What’s the one simple trick you need to know in order to grab someone’s attention?

It’s a tool you can use right before you bring in your main message…and it will help your clients focus more on what you’re saying.

First take a minute to think about what you pay attention to and what you don’t give time towards. You’ll come to see, we’re more apt to pay attention when we feel we’re learning information that will matter to us. Imagine you’re watching TV news, and the Anchor says “Coming up next…a story about visiting your Doctor.” Would you listen? What if the Anchor said “Coming up next…the number one thing you need to know before your next Doctor’s visit.”

Does that intrigue you more? The difference is now there’s wording to suggest you’re missing out on key information if you don’t listen to what’s coming next.

And therein lies the simple trick! It’s called Flagging. A Flag is a verbal cue that signals you to pay attention. Almost like planting a flag in the ground to alert you something’s there. A verbal flag tells the audience “There’s about to be information here for you that you won’t want to miss.

Flags can include suggested phrases like:

“What you need to know….”

“The real news is….”

“The 3 top things to remember…..”

(People love lists. It makes it seem like you’re the expert who’s culled through all the nonsense to give them exactly what they need to know)

You’re flagged every day and you probably don’t realize it. Think of the promotional e-mails currently in your in-box. Are you more apt to open an e-mail with the subject “Summer clothes” or the e-mail with the subject “The one item you need in your closet this summer.” A flag is almost a tease that there’s information upcoming that you won’t want to miss out on.

With the environment we’re in now, you have to work even harder than ever to have your message cut through the clutter. We’re all assaulted with information from every medium at this point and our brains are at capacity with all there is to worry about. So before you deliver your main message, add a flag in front to perk up attention.

The next time you’re communicating to a client, over e-mail, phone or Zoom, put yourself in their shoes and think about what would earn their attention. How can you flag them that your information is important enough to listen to? Why not do everything you can to help make your message matter to your target audience!

 Amy Fond is a Media trainer and Presentations Coach.  For more information visit her Linked-In page at www.linkedin.com/in/amyfond  or e-mail amy@mediatrainer.tv