Episode: 578

Episode Title: Give Attention To Get Theirs

How do you get young people’s attention? You give them yours. Here’s why this is so powerful with Gen Z, coming up next on The Perna Syndicate.

Ep 578 show:

You’re now in The Perna Syndicate—thanks for tuning in! As we talk about engaging Gen Z this week, one of the more easily overlooked methods in our arsenal is simply positive attention. 

You see, this generation grew up on social media, gathering followers and likes and comments on every part of their life that they put out there. Getting attention is a necessity for them, to the point where some don’t even care if it’s positive or negative. The one kind of attention that they simply won’t accept is no attention. 

That’s why we as parents, educators, and employers should make an extra effort to mention the positive things they’re doing. Even if they’re not doing great in other areas, is there something they’re accomplishing that we can praise? Receiving positive attention gets their attention and keeps them engaged with the person who is taking the time to notice them. 

Sometimes there are negative things we have to address with a Gen Z student or coworker—but it doesn’t have to kill engagement. In fact, offering a course correction in the right way can actually deepen engagement. In basic terms, you can frame your correction not as correction per se, but rather as tips or hacks to succeed. 

The important thing is to give Gen Z the positive attention they crave. When we do, it’s their attention that we capture.

Tomorrow: Do you know the biggest mistake you can make when you try to engage people with regular check-ins? On the next episode of The Perna Syndicate, we’ll talk about it—and what you can do instead. Take care and we’ll see you then!