It's fascinating to me that our profession is so hung up on the format of the scientific paper. A presentation rarely is that. Instead, you're telling a story.

It's fascinating to me that our profession is so hung up on the format of the scientific paper. A presentation rarely is that. Instead, you're telling a story. And part of _any_ good story is a "hook", something that reels the audience in at the first sentence and has them (hopefully) wanting more. My recommendation to _anybody_ giving presentations is, look at storytelling practices. Make it a fun experience, not a dry list of fact, or a chain of evidence. Reserve that for the actual paper ;)