One of the big problems I see with society today is that we seem to have even shorter attention spans than ever before and its getting worse.
Teacher friends of mine tell me they are ready to leave the profession because their students spend so much class time on their cell phones. And they are apparently not able to do anything about that as parents today scream to high heaven if they can’t have access to their kids 24/7, even while they are in school. (And administrators blame the teacher when test scores are too low. Sheesh!)
And it just occurred to me that I’m sounding a bit like an old fogey with that statement. You know, as in, if the music’s too loud you’re too old. I just think when kids go to school they are there to learn something and that requires attention to the teacher.
And now I’m seeing the same sort of thing happening on webinars that I’ve been attending. Personally, whenever I attend a webinar or a teleclass I actually go there to learn something from the presenter.
But lately, I’m getting less and less inclined to attend anything that’s being presented as a “webinar” for three reasons:
First, it annoys me to no end when the presenter spends the first fifteen minutes of the presentation trying to figure out how to make the system work. You’d think they’d test all that out or at least learn how to operate the system before they get on it.
I’m not talking about technical problems that are beyond their control here, I’m talking about not being prepared to operate the controls within the webinar system itself. No excuse. If you’re going to do a webinar, learn the system before going live.
Second, a boring Powerpoint presentation is just as boring — maybe more so — on a webinar presentation as it is in a darkened conference room. I can read as well as the next guy, and when the presenter simply sits there reading the Powerpoint slides I want to say, “just send me the dang thing as a pdf and I’ll print it out and read it the next time I go to the bathroom.”
Maybe just doing a regular old teleclass sans slides is not as sophisticated as doing a webinar, but for heaven’s sake, if you’re going to use Powerpoint slides, make them interesting and supportive of the material.
But those things only annoy me a little bit compared to the latest webinar phenomena, and that is “chatting” during a presentation.
This is a brand new feature apparently just added to webinar capability. At first I thought, well this is kinda cool. The participants can chat among themselves and ask questions of the presenter, but then I discovered that chat is a major distraction.
The other day I was on what I thought was a great, very informative presentation, but several people chatting there were making all kinds of unkind and disparaging remarks about the presenter and the presentation.
The slides weren’t working for that guy (legitimate technical problem it appeared), so maybe that was adding to the participants’ frustration. Some guy was trying his best to type out all the major points but was getting much of it wrong, and people were asking questions but the presenter couldn’t read all that AND teach the class and so people were angry that he was ignoring them.
For me, as a teleclass presenter, I must admit I get a little annoyed — no, let’s be truthful, a LOT annoyed — when people come to my teleclasses and multi-task. Luckily the system I use now allows me to mute individual phone lines so those thoughtless people don’t annoy everyone else on the call as they chat with other people, do their dishes, type, and even flush the toilet.
So I just can’t understand why a webinar presenter would INVITE distraction and encourage people to, basically, NOT pay attention to what he or she is saying.
Can someone explain that thinking to me? Or am a I dead wrong and just being too “old fashioned”? Like I said, I want to learn something at a webinar, otherwise I’ve got lots better things to do with my time.
So from now on I’ll be ignoring the chatting going on and just pay attention to the teacher as I’ve always done. That is, until I hear some demonstrable proof that chat enhances — rather than detracts from — a presentation.
How about you? What do you think? Any thoughts you’d like to share with me on this? I’d love to know what you think so please take a minute and share in the comment section below.
Soul Proprietor. Huge Adele fan. Email and Direct Mail Marketing Specialist. Lover of all things marketing. Creator of the Stay-in-Touch Marketing System. Graphic designer. Printer.
Marty,
As always you are spot on! The chat feature where people can type in comments and have conversations drive me crazy too. First off depending on how active people are, it goes so fast I can’t even keep up. If I am paying attention to the chat then you are right, I am not following what is being taught and it becomes a waste of an hour.
The other thing is if the presenter is reading the comments as they are being chatted about then they get off track. Nice “thought” but putting it into practice is showing it is a “good in theory” added technology.
Thanks, Sandy. I agree about the chat messages going by too fast to keep up with. Plus, as other comments get in the middle of other conversations, and everything gets mixed together, it becomes increasingly hard, in my opinion, to follow the conversation at all. It will be interesting to me how all this shakes out.
I certainly agree with your observations about boring PP presentations, slides, etc. But, I disagree with the chatting POV. I find that the most beneficial aspect of new media systems, actually. The more chaos, randomnity, and real-time cross-fertilization the better, I think.
Hilton: I like the idea of real-time cross-fertilization because I think that can make a learning experience so much better. Various input from different folks is always beneficial. But done amidst chaos, I’m not sure I could follow what was happening. I appreciate your perspective on this. Something I had not really considered.
Hooray! Marty, I was delighted to read your thoughts on webinars because I wholeheartedly agree with you. Obviously, there are people who don’t mind but I don’t think that you really learn anything when you give it less than your full attention. Maybe that’s because I’m over halfway through my time on earth:-)
To me, this is just another example of how our society has virtually no attention span and that we feel the need to be connected in some way all the time. Thanks for writing, Marian.
