The Hook—Building a Captivating Introduction in an Online Setting
Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels
By Scott J. Allen & Maria Soriano Young
Most audiences have formed impressions of you before you’ve even opened your mouth. This is one reason why your introduction is so critical. The introduction sets the tone, and if you place yourself in the role of an audience member, you know what it’s like to observe a speaker who masterfully communicates what is the appropriate for the occasion—perhaps it’s a tone of intrigue, a somber mood, playfulness, or hope and opportunity on the horizon. During our research process for Captovation: Online Presentations by Design, Karen Gilliam, Agency Chief Learning Officer & OD Capability Lead at NASA, shared with us how she began a meeting where the topic for the day involved issues of race: “We shared a couple of stories, quick stories, personal stories, true stories, because that opened up the space for people to say, ‘Ah, you know, wow, look at what they just shared. So maybe this might be a safe space for me to engage.’” Ultimately, there are several ways to set the tone and captivate your audience from the beginning: a story, interesting facts or statistics, a provocative statement, humor, a quote, a physical activity, or even a video to grab the audience’s attention. Sometimes, it’s a combination of these.
Below are some options for you to consider as you design an engaging hook to draw listeners in…
Story – A well-told story is worth its weight in gold. We heard this from a few executives. Eileen Sheil, Vice President of Communications at Medtronic, asserted that “powerful stories are still really important when you’re trying to connect online.” And as Jennifer Cowles, Leader of Leadership and Executive Programs at KeyBank, suggests, it’s important to have a “story arc that people can follow. A storyline that grabs listeners at the beginning and keeps them engaged throughout.” In fact, research suggests that stories are potent interventions if we want audience members to remember our talk. The story could be intensely personal, or it could be a tale of some heroic individual or experience. The story could communicate disaster, or it could be a story of hope. Regardless, it’s a story, and your choice helps draw in listeners and elicits some emotion; recall the question “What do you want them to know, feel, and do?” In addition to developing your story, we encourage you to practice telling your story because delivery will be critical—perhaps most important will be your vocal variety, nonverbals, and movement, if possible. It’s also essential to practice because you must ensure that you have the correct timing—especially online.
Interesting Facts – In his well-received TED Talk, Is the World Getting Better or Worse? A Look at the Numbers, Stephen Pinker provides a litany of statistics designed to attack common assumptions that we hold as human beings. He also uses strong images and a quote. In his case, he constructs the narrative that “everything is going to hell!” Pinker beautifully presents data that flies in the face of this master narrative. If your talk is about longevity and lifespan, perhaps some statistics about contemporary studies will grab your audience’s attention. Alternatively, if you are building a case for parents vaccinating their children, maybe you provide some National Institutes of Health data that will surprise or engage listeners.
A Provocative Statement – A provocative statement is a surefire way to secure the attention of your audience—especially if you are with an audience that does not expect it. In his book Lifespan, Harvard geneticist David Sinclair writes the following statement: “Aging research today is at a similar stage as cancer research was in the 1960s. … From the looks of it aging is not going to be that hard to treat—far easier than curing cancer.” Statements like this will need to be backed up with facts, data, and logic, and in Sinclair’s book, he does just that. You must build a logical case for your assertion, but this is one surefire way to get people engaged and interested in what you have to say.
Humor – In some instances, it is not appropriate to include humor. In other instances, you may not feel comfortable adding in humor, which is perfectly fine. However, it is an option, and can set the tone and capture the attention of your audience, which is why many presenters begin their talk with a story, anecdote, or lighthearted joke. If nothing else, it’s a way to connect with the audience and let them get to know you in a small way. As Mary Hirsch says, “Humor is a rubber sword—it allows you to make a point without drawing blood.” A particular type of humor is self-deprecating humor, which is another way to connect and let the audience know that you do not take yourself too seriously. Use that carefully and sparingly if you do, though, because you do not want to undercut your credibility with constant self-criticism.
A Quote – A well-constructed quote can set the tone for your entire presentation. For instance, Scott often begins a discussion on presentation skills with the following quote from Steve Jobs: “People who know what they are talking about don’t need PowerPoint.” In addition to being a good quote, it’s also a bit provocative and always yields some lively debate from members of the audience. We want to add one side note about quotes: do your best to ensure that you attribute the quote to the correct individual, since there is a lot of misinformation on the internet. Likewise, ensure that you consider your audience when beginning with a quote. While a quote can be great in spirit, if it is too controversial or provokes too much discussion, you could lose the true focus of your presentation.
A Video – When discussing the concept of personal change, Scott recently saw a speaker begin with the video The Backwards Brain Bicycle, and everyone was captivated from the beginning. The speaker was using the video to be provocative, but it also added some humor and mesmerized the audience from the very beginning. Scott also attended a presentation on empathy that began with the video Empathy: The Human Connection to Patient Care from the Cleveland Clinic. Now, starting with a video can be a little tricky, but it’s one fundamental approach to capturing the attention of your audience.
The list above represents only a handful of different ways to open your session. Maria often begins her presentations with anecdotes or scenes from her own classrooms or interactions with students, or asks participants a “poll the audience” type of question. We encourage you to think about the type of introductory remark that represents your personality and your topic most effectively, in addition to determining which strategy best fits the context of the presentation and the audience. Sometimes it takes the most time to design your opening statement. Like everything else with your presentation, though, once you pinpoint how you want to begin and practice your delivery, we know that you will be ready to appear on the screen with poise, confidence, and an approach that will be sure to impress your audience!
We explore this topic and others in our new book Captovation: Online Presentations by Design.