Don’t you want your audience to want to hear more from the start? The first few sentences of your speech need to captivate your audience. If you fail to do so, you may lose their attention. You need to use a hook to capture their attention.
The hook should immediately allow you to reel them into your speech. It solves the problem of convincing your audience why they should care. The hook needs to signal the audience that they will be entertained, that I have a solution to their problem, or that they will gain valuable information.
To entertain an audience, I started a weight loss speech by stating my old weight and giving the caloric breakdown of my old regular meal. When I graduated high school, I weighed 245 lbs. A normal meal for me was a double cheeseburger, large fries, a large drink, and a drink refill. I also ate part of my dad’s fries and burger. The room was shocked. The audience was in disbelief at my old weight as they looked at my moderate figure. The audience was mine.
I hooked the audience in a couple of ways. From this point, the audience expected to receive more shock value as I spoke about the challenges of my weight loss journey. If anyone wanted to lose weight, they hoped my speech could help them solve their problem.
By hooking your audience, you can immediately capture the audience like I did. It’s simple. Ask yourself, “Why should they care?” Once you make them care, it’ll be easier to keep their attention. They’ll be yours.
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