How to Start Your Presentation: 7 Successful Strategies

At the beginning of your speech, you have only 60 seconds to capture the attention of the audience, gain confidence in people, orient them on the topic and set them up for further listening. If you waste precious introductory minutes with jokes, apologies, useless details, thanks or incoherent stammering, your audience's attention will be irrevocably lost. Get creative with your introduction. This is a difficult task for any speaker, and you will have to rehearse and practice the catchy opening.

1. Tell a compelling story

Storytelling is one of the most powerful techniques. Since childhood, people enjoy listening and learning from stories. Fairy tale heroes, villains from tales around campfires or theatrical characters captivate us with their dialogues, conflicts and destinies. With their help, we gain everyday experience and draw parallels with our own life. Therefore, such a technique easily holds the attention of any person.

Ideally, this should be a personal story explaining why you are puzzled by the topic of the talk. Although a story about another person that the public can recognize is also suitable. Alternatively, reveal a fable, fairy tale, wisdom, or historical event.

The point is to charm those present in 60–90 seconds and convey the key message of the entire subsequent report.

What problems did you (or someone else) face on the topic of your presentation? How did you overcome them? Who or what helped or hindered you? What conclusions have been drawn? What should your audience get and feel after reading the story?

2. Ask a rhetorical question

Rhetorical questions help persuade. If they are thought out and presented in the right form, the audience will follow the path that the speaker intended. With their help, it is easier to persuade listeners to their point of view.

Try to arouse people's curiosity with your question and make them think about the answer.

3. Voice your statistics

A bold statement containing statistics is ideal for convincing the audience to heed your recommendations and follow them in the future. The main thing is that these numbers are directly related to the main message of your speech.

For example, the vice president of sales for a leading US healthcare company successfully promotes hospital software using this method. She starts with dry but impressive numbers: “Medical errors have become the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer. We are talking about 400 thousand cases per year. This is much more than previously thought. We want to create a world without medical errors, and we need your help."

4. Use a powerful quote

List the wise words of a famous person whose name will add weight and approval to your speech. But the quote must be relevant: be relevant and relevant to your audience.

Imagine that you are convincing a group of people to reach an agreement, or you are teaching a workshop on conflict management. Starting negotiations, you could quote the words of Mark Twain: "If two people agree on everything, one of them is not needed." And the next sentence should tune in to unity: "Even though not all of us see the way out of the problem in the same way, everyone's efforts are extremely important in reaching an agreement."

5. Show a spectacular photo

A picture is worth a thousand words. Maybe more. Therefore, when possible, use pictures instead of text. A high-quality photo will make it easier to understand, capture the imagination of the audience and make the presentation more memorable.

For example, the president of an electrical sales company skillfully inspired his managers to cut costs. Instead of showing them ordinary charts, graphs and tables, he opened the meeting with a rather strange question: "Why did the Titanic sink?"

All responded in unison about the collision with the iceberg. Then the head of the company displayed an image of an iceberg on the general screen: its top was visible above the water, but much of it was hidden under the surface. “The same is in store for our company. Hidden costs are the same underwater danger that will pull us to the bottom. This visual metaphor inspired executives, and their savings proposals ultimately saved millions of dollars.

6. Add clarity

To do this, use some thematic props. It grabs the audience's attention and helps highlight your point.

For example, the head of a large insurance company, an avid tennis fan, wanted to start the annual meeting brightly and did so with a spectacular racket kick. Thus, he expressed his determination, "won a point from the competition", rallied the team and ultimately "won the Grand Slam." Over the next years, all the speakers were compared to him and his ability to deliver motivational speech.

Think about how you could use a wall clock, a colorful bag, a bunch of carrots, juggling balls, or manipulating cards to captivate listeners, add humor, and get your message across.

7. Play a short video

Imagine: you start out in front of the production department with a video in which satisfied customers give a positive feedback on your product. Or you open a fundraising event for an endangered animal with a mini-film about the Amur leopard and its offspring.

The video elicits an emotional response. Unlike words and slides, a short film catches the audience more easily, adds drama and conveys the essence of what is happening faster.