It has been hard to miss the story of the Texas lawyer who attended a Zoom call as a cat recently, thanks to a rogue filter that had been used on his system. I am quite sure that he had no desire to attract the attention that he got. However, as a way of attracting attention, it was certainly effective.

At the start of any presentation, it is important to attract the attention of your audience, to ensure that they are focussed on you and what you are saying. When presenting remotely, as almost everyone is during the current pandemic, it is even more important to gain and keep everyone’s attention. It is highly likely that some of the people in the audience will not be fully paying attention. They may have other things on their mind or they are still finishing other things from a previous meeting. So, the most important thing that you have to do, at the start of a presentation, is to attract the audience’s attention and ensure that they are paying attention to you.

If you think of any great movie, it starts with some sort of hook, something to grab your attention, to make you want to watch for the next two hours. Think about the start of Romeo and Juliet – it starts with an altercation in the street between the Capulets and the Montagues. Even though it is a love story, it starts with a fight that gets us interested.

There are a variety of ways to attract attention. They include:

Ask a direct question
Ask a rhetorical question
Tell a story
Make an analogy
Use a quotation
Make a startling assertion
Appeal to emotions
Use a picture or video

Whichever method you use, you need to ensure that it is appropriate for the audience and that it is related to what you are about to speak about. If you grab their attention and then talk about something unrelated, you are likely to confuse the audience and then you will lose their attention. If it is not appropriate, again, you risk alienating your audience and losing their attention.

The first few times that you use this method, it is likely to feel awkward and unnatural. Persevere and it will get easier and more effective. I gave some presentations in Australia a few years ago and started by talking about chocolate chip cookies. I also gave some out to the attendees at the presentation. When I went back about a year later, the people there remembered me as a result of those cookies.

You do not have to be a cat to be remembered but you do want to make the same impression on your audience!

For more information about how Hoolock Consulting can help you with your presentations, see our website (https://www.hoolock-consulting.com/presentation-skills).