How to hook your audience’s attention—immediately
A speaker’s most precious commodity is their audience’s attention—a fact that’s even more important to recognize in the virtual setting where distraction is a prolific thief. Your audience will decide whether or not they want to pay attention to you in the first 30 seconds of your time with them. Don’t squander those precious seconds with pleasantries; cut straight to a well-crafted hook. (You can embed a nod of gratitude into your talk after you’ve earned their attention.)
How to start your presentation in a way that captures your audience’s attention immediately
As with all presentation preparation, it begins with the audience. If you haven’t first paused to reflect on who they are and why they’ll be in the (virtual) room, you won’t be able to grab their attention, let alone sustain it.
Analyzing your audience can be a rigorous process—one I recommend investing in proportionately to the importance of your talk: the higher the stakes, the more time and effort you’ll need to invest in understanding who they are and what they need from you. At its most basic level, answer the following questions to help yourself find the right hook for your introduction (and to provide the right content for the rest of your message):
- Who are they? A handful of basic demographics will suffice if you don’t have time for more. Try to identify at least one distinguishing characteristic that’s unique to the group as a whole and the person(s) who need to act on your message.
- What matters most to them? Whether they’ve been asked to attend your presentation or opted-in of their own volition, there’s a reason they’re there… a challenge, a pain-point, an obstacle. Identify how your knowledge and expertise connects to their need.
With a snapshot of your audience and their needs in mind, you can now better identify the right opening.
I recommend you tackle this both strategically and tactically.
First, the strategy for developing your opening:
Your opening must address what matters most to them. That means it must be on topic—they must recognize immediately that you know who they are and that you understand what they care about. Whether you open with a provocative question or a startling fact, it must inherently show them you understand their world. This establishes credibility and opens the channel of communication through which your content will flow.
Next, choose a tactic for your opening:
There are a myriad of options available to you here. Some are better suited to more casual presentations; others for more formal. Whichever you choose, be sure it is appropriate to the setting but—above all—is aligned with the strategy outlined above.
- Cast a vision. Ask them to imagine a world in which their pain, fear, or challenge is resolved.
- Modify a well-known quote, proverb or common idiom that’s relevant to your subject. Surprise them with your unique twist on it. Tip: see if your local library has access to the Oxford Reference online for a wealth of quotation compendiums—scientific, humorous, political, etc.
- Share a startling (but relevant!) fact. Be sure it’s not one they already know or is overused.
- Contradict conventional wisdom. If your presentation aims to debunk the prevailing thought (or way of doing things), incite your audience with a bold new claim.
- Pique their curiosity with a personal confession (Daniel Pink) or a series of rhetorical questions (Simon Sinek).
This list is of options is far from exhaustive but will likely prompt your thinking. For more ideas, watch some talks that are similar in style to yours and observe what seemed to work well.
When we craft an opening that immediately tells the audience that we understand their world—and hint at being able to help them address their challenges—we earn their attention.
It’s worth doing well. When we don’t, nothing that comes after the opening matters because they won’t be listening.