If you prefer video content over text, I explain this material with fun, musical examples in my YouTube video.
A presentation is made or broken by its beginning.
In this article, I reveal the secret to grabbing your audience’s attention and never letting go: the opening hook.
What Not To Do
Consider this beginning of a presentation on the founding of Doordash, the food delivery company:
“Doordash began when I signed a 15 million dollar deal with Sequoia”
It’s not bad. The “15 million” number signals this is a significant deal. And “Sequoia” is a big brand name.
But are you hooked? If you had the choice to swipe away or continue reading, you would most likely swipe – because there’s much more interesting content out there…
What To Do
Check out how Stanley Tang, co-founder of DoorDash, tells his story. You only need to watch about one minute from the video below to get a sense of Stanley’s technique.
Stanley says:
“I want to start with this photo because I realized how ridiculous the combination of things was. There’s my Computer science homework, my tax forms, a yellow speeding ticket, and below that a 15 million dollar piece of paper I signed from Sequoia. That’s how ridiculous the journey has been creating DoorDash and I want to share that story with you today”
Why is this hook so much better?
Just like the original hook, it previews the topic of the talk (the founding of Doordash) and sparks curiosity. But it ALSO connects emotionally.
You’re not just listening to some entrepreneur share generic advice. You’re listening to Stanley share his personal story. The nostalgic detail gives you a glimpse into Stanley’s mind and lets you step inside his shoes. You care about what happens next – because Stanley cares so much about it.
Summary
No matter how technical or complex your talk is, you can find a hook that fulfills all 3 requirements:
- Connects emotionally
- Sparks curiosity
- Previews the main message
After all, if you’ve been asked to give a presentation, your audience cares about this material. Figure out why they do: the underlying issue they’re experiencing or overarching goal they’re aspiring for.
- Maybe sales are going down because of a failed marketing campaign.
- Or efficiency has slowed because we’re not hitting our hiring targets.
Leverage that emotional core in your hook and you have your audience’s emotional investment.
If you’re looking for further guidance on how to differentiate your communication skills and stand out in the workplace, take my free self-assessment.
I’m writing a book on thinking quickly, speaking clearly, presenting convincingly, and supercharging your executive presence. My current focus: a section on how to customize presentations for different audiences. This will be a deep-dive into audience analysis: how to understand your audience’s pains and priorities so you can best prepare your material.
Follow me on LinkedIn for more updates on the book and its release!
