Alternatively accentuating highlights can also create high contrast images with punch.
As the scene you are shooting will have lots of dark and light areas that are contrasting with each other, decisions about exposure can be tricky.  Exposing for the highlights in the scene to retain as much detail as possible is a good approach - let the blacks go black. Depending on the scene and circumstances the easiest and fastest way to do this is in Aperture Priority (Av, A) mode, using the exposure compensation dial to quickly get the right balance of light and dark tones.  Alternatively accentuating highlights can also create high contrast images with punch.  It does depend on the scene though - it is worth making many frames and assessing the results back at the computer.