Human Attention Span

Goldfish have a longer attention span than we do! In 2000, the average human attention span was 12 seconds, after only 22 years, we are down to about 8.2. A goldfish can keep it together for 9 seconds.

The fight for 15 seconds is a battle I’ve fought for 3 years. I spend hours perfecting videos for YouTube. At the start, the average viewer stayed on my videos for only 8 seconds. Following these terrible analytics, I dove into research on the human attention span and how to hold onto it. Here’s what I learned: 

• Use bold colors
• Edit cleanly
• Make your message clear
• Jump to the point
• Never waste a second

Now, I average a whopping 16 seconds. That may sound tiny but it’s 8 seconds longer than most video retention scores!

Use Bold Colors 

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An object stands out against its environment when it is brighter and more colorful. High-contrast colors travel to our brains the quickest, effectively winning attention and retention. 

I never use pastel colors. Primary colors brightened to the max are my go-to’s. 

Edit Cleanly

Clean/professional editing is the key to allowing your audience to fully engage with your content. When I watch something, I want to be fully immersed in the action. However, a bad cut will immediately snap me out of the story and I will skip to the next video. 

It is important to take the time to edit seamlessly because the way you piece your content together is critical to the connection with your audience. 

You want them to stick with you for more than your allotted 8 seconds. 

Make your message clear

“Make sure to like, comment, share, and subscribe.” 

This is the sentence that starts almost every video on social media. However, it is a big mistake.