While it’s important to grab your audience’s attention at the start, be careful not to numb them with shock as one presenter did.

He was a student in my follow-up course on how to make presentations – and took to heart what I said about making an audience-grabbing opening. In his next presentation, he opened his speech by lighting – and completely burning – a $20 bill!

Yes, he grabbed us. Unfortunately, his opening was so startling that no one remembered much else about the speech.

On the other hand, many presenters s l i d e into a speech with “Good morning. “Thank you for inviting me,” a clear signal that the audience can go back to reading their emails.

People remember the first 30 seconds of your presentation. That’s when their interest is highest. So you need to come out punching by using one of the following techniques:

1. Ask a question. It can be a rhetorical question…or one that elicits a response. For example: “You’ve written a great book, but will people buy it?”

2. Give a statistic that will interest them: “The average American gains four to seven pounds during the holidays. Today, you will learn how not to be one of them.”

3. Take them back to another time: “Do you remember 1954? That was the last time the Giants won the World Series.”

4. Tell a personal story. “I never thought this would happen to me…”

5. Begin with humor – not a joke, rather something to make your listeners smile: “I’ve always been short, but today I’ll be brief.”

Whichever technique you use to grab your listeners’ attention, be certain they know your topic, point-of-view and what you’ll be discussing within the first 60 seconds. Your opening shouldn’t send us into shock; it should just command our attention, then lead us smoothly into the rest of your presentation.