Brick wallWe often hear about attention spans being shorter and shorter. While I don’t automatically buy into that supposition (people will sit with a friend for hours and talk), there is a limit to what we can impart to an audience.

You may have occasions to talk to staff, volunteers, donors, or others interested in your ministry and work. It would serve you well to know about the 18-minute wall.

In his book The Articulate Executive author Granville Toogood tells of a study done by the U. S. Navy in the 1970s. They wanted to see how long sailors would listen to instruction or lectures and retain what they heard. The results of the study…18 minutes!

Most of us don’t have the ability to limit our speeches and messages to just 18 minutes. So, what do we do to insure the audience absorbs what we are saying? Toogood has some suggestions.

1. Use Q and A’s (questions and answers) in your presentation. The author suggests going about 15 minutes and then opening the floor for questions.

2. Use another speaker. You may be able to bring in another person on your staff who works in the particular area you are discussing, or who serves in another capacity related to your topic. They can speak for 2-3 minutes and clarify or amplify a particular area for the audience.

3. Show a tape. If you can highlight and give an overview of your ministry, your area of interest, it will refresh the audience and also give them a better picture of what you are doing. Remember…a picture is worth at least a thousand words.

4. Tell a ministry story. Tell an anecdote every few minutes…a recollection of something in your life, or something you have seen on TV or in a movie that relates. On this point the author uses Billy Graham as an example, and the well-chosen illustrations that Dr. Graham used to vividly back up the spiritual points he was making. Toogood wrote that Graham’s points were “… not just scattered or used randomly but are linked to one clear theme…in this case, redemption and salvation.”

When I teach or hold media seminars, I have to be careful that I don’t just drone on and on. Sometimes we feel we have a lot of information to share and a limited time to get it all in. If we remember the 18-minute wall and plan for the limitations of the audience, we can be more effective in our presentation, our leadership, and in sharing the story of God’s work through our ministries.