I wonder if you’ve spotted a writer’s trick when it comes to TV dramas and films?
Imagine it’s a two hour show.
Have you noticed what happens at around the one hour mark?
Have a think for a moment... see if you can identify it.
If you’ve come up with the answer that there's usually a major development in the plot...
Whether that’s a murder, a fight, a screaming row, the revelation of an important clue, or some such…
You’ve spotted the trick.
Why do writers put a dramatic moment at the halfway point?
It’s because they know that’s the most dangerous for potentially losing your audience.
At halfway, people tend to make decisions about whether to stick with the rest of the show, or go and do something else.
- Hence a great big hook
And if you analyse carefully, you’ll see it’s usually exactly halfway through the story.
It even happens in adverts.
Watch the classic John Lewis Christmas ads, and you’ll see what I mean.
Time it. At exactly halfway, what happens?
An important incident in the story.
In the old black-and-white romances, it used to be called The Kiss at 60.
The film was usually two hours long, so you get the build up, and then exactly halfway in…
The characters’ first kiss.
Thereby leaving the audience hanging on, wanting to know how the relationship was going to work out.
I mention this now, because thinking hard about how you'll handle the midway point offers a useful trick in public speaking and presentations.
Whether you’re doing a brief pitch, maybe only five or 10 minutes…
Or a longer presentation, perhaps a workshop, or training course…
The halfway point is where the attention of the audience is likely to start to flag.
So take a tip from screenwriters, and make sure that doesn’t happen.
Now, I understand you’re probably not wanting to stage a murder, a fight, or even a kiss halfway through your presentation…
But! You do have other options.
For example, when I’m teaching, I usually pull a little trick at the halfway stage.
If we're covering photography as part of a course, that’s when I might put in an exercise of a photo to remember our time together.
It involves the delegates taking photos of you know who against a special backdrop, one which many people may find appropriate!
If I’m working with a company on a pitch for investment or customers, we'll often put the magic ingredient, the innovation or discovery at the halfway point.
With a little building up along the lines of:
- And now, it’s the moment you’ve been waiting for, the big reveal of how we're going to achieve all this
That has the effect of ensuring the audience’s attention is refreshed and focused if it had been in danger of fading away.
So in summary, whether it’s a pitch, presentation, talk, workshop, lecture, or whatever…
Work out where the halfway point is likely to be, and put a dramatic sting in there.
It'll save you from losing your audience, and help to make sure you get remembered for all the right reasons.
