All communication begins with grabbing your listener’s attention, something that everyone instinctively understands. A marriage proposal does not begin with the speaker opening a PowerPoint presentation, providing an outline of topics to be covered, and a schedule with time for each topic—including time at the end for questions. It begins with something that grabs the listener’s attention, such as a diamond appearing on a dessert plate. The same holds true for professional communication. One of the reasons why we love TED Talks is that they never begin with an outline of what will be covered, they begin with a comment or question that grabs the audience’s interest.
