Crafting a Compelling Opening for Science Talks

You have 7 seconds to grab your audience’s attention. Don’t waste them. You step onto the stage. The room is buzzing—conversations happening, phones lighting up, people only half paying attention. And in that moment, the first words out of your mouth determine everything. Will they lean in? Or will they check out? This is why a strong opening hook isn’t optional—it’s essential. It sets the tone, creates intrigue, and makes your audience think: I need to hear this. Here are three powerful ways to start your next presentation: ➡️ Ask a thought-provoking question “What’s the most scared you’ve ever been in your life?” The moment you ask, your audience starts searching for an answer. Now, they’re engaged. ➡️ Drop a surprising statistic “Leaders who use storytelling see 55% more engaged employees and 70% less burnout.” A powerful stat doesn’t just inform—it makes people pay attention. ➡️ Tell a story Your audience may forget the facts, but they’ll remember how you made them feel. A well-told story isn’t just heard—it’s felt, remembered, and repeated. The worst way to start? "Hi, today I'm going to talk to you about..." Great communicators don’t just share information—they create an experience. The next time you step in front of an audience, don’t just open with words. Open with impact.

"Habituation" is killing your presentations and speaking. My top tip for speaking in 2025 is simple but takes a little courage What is "habituation?" Habituation is a neurological phenomenon where our brains stop paying attention to something that’s repetitive or predictable over time. It’s like a built-in filter to help us focus on what’s new or important. For example, if you live near a train track, the sound of trains might be annoying at first, but over time, your brain tunes it out. That’s habituation in action - your brain decides, “This isn’t a threat or new information, so I’ll save my energy.” In presentations, starting with the expected “Hi, my name is… and I work for...” triggers the same response. The audience’s brain thinks, “Oh, I’ve heard this a thousand times,” and tunes out. In other words - you fit the pattern of every other boring presentation they have ever seen. They mentally check out before you’ve even said anything meaningful. So instead - decide to break the pattern and shake things up.  Start with a story, a joke, or a stat—something that surprises the brain and sparks curiosity. Hook them from the get-go, and save your name and company for slide 3. (They’ll remember you if your opening is memorable.) Personally, I always start with a story about my four daughters. I typically use some funny story (and I have many!) that is a bit self-deprecating. I personally love humor as an opener. I walk on stage and start my story.  No good morning. No hello. No "my name is." I just go right in - something like: "A few weeks ago, I went to the store with my daughter..." "My daughter said something hilarious to me a few weeks ago..." "I received this text from my first daughter a few weeks ago..." If you want to be extra (Gen Z slang there) - most of the time I never say who I am or where I work.  I use my words, stories, content and my knowledge to engage - not my title or resume. This small tweak taps into neuroscience and keeps your audience engaged from the start. How do you usually start your presentations? Let’s hear your tips in the comments. Interested in your thoughts too...Nick Pericle Jason Hein Jason Greenwood Ian Heller Liz S.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘆 After people watch a presentation, what parts do they remember best? Most public speaking coaches will say the very beginning and the very end because the opening has no competition for attention, and the ending is most recent. Brain science confirms this. It's called the 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁. 🧠 Studied in many contexts, the serial position effect happens when people recall the first and last items in a series much more easily than the middle ones. The memorability of the start is called 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗰𝘆. The memorability of the end is called 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆. Presenters should put their most important points in these high-attention zones. Instead, many speakers fill them with far less valuable items, including personal biographies, conference details, and obligatory thanks: "𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 10 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥..." That's a waste of prime real estate. Here's how to maximize primacy and recency in your presentations. 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗔𝗖𝗬 To make the most of your first words, use the “HOP” approach: 👋 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤 🗣️ 𝙊𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 🎯 𝙋𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼: A quick 1-2 line welcome “𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘗𝘢𝘮 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.” 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: A short engaging hook, like a personal story, provocative question, or telling statistic. “𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 25% 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱?” 𝗣𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁: What you propose and why it matters. “𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮'𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱.” 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗬 To take advantage of recency, start your conclusion with lower-priority items and end with a restatement of your most valuable point and call to action. The very last thing your audience hears should be the most important thing you have to say. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮’𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. 𝘕𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬, 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥." TL;DR? 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 💪 𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 🚀 ========================== 👉 Do you or your team struggle to communicate ideas with clarity, efficiency, and impact? I help professionals like you #GettothePoint and #MakeYourWordsMatter with one-of-a-kind workplace communication and presentation coaching workshops. DM me or visit my website to learn more.