Creative prompts
Creative prompt

Talk / speech opener that grabs the room

You're giving a talk and the first 90 seconds matter. You want an opener that earns attention.

Works best in: Claude

Help me write the first 90 seconds of a talk on {{topic}}.

Context:
- Audience: {{who's there}}
- Setting: {{conference / company all-hands / classroom / TEDx / webinar}}
- The thesis of the talk: {{the one big idea}}
- My personality: {{quick, warm, dry, energetic, etc.}}

Output 4 opener variations across angles:
1. **The specific moment** — start with a concrete scene, then zoom out
2. **The contrarian claim** — open with something that pushes against received wisdom
3. **The hard question** — pose a real question I'll answer through the talk
4. **The disarmingly direct** — skip the warmup, state the thesis in line 1

For each:
- The actual words for the first 60-90 seconds (3-5 sentences)
- What it sets up for the rest of the talk
- Who in the audience it engages most strongly

Then pick the best for this audience and explain why.

Skip:
- "Thank you so much for having me"
- A bio I read aloud (the host already did it)
- "When I was [age]..." stories that aren't going anywhere
- Setup-payoff jokes that lean on punchline alone
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