How (and Why) to Hook and Compel an Audience in a Minute — Or Less
As we rise closer to the top-tier audiences of the companies where we serve, hooking and compelling our audience in our opening sentences feels vital. I know, because I’ve needed to cut to the chase when interviewing experts and executives for articles I’ve written — or anyone with power and visibility.
I find this audience more rushed than rude and switching from one context and meeting to the next must induce stress. My coaching clients echo the same and getting quicker and more nimble with their leaders becomes the number one request for help, especially now with performance feedback trickling in. So how do we hook and compel our audience within a minute or less? Here lie a handful of tactics to try out in your next pitch, sales call, interview, or update. (I read this article in this week’s Sage Sayers podcast, too, which you can listen to here.)
Know your blockers
To build any lasting strategy, determine the blockers in the first place. From the field, I hear the following struggles:
- Fear of over diluting the message, if they jump in too quick, and missing something vital
- Fear of fumbling their language and using wrong words or inaccurate grammar, especially when communicating in a second language
- Fear of showing their fear in their facial expressions and body language
- Embarrassment and panic from brain numb; they just don’t know where nor how to start
- Concerns with the audience themselves — especially if the audience is new or unknown — and how much creative license and play exists
- Fear of coming to harm or disappointing others by not representing their work nor their team well in a rare moment with those with power
When reviewing this list, no wonder panic ensues in those opening notes. To help overcome these fears, ask yourself of the worse-case scenario, question the credibility of the lies your inner Judge might have here, and stay calm. More on dismissing your fears lies in this podcast episode I produced for the Sage Sayers . (This was one of my first because I know: fear gets intense!)
Understand your audience
With clarity on your inner fears and countering them, now get thinking about your audience and how best to execute your introduction. You might:
- Research what you can about them — if the audience is new
- Ask someone who knows them well. Figure out what interests them
- Reflect/think on what they care about most — and why it’s you over others they’ve asked to hear from
- Challenge any fixed mindsets on your worth and value — which only clutter our lovely head and get in your way. Know: If you’re asked to speak to this group, then you have the expertise and insights to do so
Be You
A few years ago, many lamented the TED-Talk approach to presentations and how ho-hum it all started sounding with an overly polished, scripted approach. I take this concern on board and counter: Be you vs. someone else in your intro and throughout your entire presentation. If you’re a quieter type, then avoid something splashy. Stay within your comfort zone; but then find that sweet spot where you stretch, even a little, with this excellent opportunity to get to the point faster than we might otherwise — and with a time-pressed audience.
Be brief, experimental, and a little structured
Stay brief in your intro. You want to get in and out of there within 60 seconds — or less. Also try using a structure stating:
- The purpose: This is why I’m here and what I want you to know or do.
- The importance: This is why we ought to care.
- Preview: This is what I plan to share.
- Clarification: This is how I hope we’ll all feel and what might change when we’re done.
The PIPC intro is one I learned from Kenan-Flagler Business School and Dr. Heidi Schultz, my friend and mentor I taught with for many years. Know that no one way exists to hook and compel your audience — try different ways and mold and pivot for each audience. PIPC offers you simple structure.
Play with powerful, startling data
The PIPC intro offers one helpful framework for part of your intro. You can add in something creative before or after. One of your many options before you includes using powerful, startling data. Tell us the data point, tell us why it matters, circle back to your topic and audience to show relevance. I illustrate the technique here:
Around 28% of American business professionals have lost their jobs this past two years, researchers say — and my coaching practice reveals this data as true. About 30% of those I coach are looking for internal or external roles. What challenges this audience the most? Confidence — and clarity — on how to tell their work story in ways where others truly listen. I’m D G McCullough, and in the next five minutes I’m offering five tips for telling your work story in ways which help you and your resume rise to the top.
Try storytelling
Storytelling transports you and your work story places. Keep it brief, authentic, relevant, and relatable and you’ve a compelling introduction able to take you and your message places. A short example:
12 years ago, inside my very first classroom post graduate school, I noticed to my dismay the courage that helped land me the professor job disappeared when I needed it the most: In front of my students. The body and mind reaction consumed me: Shaking hands. Croaky voice. Pounding heart. Buckling knees. I feared I’d pass out. But I didn’t; I paced the room, got out from behind the podium, and spoke to the students as individuals, despite there being many in the room.
The fear stayed with me for most of that first lecture and weeks after; but within the eighth class I felt I’d missed something vital. Was it my syllabus? Grade updates? My stories. Nope. I’d forgotten to feel fear. Repetition and strategy cured me. I’m D G McCullough. I’m a communications coach from NZ and I can help you — and your team — reduce your fear of public speaking within weeks, if not days.
Poll your audience. Ask a rhetorical question
This same above topic (pitching an audience to hire me as their internal coach) could start with a question:
- How many in this room have felt fear before a spooky or important audience?
- How many felt this fear intensely — as shown in their voice, word choice, and how their body failed to cooperate?
- How many found their way out and no longer fear public speaking at all?
The show of hands and polling my audience builds camaraderie (a sense of shared struggles), engagement, and the focus shifts from me, the facilitator/presenter/lecturer to the larger group.
My inner Judge and typical fear of harm or embarrassment in my opening diminish using the question technique. Whatever question you choose, make it align with your expertise. If you’re the numbers person for your group, then ask the group to guess the meaning of a startling data point and what it represents. Options are limitless. Have fun.
Use a powerful, meaningful quote
And then there’s the quote technique, which I love just as much. Share us the quote. Tell us who said it. Then, remind us why it matters to you and the topic at hand. To illustrate:
“I would have written you a shorter letter but I didn’t have the time.” This memorable quote from American writer, humorist, entrepreneur and lecturer, Mark Twain speaks to the struggles in telling our stories succinctly. And yet that struggle with staying economical with words back in the late 1800s has become even more profound today.
Time pressed audiences seek 1-minute summaries on complex topics and answers to ad-hoc questions in seconds. So how do we stay brief, clear, and compelling and stay calm as we share our ideas? I’m D G McCullough, and in the next five minutes I’m offering ten reporter tips to help get us there.
You’ve now a handful of tactics to plug into the intro of your next presentation — and I truly hope these tried and tested tips help. I’ve watched the presentations of thousands of professionals and experts and notice that the introduction trips us up the most. Most of us insert filler words, or back tread, or fumble in other ways in those opening words and addresses. Many of us show paralysis in our facial expressions, because the fear of judgment or failure, or harm to our work and personal brand consumes us — consider this a full mental hijacking stemming from fear and wrong assumptions.
I see a real gift and opportunity exists here in our introduction to rise up and out of fear. Experiment. Have fun. Play with your intro in engaging ways. See how you feel and how your audience responds to your newfound creativity and freedom. I’m sure it (and you) will be fabulous.
Debbi Gardiner McCullough coaches and trains immigrant leaders to become more confident, concise, and mentally fit communicators. From Wisconsin, she owns and runs Hanging Rock Coaching and coaches worldwide with BetterUp.