story about them. Increase your You-to-
Me-Ratio. Extend your topic in their lives
situation. Connect with them.
3 . K E E P I T C O N C R E T E AT T H E
S TA R T.
Show a prop. Use language that appeals to the senses.
Don't tax the audience right away with abstract reasoning or
academic concepts. Better to hide your smarts than to wear
them on your sleeve. Storytelling is a powerful way to get
into a topic because we are hard-wired to absorb information
through storytelling. Tell a good story and you'll get neck-
down attention.
4. KEEP IT MOVING.

Not just in terms of pace, but in terms of

development. Make sure that every new bit of
information you provide builds on what came before.
We lose interest in movies when nothing is happening.
The same holds for your listeners. They are time-
pressed, content-driven, and results-oriented.
5 . G E T T O T H E P O I N T.

One of the great pleasures the audience has

is quickly grasping what you're getting at. They
resent you when you rob them of this pleasure.
6. AROUSE EMOTION.

Humour is inherently persuasive. It gives the

speaker an unfair advantage because it changes the
chemistry in the room, and the brain of everyone
present. But don't try to tell jokes if you're not a
comedian. Simply allow your natural sense of humor
to be present at the moment.
7. KEEP IT INTERACTIVE.
Social scientists have demonstrated that an interactive
audience is more easily persuaded than a passive one. In
many circumstances, the give and take between the
speaker and audience breaks through the reticence and
reserve of listeners, encouraging them to engage with the
speaker and play a part in the proceedings.
8. WRITE CLEAR HEADLINES.

Write headlines for your slides that express

a point of view. The audience will get a big idea
and look at the body of the slide for evidence
that supports your point.
9 . K E E P I T S H O R T.

Stop talking before they stop listening. The

mind cannot absorb what the behind cannot
endure.
10. LET THERE BE YOU.

The presence of a human being alone on a stage of any

kind, whether it's the floor of a small meeting room or the elevated
platform of a vast ballroom, is profound. It immediately creates
neck-down attention. Listeners interpret everything a speaker
does: they read your face, your inner rhythm, your posture, voice,
and stance. The human mind ascribes moral intention to physical
cues having the slightest hint of emotional expression.
GUIDED PRACTICE

A. On a sheet of paper, draw a smiley if you think

that the statement below will get or hold the
attention of the audience, and a sad face if you
think that the statement will not get or hold the
attention of the audience.
1) We are surrounded by statistical information in
today‘s world, so understanding statistics is becoming
paramount to citizenship in the twenty-first century.

This will interest your audience because it directly and

clearly states how important your talk will be. How about
in this sentence?
2) Hi, my name is Leo Santos and I am going to
talk to you about bullying.

This statement will not hold the attention of our

audience because usually our name and the topic
to be discussed are already given.
3) Oliver Goldsmith, a sixteenth-century writer, poet, and
physician, once noted that ‘the true use of speech is not
so much to express our wants as to conceal them’.

If you think this will be an effective device to get the

attention of our audience, you are correct! This
statement uses a quote from a known person so it gives
validity to our point in our speech.
B. Identify the following situations as E for
effective, or IE for ineffective in getting or holding
the audience‘s attention when speaking.
1) Start with the usual opening stating your name
and your topic.

Yes, you are correct, this is an ineffective way of

getting of holding the attention of the audience.
2) Concentrate only on your experience and do
connect with your audience.

Right, this is another ineffective way.

3) Make it concrete at a start and use some props.

Precisely, this one is an effective way of catching

the attention of the audience. The
visualpresentation helps you attract listeners.
ACTIVITIES
I. Write True if you think that the statement below will get
or hold the attention of the audience, and False if you
think that the statement will not get or hold the attention
of our audience. Write your answer on the space
provided before each number.