Public speakers know more than anything that the first impression is the only impression. Therefore, it should be the best one. It is important to hook your audience within the first minute as this will help create a successful introduction. In this guide, we will show you some ways on how you can grab the audience’s attention and achieve a successful speech.
Check out these 6 ways you can hook your audience in less than 30 seconds.
Give An Exclusive Experience to Your Audience
Everyone wants to feel special. You can achieve this by helping your listeners feel like they have won the chance at an exclusive experience to gain knowledge that is inaccessible to everyone. Be unique by giving your audience a special speech. You can start with a shocking statistic from a new study.
Make A Joke
As cliché as this may sound, it is okay to crack a few jokes before your presentation. If you can make them laugh within the first minute, they will start to warm up to you can retain the substance of your speech. Humor is known to help boost information recall. Therefore, making a few jokes will create an easy path towards a successful presentation.
Take Advantage of Props
If you set an unexpected prop on the podium, your audience will be interested to find out why it is placed there. Therefore, they will listen to what you have to say to make sure they don’t miss out. Not only will adding a prop provoke curiosity but it will also make your point stand out.
However, don’t use props just to get attention. These props must serve a purpose that will not distract your message from the speech.
Get the Audience involved
There is nothing more beneficial than getting the audience’s attention. This can be achieved by including them in the presentation. You can ask them to participate by encouraging games, questions, imagined a scenario or a raise-of-the-hand poll in response.
Include some kind of active engagement to grab your listeners’ attention immediately to ensure that they stay interested and remain on the edge during the entire speech.
Keep Your Open Line Short and Sweet
In today’s millennial world, humans are having short attention spans that are getting shorter by the minute. The best way to captivate your audience is to be sincere, short, and brief.
Self-Deprecate To Your Advantage
Understand that it is important to remind people how imperfect you are. You can remind them that you also have the same worries, fears, and mistakes that they might have. Use that to your advantage by trying to solve those problems together in the speech. It is important to come across as genuine and honest. Never try to self-promote but to make the speech about the audience and their needs.
What other ways have you tried to hook your audience in instantly? How has it worked for you? Comment below and share your experiences with us!