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Presentation Pointers: How to Seize an Audience's Attention

Posted Feb 27, 2017

If you want to give a successful presentation, the key is to grab your audience's attention at the start. Failure to engage your audience members early on will leave you fighting an uphill battle, so choose a strategy that will quickly hook them. To get your presentation off to a stellar start, just remember to mind your Ps and Qs:

• Provoke - Provocation is a technique for grabbing attention through a compelling statement or statistic. Get the audience intrigued and invested. For example, “One small change can save you six hundred dollars on pet care this year.”
• Parable - Use a story to connect with your audience. Put some real-life context and meaning behind the presentation.
• Props - Used strategically, visual aids can make your presentation intriguing and memorable.
• Question - Get your audience involved by asking questions. You can pose rhetorical questions to get them thinking, quiz them on presentation-related facts, or ask the audience to respond.
• Quirk - Share a personal anecdote, observation, or humorous tale. Unique, unusual, and unexpected information will keep your audience engaged for the rest of your content.
• Quote - A single slide with a powerful citation can be the hook that helps your audience appreciate the tone and purpose of your presentation.