In short: HMRC stands for Hook, Message, Recap, Call to action. Open with something that earns the next minute, build the talk around one central idea, repeat that idea in short form at the end, then ask the audience to think, do or feel something specific. It works for a one-minute pitch and a forty-minute keynote.
Most talks that lose a room have the right content in the wrong order. The structure in the title fixes the order with four parts: Hook, Message, Recap, Call to action. People shorten it to its initials, which have nothing to do with the tax office. It comes from Present Yourself, the one-minute presenting series made by Alastair Greener, and once you know the four jobs you can outline a talk on the back of an envelope.
The four parts at a glance
| Part | Its job | Typical length in a ten-minute talk |
|---|---|---|
| Hook | Earn the next minute | Under a minute |
| Message | Deliver one central idea with proof | Most of the time, six to seven minutes |
| Recap | Say it again, briefly | About a minute |
| Call to action | Ask for one specific response | Thirty seconds |
The lengths are a rough split, not a rule. A one-minute pitch squeezes all four into a few sentences each. A keynote gives the message several sections, and each section can carry its own small hook and recap.
Hook: earn the next minute
The first minute decides whether people settle in or reach for their phones. The hook has to be quick, relevant to them and easy to say without notes. Present Yourself lists six kinds:
- A question that the audience answers in their heads.
- A dramatic statement that makes them lean in.
- A startling statistic, with its source ready if someone asks.
- A story, started at the most exciting moment rather than the beginning.
- A testimonial, in a client's or colleague's own words.
- A sneak preview of what they will get if they stay.
Spend more of your preparation time here than the opening seems to deserve. People remember beginnings and endings best, so these are the two places to be word perfect. Learn the first line and the last line by heart and trust yourself with the middle. Fifty ways to open has more openers to steal from.
Do not announce the hook. "I'm going to tell you a story" and "first, a bit of background" use up the minute you were trying to earn. Start telling the story.
Message: one central idea
The message part answers two questions for the audience: what is in this for me, and what problem does it solve? Everything you say should hang from one central idea, and you should be able to state it in a sentence before you open a single slide. If you cannot, the talk is two talks.
Support that idea with stories, examples and facts, in that order of strength. A personal story or a testimonial sticks better than a chart, and the chart then reads as evidence for something the audience already believes. Where you have data, lead with the human case and put the figure behind it.
Two habits keep the middle moving:
- Give the audience a reason to follow you to the next point. Phrases such as "my next point is" or "moving along" tell people you are working through a list. A reason works better: "that raises the obvious question of cost".
- Test every section against the central idea. If you could cut it and nobody would miss the message, cut it. The stick of rock test is a good way to check, because the same word should run through the talk wherever you break it.
For online talks the same structure applies, only shorter and sharper, with less room for tangents. The audience can leave in one click.
Recap: say it again, briefly
The old advice is to tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them. The recap is the third telling. It is short, it uses the same words you used in the message so the idea sticks, and it adds nothing new. If you notice yourself reaching for a fresh point at this stage, it belongs earlier or nowhere.
Where the talk involves other people doing things afterwards, the recap is also the place to say who does what. Actions and responsibilities are far easier to agree in the room than to chase in an email a week later.
If you take questions, put them before the recap and the call to action, not after. A good talk should not end on whatever the last question happened to be. Take the questions, then deliver a big finish on your own terms. There is more on how to end in its own guide.
Call to action: ask for one thing
The call to action is what you want the audience to think, do or feel when they walk out. It does not need a product behind it. A talk to colleagues about a new rota still needs it, even if the ask is only "try the new pattern for two weeks and tell me what breaks".
Make it clear and specific. "Think about your customers" is not an ask. "Next time you open a customer email, read it aloud first" is. Shopping channels know this well: the presenter asks for the sale. You can borrow the habit without the shouting. There is more on this in calls to action people act on.
Pick one of the three verbs and stay with it. A talk that asks the audience to think, do and feel all at once will be remembered as none of them.
A worked example
Say you have ten minutes at a local business network to talk about switching to monthly invoicing. Here is the outline before any slides.
- Hook: a question. "Who here has chased an invoice that was already paid?"
- Message: one idea, "monthly invoicing saves a day a month and keeps clients happier". The proof is a story about one client who paid late three times, then a single figure from your own books.
- Recap: "One invoice, one date, one day saved. That is monthly invoicing."
- Call to action: "Before Friday, pick your two most regular clients and ask whether they would prefer one monthly invoice."
If the outline is clear when it is that small, the talk will be clear when you add detail.
Fill-in outline
Copy this into your notes and complete each line in one sentence.
- My audience, and what they want from this: ...
- Hook type and opening line, word for word: ...
- Central idea in one sentence: ...
- Story or testimonial that proves it: ...
- Figure or fact that backs the story: ...
- Recap line, using the same words as the central idea: ...
- Call to action: think, do or feel? The exact sentence: ...
- Closing line, word for word: ...
Then say it aloud in real time with a timer. Reading it silently tells you nothing about how long it takes.
Common mistakes
- A hook that takes two minutes. Cut the background and begin at the interesting part.
- Two central ideas. Pick the stronger one and save the other for another day.
- A recap that is really a new section. Keep it to the words you have already used.
- A vague call to action. If you cannot picture someone doing it on Monday morning, rewrite it.
- Ending on a question from the floor. Take questions first, then finish on your own line.
- Saying the labels out loud. "Now for my recap" is signposting, not speaking. Say the recap.
Related guides
- Fifty ways to open (hooks that work)
- How to end: bookends, loops, last lines
- Writing for the ear: short sentences, short words
- Words that cost you credibility: fluff, superlatives, -ly words, jargon
- WIIFM: why should anyone watch your talk or video?
- All guides and tools
The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.
Questions we get asked
What does HMRC stand for in presenting?
Hook, Message, Recap, Call to action. It is a four-part structure from the Present Yourself series and has nothing to do with the tax office. Each letter is one job: grab attention, deliver one central idea, repeat it, then ask for a response.
How do you start a presentation with a hook?
Pick one of six openers: a question, a dramatic statement, a startling statistic, a story, a testimonial or a sneak preview of what is coming. Choose the one that fits your audience, write it out and learn that opening line word for word.
Do I need a call to action if I am not selling anything?
Yes. A call to action is whatever you want the audience to think, do or feel when they leave. A talk with no ask leaves people to decide for themselves what it was for, and most of them decide nothing.
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