TIP No. 7. Begin with a relevant anecdote.

As Brown mentions in her opening, she's a storyteller, and thus she begins (and continues throughout) by telling stories. Stories have power because human beings are genetically programmed to arrange thoughts into narratives.

What's important here, though, is that her opening anecdote is immediately relevant to introducing both herself and her message. This is the exact opposite of the old (bad) advice that you should start your presentation with a joke.

TIP No. 8. Use body language to signal a segue.

At about 1:30, Brown segues neatly from her introductory anecdote into the main content of her Talk. Note how she changes her expression and stance to communicate to the audience that "now it's time to get a bit more serious."

These visual cues help the audience make sense of the material, much like punctuation in a sentence. Without them, even a speaker with great ideas can come off like a droner or a motor-mouth.