How to open a keynote so people actually listen

The first ninety seconds decide whether a room leans in or checks its phone. Audiences make a quick, mostly unconscious judgement: is this person going to be worth my attention? Thanking the organisers and explaining your agenda rarely wins that vote.

Instead, open with something only this audience will recognise — a moment from their industry, a number from their own survey, a story from the car park that morning. At a mining conference in Rustenburg I opened with the shift-change siren I had heard at 5am. Three hundred people looked up, because it was their sound.

Then make a promise. Tell people, in one sentence, what they will be able to do differently by the end. A clear promise turns a passive audience into an active one, because now they are listening for something.

Finally, rehearse your opening more than any other part of the talk. When the first minute is automatic, your nerves settle and your attention moves to the room — which is exactly where it belongs.