Ways to ‘hook’

1. Ways to ‘hook’ • Begin with conflict • Begin with mystery • Begin with metaphor • Something funny • A question • Sound words

2. What section of the newspaper do you think is the most important to read? • My brother and I always fight over the sports section. While reading the paper I always sit with my back to the wall to avoid an unexpected attack. B. The section of newspaper I like to read is the sports section.

3. Mystery • Without this section of the newspaper, I could not start my morning. I would be without conversation topics for the day. I would have nothing funny to tape in my notebook or inside my locker. I would not be able to start my day with a smile. What is this vital section of the newspaper? It’s the comics of course.

4. What are things a person should not do during a speech? • When giving a speech, you should never have gum in your mouth. • In surveys taken about people’s biggest fears, fear of giving a speech often rates above fear of death.

5. If you had to eat one food every day, what would it be? • I really like pizza. • Pizza is a lifesaver in an ocean of bland food choices; it buoys me up in a sea of crummy cuisine.

6. What is your favorite book? What are reasons everyone should read it? • Groucho Marx once said, “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend; inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read anyway.” • Books are a very important part of many people’s lives.

7. Metaphor in 3 easy steps • Step 1: begin with your topic • Example: Monday • Step 2: Compare your topic to another unrelated noun. • Example: Monday is a soup • Step 3: Connect the 2 topics. Elaborate by answering Who? What? When? Where? • Example: Monday is a thick spicy soup that’s hard to swallow, but its nourishing stock fortifies us for the week.

8. 3 more ways to ‘hook’ the reader • Anecdote • Startling fact or statistic • Quotation hook

9. More ‘hooks’ • Hyperbole • Bizarre hook image • Countering conventional wisdom