Why the police officer thanked me

I went on a camping trip to Rottnest with my sister. Beautiful Island, close to the Australian West Coast. So full of wildlife that I literally tripped over a quokka when I stepped out of my tent. But I’ll save the quokka story for later. Today I want to talk to you about the Australian cop that thanked me.?Here goes:

We rented bicycles to tour the island. We never asked for helmets, but we got them anyway. We noticed there was a sticker on the bike, telling us we could only ride it while wearing a proper safety helmet.

Proper safety helmet?

On a bike?

We’re Dutch. We might even be a bit more stable on a bike then we are on our two feet.

So, we decided that sticker was nonsense, or at least not meant for us.

We rode off. Every 250 meters or so there was a sign that told us wearing a helmet was obligatory.

We giggled a bit about our criminal offence after we threw the helmets in our backpack.

For hours, we rode and had a great time. Stunning coastline, scary reptiles, more quokkas, and all of a sudden, a police patrol car. An unpleasant surprise, cops on this small island.

Australian cops are not necessarily known for their sense of humor, or their tolerance towards people who decide that certain laws to not apply to them.

We looked at each other and said nothing.

The patrol car slowed down next to us.

The cop very much looked the part.

He turned down his window looked at us and said

‘Ladies, thanks for wearing the helmet’ he even smiled.

It was almost sexy and the 'thank you' definitely worked. Starting with ‘thank you’ when you actually order people around, but you want to look more or less friendly, that’s ok.

'Thank you' at the beginning of a presentation is not ok.

Do not start by thanking your audience for the opportunity to…. aaand you lost them, they are now secretly checking their phones. Thank people at the end of your talk, when they are so moved by your story they just want to yell ‘thank you’ right back at you.

So, from now on, you ‘re not starting any talk you ever give with a 'thank you' again, okay? This is especially important when you are pitching, and the first 10 seconds of your pitch decide your faith.

Ok, you get it, no starting with 'thank you'. But then what do you start with?! You start with a hook.

Want to know more about how to craft a great hook? I've got you covered. Just download my free e-book on pitching here.

Good luck with your pitch!

Susanne

PS. The first person mailing me back to tell me what a quokka is gets a chocolate bar.?

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