Keep It Short
Newsletter #89
This Week:
Less is More
ICYMI: Still in Love With This PR Stunt
Spotted: A Conference Hack
Before We Go…
1. The Art of Brevity
In a 2023 episode of Speaking of Psychology, Gloria Mark, PhD, chancellor’s professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, shared decades of research on how technology impacts our attention, mood, and stress. Her findings confirm what many of us have suspected: our attention spans have been steadily declining over the past two decades.
In 2004, the average attention span for online content was 2.5 minutes.
By 2012, it dropped to 75 seconds.
In 2023, it was down to 47 seconds, with a median of just 40 seconds.
For communicators, that reality carries a clear lesson: clarity and conciseness are no longer optional, they’re essential.
2. ICYMI: The Ordinary’s PR Stunt Rooted in Simplicity
In keeping with our theme of brevity this week, here’s a past “Short Takes” article highlighting a PR stunt coordinated by skincare brand The Ordinary. It’s a no-frills story highlighting The Ordinary’s objective to showcase their no-frills brand.
3. Spotted
Your favorite EO Report writers were at the Thriving Children, Families, and Communities Conference last week. The conference had enlisted Brian and Connor of B&B Productions to capture video and photography.
Rather than risk being on the other side of the convention center and miss a big moment, the two zoomed around the conference on hoverboards. We thought it was genius. See them in action here.
They could quickly get back and forth around the large space.
Quicker movement = more time to capture video and photos.
The movement of the hoverboards allowed for smooth shots.
The possibilities are endless!
4. Before We Go…
From Harvard Business Review: Bring back boredom
Boredom unlocks creativity and forces us to confront challenges. Our phones have made the sensation increasingly rare. Harvard Professor Arthur Brooks explains the benefits of boredom.
From Reuters: YouTube, new leader of US media industry, bets on AI as key for creating content
YouTube is expected to eclipse Disney’s media revenue this year, and they are betting on a host of artificial intelligence-enabled tools to support production or create new content for its creators.
From Builders Movement: Disagree better
America is trying to figure out the way forward in a polarizing time. As such, we’re putting all our eggs in this basket for this week and applaud the leadership of these two governors ... more of this, please!
A beautifully written obituary for a food critic who loved Olive Garden and couldn’t care less about your opinion on that.
We’ll keep it short: Subscribe to The EO Report, and tell all your friends to.