What is a hook? A hook is an attention-grabber that intrigues the audience and piques their interest. A good hook makes the audience want to listen to you. We call it a "hook" because it gets the audience hooked on your topic and subsequent points. Moreover, it gives them a taste for the value you’re about to add to their lives if they listen carefully to your talk.

Here are 7 hooks you can easily implement in any type of public speaking engagement, be it a talk, meeting or presentation.

• Use the word imagine.Visualization can be extremely powerful. You can have them close their eyes or not. “Imagine a time when you were
• Tell them a story or an anecdote : make it compelling and brief and relevant
• Ask a series of rhetorical questions? (stimulates the audience’s mind as they ponder)
• Arouse curiosity « I need to make a confession, 20 years ago I did something that I regret.. I went to law school”… if you incorporate self-deprecating humor it can be more startling
• Take them through a what-if scenario “what if you were completely debt-free” (Easily adaptable to any presentation)
• Contrarian approach
• Make a statement of a widely accepted concept then go against is and challenge it
• Quote a foreign proverb «petit à petit a l’oiseau fait son nid » (little by little, the bird builds its nest)

Alright Explearners, those are my strategies for creating better hooks.

Try it in conversation when you’re broaching a new topic or when you have a talk to give to colleagues or to a big audience. Let me know which hooks you use in the comments below.

Happy Explearning 🌠

About the Author and the Explearning Academy:

Mary Daphne is an expert in communication, executive interpersonal skills, and personal development. She is the founder of the Explearning Academy, a platform dedicated to helping individuals enhance their social fluency, boost their careers, and elevate their social game. Through immersive group coaching programs like the Executive Communication Lab and self-guided journeys, participants gain the social superpowers and career catapults they've been searching for. If you're ready to take your negotiation skills to the next level and connect with like-minded individuals, visit academy.explearning.co and explore the various plans available. Join the Explearning Academy community and unlock your full potential.

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