Most presenters are losers: they gradually lose most of their audience. In addition to losing them, many presenters also try to add psychic trauma with text-laden PowerPoint or Keynote slides . . . read in a monotone voice . . . in dimly lighted rooms. Fading yet?

Dynamic cycling saves your presentations by holding your audience’s attention. Dynamic: shift concepts and trigger emotions. Cycling: 6 to 10 minute periods. With dynamic cycling you move from concept to concept every 6 to10 minutes with something in between that triggers emotion in your audience. This allows for 7 to 9 concepts per hour.

Our brains naturally pay close attention to new or surprising information. It helps us avoiding danger and learn. We also need to be this way simply to function. You weren’t paying attention to your shirt until I mentioned it. Paying close attention to everything would paralyze us with too much sensory information. The dynamic part of dynamic cycling taps into these attention-focusing brain systems.

Connecting your concept transitions to emotions makes them memorable. It did us no good being able to pay attention to dangerous and tasty things if we forgot about them. Our brains store content linked to emotion longer and with greater ease.

Use dynamic cycling to hold your audience. Introduce a new concept tied to emotion every 6 to 10 minutes and your audience will stick with you, remember more, understand better, and be more likely to engage with what you’ve shared.