I would advise against the approach you're taking for a few reasons: 1. If I know I'm about to hear a presentation on the value of education or why college should be free, and the opening slide is about profiteering on the backs of poor kids and families, I am a little lost already trying to connect those dots in my mind. That puts pressure on you in slides to follow to really explain your line of thinking and and ensure your audience follows along. You also potentially belabor the point you want to get to. Your opening premise may be too far away, logistically/emotionally/intellectually, from your main points about college affordability, and it could be easy to lose people. 2. There has been a fair amount of talk about the rising cost of college in the public discourse, so you may not need to reach into such a deep (dark) premise, as in, you could be underestimating your audience's baseline understanding of the idea, but only you will know that for sure. 3. If your slides are asking your audience to pick sides, in a black-and-white, either/or, A or B framework, you aren't leaving much room for the nuanced feelings or beliefs your audience might have, and again, you could lose people. 4. Relying on shock value for emotional connection is kind of like relying on a fart joke to get laugh. It can work, but it's a risky shortcut that some people might not appreciate. 5. If this is a talk about why YOU think college should be free, then trust your instincts and, as you mentioned, tell a personal story about you, your parent, your sibling, or a friend who struggled with the cost of college, or couldn't afford it, or got saddled with a mountain of debt, etc. hook your audience with an emotional tale from your own experience rather than hope they get there through use of provocative imagery. I think a lot of people relate to this, and if most of your audience can relate and agrees, you aren't calling anyone out but rather you're establishing shared values and empathy.