All of these things are recommending ways to capture or maximize your audience's attention – so, what is behind this advice? Well, those last 10 years of neuroscience research tell us a few useful things:

• Emotion plays a bigger role in memory and in attention than almost anything else. Emotions not only help activate and recall what it is in our brains already, but also help physically encode the new stuff. 
• Social engagement connects parts of the brain that don’t engage in any other way. This is why community around your brand and customer engagement is vital. 
• Attention is fluid because paying attention to one thing leaves us vulnerable to other things. Attention is biologically meant to shift. It should shift. The key – for someone trying to keep and hold an audience’s attention – is to be completely prepared for this shift. Plan for it.