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This article is about “The hook” - the attention grabber. Newspapers do it with headlines; Television and Radio do it with the “tease”. A movie “trailer” is all about hooking you to watch the movie with short scenes and teasers. A book does it with its title and then continues to do it with chapter titles. An article must do it with its title such as the one above that I used to try to "hook" you.

Right before a television show breaks for a commercial they will tell you what is coming up next. They want to tease you along or hook you so that you will come back after the break.

You Must Get Their Attention

When you start the communication process you must first of all get a person’s attention. This is absolutely critical. If you do not have the attention of the audience then it does not matter what you communicate.

What is the audience concerned about?

Let’s say you are addressing a group of your employees. You are concerned about a worrying trend that relates to a losing established clients and replacing them with new ones during a time of unexpected employee turnover. What is the audience concerned about? Getting new clients? Keeping established clients? Employee retention?

This is what you could hook them with:

“I want to talk to you about who will replace you in your current position.” . . .

This will hit the nail on the head and hook them. It can suggest that they are all expendable if they do not get the job done. It can be a perfect lead into the problem with employee retention. It can start off a conversation about succession planning – important to everyone. It can be a lead into a conversation about employee development and promotion. It will certainly get everyone’s attention.

Hooks Come In Different Shapes and Sizes

There are dramatic visual hooks. I once attended a seminar on corporate communications. The consultant (about 65 years old) let us all take a break and when we came back into the room he was on the floor at the front of the room – not moving – he appeared to be unconscious. We were all alarmed and rushed to see what we could do. We had all gathered around him and we tried to get him to respond and could not. He then calmly opened his eyes and asked us to be seated. He then used this example to let us know that even when we are not communicating in the traditional sense we are still communicating. He illustrated that it is actually impossible to not communicate.

This visual hook was very effective.

A humorous hook can be used but use it with caution. I do not recommend telling a joke as a hook as you never know how it will go over. A joke about mothers-in-law may not go over well with females or older women or the Japanese who show great respect to their mothers-in-laws. If you can tell a funny story about yourself then this is better but be sure it relates well to the overall point that you are making.

I once attended a meeting where the president was going anounce the start the process to select a new VP of Operations. Our VP of Operations was going to retire. The VP of Operations position was vital to our corporation. At the front to the room next to the lectern was a chair and in front of the chair was a pair of shoes. The President explained to us how the process to fill the shoes of the existing VP was going to commence and he explained the objectives and the process. We all paid attention and the hook was very effective.

I once started a speech on corporate Japan by using the Japanese saying “The nail that sticks up will be hit down”. When I got to the word “hit” I slammed my fist on the lectern. It was an immediate attention grabber and I went on to explain how a lack of creativity is a concern and weakness within Japanese corporations.

A Hook - A Statement or Object to Get Attention

Everyone uses hooks and they best ones are memorable indeed. I remember the consultant on the floor and the empty pair of shoes even though these hooks were delivered years ago.

For information on how to create and distribute online business communications with voice-narrated PowerPoint presentations visit the website of Presentations That Talk.