1. HOOKShttps://www.openforum.com/articles/hook-presentation-audience-30-seconds/
"Whenyouadvertisefire-extinguishers, open with the fire," saysadvertisingexecutive David Ogilvy. You have
only 30 seconds in a TV commercial to grab attention. The sameapplies to a presentation. The first 30
seconds of your talk is crucial. This is the time yourlistenersform an impression of you, and of what's to
follow.
Like a fine thoroughbred, youneed to hit the ground running by startingstrong. Instead, manypresenters are
more likeold, tiredworkhorses—theystartweak by wastingthose first precious seconds with platitudes and
pleasantries. Brainresearchshows thatwedon'tpay attention to boringthings. Surprise yourlistenerswith a
hookthatimmediatelygrabstheir attention.
The keyis to make sure that the hookisbrief, well-rehearsed and pertinent to yourtopic. Whatfollowsis 12
hooksthatwillgrabyouraudience's attention—and keepit.
1. Use a contrarianapproach. Make a statement of a universallyaccepted concept, then go
againstconventionalwisdom by contradicting the statement. For example, a market trader starts by
contradicting the commonlyheldadvice of buyinglow and sellinghigh. He says: "It'swrong. Why?
Becausebuyinglowtypicallyentails a stock that'sgoing in the opposite direction—down—from the
mostdesired direction—up." This is a provocativeopeningthat engages the audience right away.
2. Ask a series of rhetorical questions. A commonway to engage the audience at the startis to ask a
rhetorical question. Betterstill, startwith a series of rhetorical questions. A good example of thistacticis
Simon Sinek's TED presentation. He startswith: "How do youexplainwhenthingsdon't go as weassumed?
Or better, how do youexplainwhenothers are able to achievethingsthatseem to defy all of the assumptions?
For example, whyis Apple soinnovative? ... Whyisitthattheyseem to have somethingdifferent? Whyisitthat
Martin Luther King led the civil rightsmovement?" A series of rhetorical questions stimulate the
audience'smind as theyponder the answers.
3.Deliver a compelling/catchy phrase. Use a catchy phrase or sound bite that has pungency and watch
how the audience perks up. Innovation expert Jeremy Gutshe opens his talk with: "Culture eatsstrategy for
breakfast. This is a signthatis on Ford'sstrategyWar Room. And the lessonfromitis not how good your
PowerPoint slidedeckis, whatitreallyboils down to at the end of the dayis how ready and
willingyourorganizationis to embrace change, try new things and focus in whenyoufind an opportunity." To
be effective, the sound bite needs to bebrief, interesting and compelling.
4. Make a startling assertion. A surefireway to gain people's attention is by startingwith a startling or
amazingfact. Take the time to researchstartlingstatisticsthatillustrate the seriousness of whatyou'regoing to

2. talk about. For example, a presentation about conservancycanstartwith: "Every second, a slice of rainforest
the size of a football fieldismowed down. That's over 31 million football fields of rainforesteachyear."
5. Provide a reference to a historicalevent. There are times when the daythatyoupresentmay have
somesignificance in historythatcanbetied to the subject of yourpresentation, as an opening gambit. You
caneasily look up whathappened on anyday in Today In Sport or a more general site such as This Day In
History. You never know what pertinence itmight have thatwilladdsomepizzazz to yourpresentation.
It'sworth a look.
6. Use the word imagine. The word imagine invites the audience to createa mental image of something.
Eversince John Lennon'sfamoussong, it has become a powerfulwordwithemotionalappeal. A
particularlyskillful use of the wordoccurs in Jane Chen's TED talk. Shespeaks about a low-
costincubatorthatcansavemanylives in underdeveloped countries. Chen opens by saying: “Please close
youreyes and open your hands. Now imagine whatyoucould place in your hands, an apple,
maybeyourwallet. Now open youreyes. What about a life?” As shesaysthis, she displays a slidewith
an Anne Geddes' image of a tiny baby held in an adult's hands. There is power in asking the audience to
conjure up their imagination, to playalong. This tacticcaneasilybeadapted to anytopicwhereyouwant the
audience to imagine a positive outcome, or a vision of a bettertomorrow. It canbeused, as well, to askthem
to imagine being in someoneelse'sshoes.