Right on Marty!
I haven’t been doing webinars for awhile, too many slides, not enough good content, so I haven’t experienced the chat part. However, I do find that no matter where I go, there are always people talking while someone is giving a presentation or information – that bugs the hell out of me! It is rude to the person speaking and distracts from being able to hear what is being said. When you call them on it, they look terribly offended – excuse me, but aren’t they the ones being rude? Guess I’m getting to be a dinosaur in the modern age. Or is it just analog in a digital world.
All that early childhood training in politeness and courtesy seems to be out of step with today’s ideas. It’s rude to work your cell phone checking texts and emails while you are talking with me – tell me when you have some free time away from your phone and then we can talk.
I sound like a cranky old woman – funny, I don’t feel that way at all. Just would like to see some courtesy come back into the world.
Thanks for saying what a lot of people are thinking Marty.
Lee: Thanks for your comments here, Lee. In our travels, we encounter this kind of behavior all over the place. We looked around a restaurant we were in the other night and virtually everyone in there was on a phone, ignoring their companions. And, I too, have been to way too many presentations where the people behind me carry on their own conversation.
We were at a Barry Manilow concert — yep I’m probably really dating myself there — in Las Vegas and some of the people around us were singing along. Now, I didn’t go there to hear THEM sing did I?
I’m afraid that, analog or not, we are in the midst of a total digital world.
I so agree with you, Marty. And also with you, Lee. It is rude for people to be talking to one another during a class or presentation or to interrupt the teacher. It is one of my pet peeves in “live” classes and being online doesn’t make it better. In live classes, the teacher (myself included) will ask that the students hold their questions until a particular time. This allows the teacher AND the students to focus on what is being taught. Frequently the question the person has will be answered and they are getting ahead of the presentation and the teacher. Anyway, I agree and would like to see politeness make a come-back in all situations!
Krysta: I know what you mean, Krysta. It’s a fine line sometimes between wothwhile interaction and a disturbance. Thanks for commenting.
As with many things, the chat feature is a two-edged sword. Personally, I hate it – most of the time. As you point out, it is akin to talking/texting in class, and is often off-topic or otherwise distracting. On the other hand, when the talk is relevant, such as, “We can’t hear you.” or “What was that URL?” it can be very useful and enhance the experience. To the people who are disrespectful, I say, if you think the presentation blows, go find something better to do. If you want to cross-fertilize, go to a networking event or a real chat room.
As a presenter, I like having interaction with my attendees, but I find it overwhelming to monitor too many things and still give a good presentation. Interesting fact: Humans cannot truly multitask (neither do single-processor computers). You switch your attention from one thing to the other, and back again, but you miss what happened when you weren’t looking.
Yes, Maria, I agree that those kind of alerts are great when needed. Of course, when the presenter indeed can’t pay attention to all that is going on, then those alerts are likely to be missed, too. And we certainly do fool ourselves into thinking we can effectively multitask don’t we? Thanks for your insights.
I would normally think the chat is much too distracting … and that is actually what I think, however, I had a mitigating circumstance a few days ago that made me at least momentarily rethink my opinion. I was in a webinar, same old boring PP, and it clearly really was intended to sell the $667 coaching/training package, when who showed up in the chat room but a professional colleague I’d lost touch with and had not been able to find in normal search channels. I was able to private message her and we plan to do some collaborative work. I think I’ll still mostly ignore the chat part so long as the webinar is actually interesting, but if I log on and it’s not compelling then I’ll at least scan the participants for others I know that I’ve not been able to locate. So … just about the time I form a good strong opinion about something I get to have it dismantled. Ain’t life a HOOT!
Lorna: Life is a hoot, and that’s pretty cool that you were able to reconnect with your colleague. I know what you mean about just the time you form an opinion then something comes along to change it. I always figure that when I rant about something is when I get another lesson, and often a changed mind. So thanks for sharing on this, too, Lorna.
I have to agree with you Marty. I go to a webinar to learn and chatting would be very distracting and to be quite honest it is being disrespectful to the presenter as well as those attending. As far as I’m concerned if you aren’t going to sit and listen to what is being said then leave.
Angela: Leaving, of course, is the best option. The problem, of course, is that the presenters are the ones making the chat available. I suppose perhaps in that case, the presenter has to be willing to hear the bad the with good or at least be prepared for that. Thanks for your comments here, Angela.
I think this is a case where high tech is a bit too accessible to people who have not business using it. It’s like giving a 15 year old the keys to your Ferrari.
However, in the right hands, this webinar technology can be quite magical. I was on an excellent webinar recently where the presenter had an assistant monitoring the chat and feeding questions to him. Participants couldn’t actually SEE the chat (you could type your questions into it, you just couldn’t see everyone’s chatter), and that helped keep the focus on the presentation.
