No matter the field you work in, communication is very important; more specifically, the ability to send a message and make the others appreciate it and remember it. You might be a teacher, a manager, or a salesperson. Actually, you might simply be a parent who is trying to teach and educate a child. The first step is to make your audience listen. And, once they start to listen, all you have to do is give the best presentation you possibly can and convince them. But, the truth is that the first step is one of the most difficult ones as well. To make it easier for everyone, Kevin Carroll has written a concise guide on how to hook your audience from the very first words you speak – “What’s Your Hook? How to Reel in Your Audience and Make Your Message Stick”.

As the author says, “There are no boring topics, there are only boring speakers.” He remembers when he was back in college and he had professors who were able to hook their students. That’s when he understood how hooks work and how they can be cleverly used to make people pay attention to what you are saying, even when they are not necessarily interested in the topic. When you have the ability to persuade you can sell anything to anyone, or convince people to do as you suggest. Persuasion is one of the qualities you need to achieve success. A leader will never be a true leader if he/she cannot persuade others. What Kevin Carroll offers in his book is advice on how to come up with that perfect hook to draw your audience’s attention. After reading “What’s Your Hook? How to Reel in Your Audience and Make Your Message Stick” and applying the tips, you should become a clearer and more persuasive communicator, and also enjoy giving presentations more.

Kevin Carroll defines a hook as “any creative device that grabs someone’s attention”. Then, he continues his description adding that “A hook could be: a catchy phrase, a humorous story, an amazing statistic, a memorable demonstration or a though-provoking question.” Anything can become a hook as long as it is interesting enough and it is directly tied to the presentation you want to make. The greatest advantage of using hooks is that they make the message stick. They make the audience remember you and your presentation because they remember how clever and relevant your hook was.

Unfortunately, many people are reluctant when it comes to using hooks, even though they are aware of how well they can work. One reason for which they might hesitate is that they fear the hook won’t be as good as they expected, or it won’t have enough relevance, and they’ll end up in an awkward situation. Kevin Carroll refers to all these problems and fears in his guide, and he teaches his readers how to use hooks so naturally that no one will ever imagine the speaker actually took a lot of time to come up with them.

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