I taught at a local firm the other day. A small but a committed and energetic quartet. But a distracted group.
They had smartphones pinging and ringing all throughout my session. They had a front office to attend to with (luckily for me) only one walk-in. They would walk in and out of my session to accept a cell phone call or check a screen.
One attendee had 2 laptops and a smartphone open at the table next to me as I taught. She multitasked among her open devices, keying away, as I spoke.
And there’s little ole me trying to ignore their distractions and keep on my game.
I kept wondering if they had gained anything useful.
However, there were many “how the heck do you do this?” type of questions, and they were good ones.
We all did what we needed to accomplish in the timespan.
The appreciation at the end of my session was expressed by each in her own way. Indeed I made an impact.
And the woman with the 3 devices open? As I packed up to depart, she showed me her completely revised and quite-a-bit-improved LinkedIn profile, showing she made the renovations I was speaking about, in real time as I explained each section’s best practices. Efficient. That’s how she learns, she explained.
What seemed like being tuned out as I spoke was in actuality their eyes, ears, and brain working in overtime. Each in her own way.
Yes, attention spans are highly fractured these days, but I learn something new at each session.
Graphic from http://www.quotationof.com/gallery/distract-quotes-1.jpg.html
