The first sixty seconds: a hook, a reason to listen, and a clear map of where you're going.
An audience decides very quickly whether a talk is worth their attention, usually before you reach your second slide. Most presenters spend those precious seconds on apologies, thank-yous and the agenda. Let's see what your instincts say.
1. You're about to present to your department. The best first sentence is…
2. How should you greet a mixed audience of colleagues and managers in a British company?
3. What should the audience know by the end of your first minute?
Four quick questions. This isn't graded harshly — it just shows us where to focus.
1. You want to tell the audience how the talk is organised. The most natural line is…
2. You'd like questions at the end, not during the talk. You say…
3. Which opening line is a hook?
4. You want to tell people what they'll get out of the talk. You say…
A strong opening does three jobs in about a minute. It hooks the audience, so they want to listen. It tells them why it matters to them, and why you're the right person to say it. And it gives them a roadmap: what you'll cover, how long it'll take and what to do with their questions. Browse the phrases for each job, then try the quick check.
— Click either cell to see another example.
Hover over (or tap) each version to see how a British audience is likely to hear it.
A short, friendly greeting and straight to the point. Modest humour is welcome; self-promotion and long thank-yous are not.
More energy and more personal: a story about yourself or a bold claim in the first sentence is normal and expected.
Openings are often more formal: titles, thanks to the organisers, and a detailed agenda slide. Facts are expected before stories.
Ola Nowak had prepared for weeks. Her first presentation to the whole department at Brightwell, a payments company in Manchester, was about why their monthly reports always arrived late. She had good data, clean slides and a clear solution. Then she stood up and said, "Sorry for my English, I'm not a natural speaker, so please be patient." Forty people looked at their phones. She spent the next twenty minutes winning back an audience she had lost in her first ten seconds.
Afterwards, her manager, Ben, took her for a coffee. "Your content was great," he said. "But you undermined yourself before you'd said anything useful. An audience takes its cue from you. If you tell them you're nervous, they'll scrutinise every word. Open with them instead." He wrote three words on a napkin: hook, why, map.
The hook, he explained, is one sentence that makes people curious. It doesn't need to be clever. A striking number works, and so does a short question or a tiny story. Ola's next talk began with “Imagine closing the month without a single late report.” After a short pause, she added “So why does this matter to you?” Then she answered her own question: fewer frantic Friday afternoons for everyone in the room. This time, nobody reached for their phone.
Then came the map. “I've split this into three parts.” She named them in a few words each, and told people how long she'd take: “It'll take about fifteen minutes.” Ben says this is the most underrated sentence in business English, because a restless audience relaxes the moment it knows when the end is coming. Finally, she set out her questions policy: “Feel free to stop me if anything's unclear.” Ben noticed she sounded more assured with every sentence. Her mistakes hadn't disappeared. She had just stopped drawing attention to them. As he put it, "Nobody remembers a perfect accent. They remember a speaker who clearly knew where she was going." And her credibility? It came from the plan, not the apology.
Tap a highlighted word for pronunciation, meaning and an example. With key phrases on, tap a highlighted phrase to see why it works (and what a less skilful speaker might have said).
1. Why did Ola lose her audience in her first presentation?
2. What did Ben mean by "an audience takes its cue from you"?
3. Why does Ben call "It'll take about fifteen minutes" underrated?
All seven words from the text — mixed formats.
1. If you "undermine" your own message, you…
2. A "striking" figure is one that…
3. A speaker with "credibility" is…
4. A "restless" audience is…
5. To "scrutinise" something means to…
1. Her calm, confident voice made her sound very .
2. The last hour before the deadline was : everyone was rushing to finish.
3. Starting with an apology can your whole talk.
4. Without sources, the report has no .
Focus — complete the phrase (one word per gap)
1. I've this into three parts.
2. It'll about fifteen minutes.
3. Feel to stop me if anything's unclear.
4. By the of this session, you'll know how to fix it.
5. So why does this to you?
6. I'll take questions at the end, so do them down.
Each opening line is grammatically fine but works against the speaker. Tap the word that causes the problem, then check the explanation.
Tap the chips in the right order. Three rounds.
Record the first 60 seconds of a presentation about something you know well at work. Include a hook, one sentence on why it matters to your audience, a three-part roadmap, how long you'll take and your questions policy. No apologies!
You've been asked to give a 15-minute talk to your department about a change you'd like to make at work (a new tool, a shorter meeting, a better way to share files: you choose). Write the script for your first minute: greeting, hook, why it matters to them, a three-part roadmap, timing and your questions policy.
Ola is rehearsing the opening of her talk. Ben, her manager, is listening.
1. What problem does Ben point out in Ola's first attempt?
2. What does Ben tell Ola to do after her hook?
3. Why should Ola explain her questions policy?
1. Your first words to a room of colleagues are…
2. Which is the strongest hook?
3. You want to show the talk's structure. You say…
4. What should you avoid in the first minute?
5. You're happy to take questions during the talk. You say…
How your speaking and writing went, by your own checklist.
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