I was facilitating a full-day orientation leader training recently and an orientation leader asked me how to get a group’s focus back without yelling at them. That is an excellent question and one that comes into play often- whether you’re doing an icebreaker with 500 new students or you’re running a committee meeting of 8.
The worst thing one can do is yell at them to, “Be quiet!” “Stop talking!” or even “SHUT UP!” It’s hard to believe but I’ve heard the latter said by experienced people. Not only is it demeaning, but it’s disrespectful. What you want to avoid is “teacher mode.” This is the stereotypical high school teacher who uses yelling and intimidation as a way to maintain order in the classroom. People have had enough of that in their lifetime and if they get just a whiff of “teacher mode” they can do anything from become stoic to open hostility.
Here are the top 5 techniques I use to bring the focus back:
1. If you can hear me…
If you can hear me clap 3 times…if you can hear me snap 4 times…if you can hear me stomp 3 times…
This works great, especially with larger groups. You don’t have to say it very loudly. The first time you do it, only a few people closer to you will clap. That sound will get the next wave of people’s attention and they will snap with the next round. And using the ripple effect, the whole group tunes in. I’ve gotten the attention of 800 yelling and screaming new students without raising my voice louder than normal conversational tone (on a microphone of course). It’s magic when it’s done right.
Some other examples to use include…point your elbow at the ceiling (or the wall, or person next to you)…jump 3 times…howl like a wolf or the team mascot ( I’d love to hear this from the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs!).
One last example that sounds very cool in large groups is…if you can hear me say, shhhhhhh. Try it and listen for yourself.
One more thing; it helps if you give a number of times to do it. If you just say, “If you can hear me, clap”, people get confused.
2. Echo clap
This works similar to, “if you can hear me”. Put simply; you clap and they copy your clap. It’s hard to describe in words – but you might clap 5 times similar to…clap, clap, then three quick claps. After you clap, wait for them to respond. At first you may only get a couple of people, but immediately go into a different clap variation and more people will catch on. I don’t ever explain how to do this to the group, but if you feel you must, then don’t say anything beyond, “repeat after me.” Any more than that and it will confuse the issue.
3. Clap 7 times
This is a variation of the echo clap. All you say is, “Clap 7 times all together. Ready…and…” Then clap 7 times and count to yourself, not out loud. It’s very gratifying when you end at 7 and there are no extra claps. If there are extra claps then right away repeat the directions and start clapping. If they get it all together then attempt 15 claps. I usually don’t go higher than that but feel free.
4. Noisemakers
This is very straightforward. Use something that makes loud noise to get their attention back. It’s important not to use something that is very annoying like a whistle used by referees – unless you can make new and unusual sounds with it. It’s helpful that you explain upfront what the noisemaker is and the expectations. “When you hear this sound, “tweet,” you’d discover that by magic your mouth goes closed and your focus comes to the front of the room.” Have fun with it and don’t take yourself too seriously.
Other noisemakers could be a train whistle, duck call, warbling bird whistles, and even musical instruments. I’ve used a harmonica in the past. I don’t really know how to play it but I just jam and they bring their focus back and laugh at me. It’s all in good fun.
5. Cut the music
I abruptly stop the music to jar people’s attention. While they’re talking I turn up the music louder and louder. This gets some people’s attention. They think, “This music is so loud I can’t hear my partner. I wonder what’s going on.” and they look up front. Then I abruptly cut the music by pushing pause or stop – not by turning it down. The other half of the group that didn’t get the music being turned up suddenly realizes how loud they were talking and turn to face you.
Note: Please be aware that these are gimmicks to get the attention back. If you use the same technique over and over and over and over, the participants will get sick of it – and you. Use them sparingly.
So what do you do in the mean time so they don’t get annoyed by repeated use? The most common technique I use is to just say, “find a place to pause,” or “please pause”. I don’t need to say it too loud and after a few times they come to expect it and go quiet quicker with every use. It’s even more effective with the use of music. Right after you cut the music, speak into that lull in conversation.
Saying ‘pause’ is much more effective than saying ‘stop.’ Rarely do people stop talking right away, so by saying ‘stop,’ you’ve just put people in the wrong and that can create resistance.
So there are a few ideas to get you started. I’m confident that with your creativity applied you can come up with some fun ideas and variations of your own. For those creative types who have some new ideas, please share your brilliance [or not so brilliance- we’ll still love you] with us by commenting below. Two heads are better than one…and 50 are better than two. It’d be great to hear from you.
Troy
About Troy Stende
