Why People Tune Out Your Presentations and How to Fix It

Whenever you pitch, present, or lead, listeners’ brains instantly decide whether to pay attention.

EXPERT OPINION BY CARMINE GALLO, HARVARD INSTRUCTOR, KEYNOTE SPEAKER, AUTHOR, ‘THE BEZOS BLUEPRINT’ @CARMINEGALLO

Illustration: Getty Images

“Your brain doesn’t pay attention to boring things,” said Dr. John Medina, molecular biologist and author of Brain Rules. “If it doesn’t see a reason to pay attention, it will move on to something else. It has plenty of other stuff to do.” 

I interviewed Medina for Viral Voices, an audio original on advanced digital communication skills. If you understand the neuroscience of attention — how your listeners’ brains process information — you’ll be much more persuasive in every type form of communication. Your pitch will stand a better chance of landing with your audience. 

The first key takeaway: the human brain has evolved to filter information to conserve energy. “There has not been enough time for TikTok to rewire your brain,” Medina shared. “It will still react as if it were in the Pleistocene era, not the 21st century.” 

So, whenever you pitch, present, or lead, listeners’ brains instantly decide whether to pay attention. 

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Science reveals four “signals” the brain looks for. If present, your audience tunes in. If absent, you’ve lost them. 

The human brains is wired to notice patterns. Predictable patterns are easy to ignore. Anything that breaks the pattern gets noticed. Steve Jobs was a pattern breaker. 

For example, in the famous iPhone launch of 2007, Jobs introduced three new products: “An iPod, a phone, and an internet communication device.” He repeated the pattern three times, then broke it. 

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