Lydia's Top Tips - February 2004
Here's a recent question we got from someone in one of our Dynamic Presentations Workshops at Bacardi:
How can I hook my audience?
I've heard this question many times over the years, so I'm going to share some examples that should inspire a few ideas of your own.
First of all, remember that everyone in your audience is in his or her own little world. Some are thinking about the up-coming project, some about problems at work, and some about their holiday. So it's vital to "shake their body" and start with a strong hook.
Here are some examples:
- Would anyone in the room like to double their profits?
- What is so different about our new computer/marketing strategy/proposal?
- The digital camera I am about to show you is no ordinary digital camera. Listen to me for 3 minutes and I'll tell you why.
- This machine will save you €5000 a month.
- How can you be more successful?
- Why are so many people signing-up to our summer immersion programs?
On a slightly different note, I'd like to share an amusing anecdote I heard recently in one of our Open Workshops:
Jay Instyan had to speak to a large sales conference at an exhibition centre in Stockholm. Jay was very worried because there was going to be a large audience - about 5000 people in all.
As usual, he asked his assistant to prepare his speech. He knew his asistant wrote good speeches, but was still a little anxious.
As he started to speak, 5140 people, 10284 eyes, watched him pace across the stage. However, having practised his deep-breathing and visualisation, he began to relax and feel more calm.
The opening 'hook' was excellent and the audience really appreciated the joke in the middle of the first page of his presentation.
Happily, he turned the page.
The second page was blank, except for a small note in the middle, "I quit. Do the rest yourself!"
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