BLOCKS: Using blocks to structure a speech is the key to presenting a successful talk. In simple terms, a block represents a self-contained story within a story. Think of each block like a chapter of a book, magazine article, or a scene in a movie. Each block is a story with a beginning, middle and end and, more importantly, a block has a reason for being. A block makes a memorable point AND reinforces the central theme of your talk.

A block should run 4, 5, even 6 minutes. But remember, audiences don’t like and won’t pay attention to boring. So, the bigger the block the better it must be.

According to a recent scientific study, which surveyed 2,000 participants, and studied the brain activity of 112 others using electroencephalograms, the average adult’s attention span, what they call Selective Sustained Attention (or Focused Attention) is approximately 5 minutes — and that the good news. The bad news is that our Transient Attention (our short-term response to stimuli, that temporarily attracts or distracts our attention) can be as short as 8 seconds.