EC-101 · Module 1

The Attention Economy

3 min read

Executives have seven minutes on average before they interrupt a presentation. This is not rudeness — it is resource management. Seven minutes is the threshold where an executive who has not yet found the recommendation will stop waiting and ask for it directly. When they interrupt, the presenter loses control of the narrative. The executive is now driving, and the presenter is reacting. That is not a position from which decisions get made in your favor.

Every element of your communication competes for those seven minutes. Every slide that does not advance the argument burns time the recommendation needed. A slide that says "about our methodology" is a slide that says "I have not yet told you what I am recommending." An agenda slide that lists five topics is a slide that delays the point by one full minute while the executive tries to figure out which topic is the one they actually care about.

Do This

  • Lead with the recommendation — give the executive what they came for in the first two minutes
  • Put supporting evidence after the recommendation, not before it
  • Move context and methodology to the appendix for skeptics who ask
  • Treat every slide as a cost: it uses time that belongs to the recommendation

Avoid This

  • Open with "let me give you some background on how we got here"
  • Use an agenda slide that lists topics instead of questions the deck will answer
  • Spend the first five minutes building to the recommendation
  • Assume the executive will wait patiently for the point to arrive