7. Add a little show business. According to research, 100 percent of Americansquotemovies,
primarilycomedies, in conversation. One of the primaryreasonsis to entertain. Moviesoccupy a central place
in mostpeople’slives and a well-placed, pertinent moviequoteat the start of a presentationcanperk up your
audience. Here are a couple of examples: "There's not a lot of money in revenge" (from The Princess
Bride) and "The first rule of leadership: everythingisyourfault" (from A Bug's Life.) And here are a couple of
sites for moviequotations to startyou off: Best Business QuotesFrom The SilverScreen and The Best
Business WisdomHidden In ClassicMovieQuotes.
8. Arousecuriosity. You canstartwith a statementthatisdesigned to arousecuriosity and make the audience
look up and listen to youattentively. Bestsellingauthor Dan Pinkdoesthismasterfully in one of histalks. He
says: "I need to make a confession, at the outset. A little over 20 yearsago, I didsomethingthat I regret.
Somethingthat I am not particularlyproud of, somethingthat in manyways I wished no one wouldever know,
but thathere I feelkind of obliged to reveal. In the late 1980s, in a moment of youthfulindiscretion, I went to
lawschool." Curiosityhere leads to some self-deprecatinghumor, whichmakesiteven more effective.
9. Use quotationsdifferently. Many speakers startwith an aptquotation, but youcandifferentiateyourself by
stating the quotation and thenadding a twist to it. For example, "We've all heardthat a journeyof a thousand
miles startswith a single step. But weneed to rememberthat a journey to nowherealsostartswith a single

3. step." You canalso use a quotationfromyourown life. For example, in a presentation on price versus quality,
I have oftenused a quotefrommygrandfather, whoused to say: "I am not richenough to buy cheap."
10. Quote a foreignproverb. There is a wealth of freshmaterial to beculledfromforeignproverbs. Chances
are yourlisteners have neverheardthemsothey have noveltyappeal. Here are someexamples: "Our last
garmentis made withoutpockets" (Italy); "You'llneverplow a field by turningit over in yourmind" (Ireland);
"The nailthat sticks up willbehammered down" (Japan), and "Papercan'twrap up a fire" (China). Hereis
a site for foreignproverbs.
11. Takethemthrough a "what if" scenario. A compellingway to startyourpresentationiswith a "what if"
scenario. For example, asking "What if youweredebt-free?" at the start of a money management
presentationmightgrabyourlisteners' attention as itasksthem to look forward to a positive future. It
canintensifytheirdesire for yourproduct or service. Using a "what if" scenario as an opening gambit iseasily
adaptable to almostanypresentation.
12. Tell them a story. Stories are one of the mostpowerfulways to start a presentation.
Nothingwillcompellisteners to lean in more than a well-told story.Science tells us thatourbrains are
hardwired for storytelling. But the story needs to bebrief, withjust the right amount of detail to bringit to life.
It must beauthentic and must have a "message," or lesson, to support yourviewpoint. Above all, it must
bekind. As Benjamin Disraeli said: "Never tell an unkind story."
BrunaMartinuzzi
Author, PresentingwithCredibility: Practical Tools and Techniques for Effective Presentations
Nowtry and come up with an examplefromeachcategory, as if youwerestarting a
presentation
1 Contrarianapproach (saying the opposite to whatisexpected)
2 Rhetorical question (doesn’tnecessarilyrequire an answer)
3 Compelling/catchy phrase (short phrase which captures the essence of whatwemean)
4 Startling assertion (shocking/unusualstatement)
5 Reference to historicalevent
6 Use the word « imagine »
7 Add a little show business (famoussayingfrom a film or series)
8 Arousecuriosity
9 Use yourquotationsdifferently
10 Quote a foreignproverb
11 Takethemthrough a « what if » scenario
12 Tell them a story