One surefire way to arouse interest quickly during a safety meeting or safety presentation is to startle your listeners with an arresting, unusual or intriguing statement. Example: “There are more living creatures on your face than there are people in Chicago.” It’s a memorable way to start a meeting. Be sure it’s a statement that leads logically to your subject.
Sometimes, I start my keynote talk on stress by asking the audience, “When was the last time you thought about your spleen?” It gets laughs; but more important, it captures attention and creates questions inside everyone’s mind. I then explain how, when you’re under duress, your spleen spits out a coagulant that makes your blood sticky.
There are endless ways to startle an audience – to surprise them with an introduction that they’ve never heard or seen before.
