Remember, the audience is your director! One of the hardest things about public speaking is knowing how to start a speech. Your opening line is your first impression. It's how you capture attention. A hook or grabber is the part of your presentation that compels an audience to sit up and pay attention. It should come at the beginning of your talk, where it can do the most good. Audiences have a lot on their minds as they prepare to listen to your remarks. They might in fact be attending a number of presentations that week. So you need to let them know right away that you're the speaker who is going to be interesting.Once engaged, listeners will stay with you. That is, as long as the body of your speech doesn't fail to live up to expectations. But it's that hook that gets everything started.
What then does a good speech hook do? It surprises then, it should be concise and it should resonats with the audience.
It surprises them. It's concise.
“I’m about to share the ….. secrets no one ever told you.”Why this works: It’s makes an irresistible promise that audience can’t ignore
“Who likes ….. ?”Why this works: The question begs to be answered so the audience pays attention
“Have you ever wondered why ….. ?”Why this works: Empathizes with the audience, eg. Have you ever wondered why you have to spend so much time writing your TPE reports?
“Here’s why you’re wasting your time on ….. “Why this works: Shocks the audience to attention with the fear they are using their time for something unnecessary
“This is what ….. will surely look like next year. “Why this works: Change, or the threat of change, gets attention