But for the average bear, it’s really challenging to manage all the dials, buttons and bells of a webinar by yourself. Kind of ironic when you think about it — the participants are chatting, surfing, flushing and driving (apparently!) while the facilitator can’t seem to simply talk and click in a coordinated manner… =^B
Kathy: You made me laugh out loud with your comments here, Kathy. Yes, you’d think if we can do all those things while driving a car we could also pay attention in a class. Yes, having an assistant is the best way to manage a chat, and I think the private chat is probably preferable to the public one. As a presenter, I often monitor webcast participants when I’m presenting and that works pretty well most of the time. It’s really the public chat that I find contrary to a learning environment. Thanks for your comments here.
I’m with you 100%! But then, I too am an old fogey, old fashioned, and schooled in civility. I think this is one more example of the “me” generation going even farther and creating the “me” society. Social media, webinars, etc., make it too easy for people to think they’re the only one out there. They’re not interested in considering other’s feelings or situations. I could go on and on, it so burns my b*** that people are so self-centered and selfish and basically unconscious that they think it’s okay to behave like that. Okay, I’ll stop now. Thanks, Marty. A.
Areanne: I think it comes down at least in part, to the dumbing down of our society. It seems that people are quite proud these days of their ignorance. I just saw an ad recently for Diesel jeans — and apparently they have a whole series of them — proclaiming that “smart listens with the head, stupid listens with the heart” and while I *think* I understand the sentiment they are trying to portray, I’m not sure that the glorification of being stupid is so smart. (Pun intended.) I think with ignorance also comes bad manners. But this seems to be the message — stupid is good, thinking people (portrayed somehow as being the elite) are bad. Sigh. Thanks for sharing with us here.
Although I have been guilty of multi-tasking during a webinar, I have never and would never be so rude as to disrupt anyone else’s experience. I wait until the presenter has announced that the call has been muted before starting the microwave, flushing the toilet, typing, or eating. If, for some reason, that announcement is not made, I assume that the call has NOT been muted and I simply listen in-so as not to risk being a disruption.
That being said, I HAVE listened in to webinars that I have just a passing interest in, or am well acquainted with the material so that I might simply acquire another “pearl” or two of information while I do other things. Although the flip side of that is, it’s now pretty much common knowledge that multi-tasking actually makes one LESS productive.
Sadly, I think the problem goes deeper than simply “short attention spans.” Perhaps you were being kind by not mentioning this, or maybe you simply meant just what you said and I should take it at face value and not be so cynical, but it seems to me that the deeper problem lies in the value system of the current American culture. The “me first,” “I want what I want when I want it” attitude now pervades and in my opinion, is ruining, our culture.
It’s selfishness, pure and simple. Even if you agree with this supposition, chances are we’d disagree on the reasons for it. I also believe that “innovation” now trumps excellence. Standards are so low that those of us who strive for excellence in our personal development, behavior, or business have become beaten down by all those who have surrendered, for one reason or another, to mediocrity, reluctantly forcing the rest of us into an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” submission. It’s become so much easier and less exhausting to “tow the line” than to “fight the system.”
Why else would a presenter not take the time to be absolutely certain the equipment worked properly? It’s common sense. But he just can’t be bothered. Why else would a participant be so rude as to talk or make other noise while others are trying to listen? Because other people’s needs don’t even enter her mind as she’s too fixated on doing whatever it is that SHE feels like doing at the moment. Not all, but too many people no longer think/care about others.
Those who don’t possess common courtesy should be made aware of their behavior and there should be some type of stigma attached to their behavior-like there used to be. I’m not THAT old but I’m old enough to remember a time when common courtesy was more the rule than the exception. But I’m getting into the civility conversation now. Suffice it to say, that one’s own personal pleasure, desires, and preferences are not more important than their neighbor’s. No matter how “special” their parents convinced them they are.
A sad commentary to be sure. I didn’t want to sound overly dramatic but this is how so many of us feel these days because this is how so many are raising their kids. No wonder our society is suffering so.
Jini: I could haven’t said this better myself. Thank you so much for your insights here. I can’t add much more than to say I agree with you on all counts. A recent issue of Utne Magazine covered this “Me Generation” thing and I think its worth a read by everyone who wants us to re-create a more civil society. I guess I will remain old-fashioned for awhile. Again, thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Agree with you Marty
I rarely get to listen to webinars in real time these days as they all seem to be happening at the same time, or at a time not convenient to my schedule…so I am grateful for the “Replay” concept! This is mutually beneficial in that I get to multitask w/out being rude, listen at any hour of the day I’m able to, take notes (or not.) The chat doesn’t bother me at all, but I do find it helpful if there is a person other than the host working the chat to keep things more manageable and less intrusive.
Re ‘common courtesy’ – I find it’s a very uncommon commodity. But it is also a reason why I listen to the replays, when available – it allows me to get what I need without inconveniencing or offending anyone else by my behavior! Best of both worlds & everybody’s happy!
Jill: Very good points about why, often, listening to a recording is preferable to being there “live.” As a presenter, I really like, of course, having people there to interact with and I had not really considered the points you’ve made here especially about the convenience of it all. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.