I listened to two different videos on engineering topics. One was 11 minutes of clear information about music boxes. The other was a couple minutes of actual information and lots of words saying: “Listen to me! I’m saying this clearly. I’m going to tell you this cool and informative thing that I think is awesome and you should definitely learn it. This is part of five lectures on the historical and scientific importance of this household object that you’ve seen all your life, and my excess of words will drill into you just how excellent this object is and how you should totally devote another forty minutes of your life to the other four parts of this wordy lecture.”

I listened raptly to the 11 minute video of clear information. About a minute into the wordy video I switched away. Does this indicate a short attention span? Is this my failure to pay attention to the details? Or is this me realizing that I don’t have to listen to a lecturer who thinks his words are precious and didn’t edit his script. It’s possible he was nervous about being filmed and so he babbled, as if he were being paid for taking up time.

I have alternatives. Our children have alternatives. If you want to hold their attention, you need to put in the work. Focus. Edit. Chop off the unnecessary.