How to create a jaw-dropping moment in a talk

You learn what an engineered surprise is, the forms it can take, how it links to the peak of your story, and where to find one.

A jaw-dropping moment is an engineered surprise. It is a single moment in a talk that resets the room, such as a fact nobody saw coming, a reveal, a prop or a demonstration. Bill Gates, speaking about malaria on the TED stage, opened a jar of mosquitoes and let them fly into the audience, then calmly told everyone the mosquitoes were not infected. The room remembered the moment and the point he was making.

The moment can be quiet. A prop or a stunt is optional, and a single sentence that lands like a punch does the same work. What matters is one unexpected moment, placed deliberately. A number counted out loud can carry it alone. Very often the surprise is the same thing as the peak of your story arc, so the two reinforce each other.

Once you find the moment, keep it clear of the material around it so it lands on its own. If your talk has none yet, your deep version probably holds one, in the detail that surprised even you.

Key ideas.

A jaw-dropping moment is one engineered surprise in a talk, such as an unexpected fact, a reveal, a prop or a demonstration, that resets the room.
A jaw-dropping moment can be a single sentence that lands like a punch, placed deliberately where the audience least expects it.
The jaw-dropping moment is very often the same thing as the peak of the story arc, so the two reinforce each other.
A speaker whose talk lacks a surprise can look in their deep version, which probably holds one in the detail that surprised even them.

Questions.

What is a jaw-dropping moment in a presentation?

A jaw-dropping moment is a single engineered surprise that resets the room. It can be a fact nobody saw coming, a reveal, a prop, a demonstration or one sentence that lands like a punch. The speaker places it deliberately. Bill Gates gave an example on the TED stage when he released mosquitoes into the audience during a talk on malaria.

Do you need a prop to surprise an audience?

A prop is optional. The surprise can be one sentence or one number the room cannot unhear, placed deliberately where the audience least expects it. A quiet line can make a whole idea feel real and a little uncanny. What matters is one deliberate moment of surprise, kept clear of the material around it so it lands.

Where should the surprise go in a talk?

Very often the surprise sits at the peak of your story arc, where the two reinforce each other. Place it deliberately and keep it clear of other material so it lands on its own. If your talk has no surprise yet, look in the deep version of your story for the detail that surprised even you.

Lesson 5.4 of From Story to Stage, a free written course by Aaron C. Leaman, published by Brighter Future. The terms it uses are defined in the glossary.