You have five to ten seconds to grab the attenion of your audience when you start the presentation.
What can you do to grab their attention?
Adjust your mindset to recognize the importance of those first few seconds. It’s up to you to grab them.
Avoid cliches and wasted words. That includes, “Thank you for having me.”, “Glad to be here.”. “My name is…”, “You’re a beauiful audience.”
Plan the first words to engage. Speak to them and their concerns. Don’t talk about yourself.
Open with a bold statement, a promise of what they will get, or an intriguing question.
Speak directly to the audience, one person at at time. Do NOT read your opening, because that is cold and impersonal.
Before you speak, walk calmly and purposefully to center stage. Pause for three to five seconds to ensure you have their attention. Then you speak. That pause before you speak is critical becuase it demonstrates your confidence and that you want them to listen before you speak.
First impressions count. imagine if you could have them with “hello”.
What can you do and say to grab attention when you start your presentation? When seconds matter, every word and pause counts. Don’t wing it. Don’t stumble. Instead, prepare your opening words to grab attention and get your presentation started on the right foot.
Movie Lines to Open your presentation
What we have here is a failure to communicate.
Follow the yellow brick road.
I want what she’s having.
Quotes from Literature
To be or not to be.
It was the best of times. It was the worst of times
Words matter especially at the begining of your speech. Don’t start with a joke. Don’t talk about yourself. Review these ten opening mistakes and save yourself grief of a failed opening.
Ten Mistakes to Avoid When Opening Your Speech
Imagine if you could open your presentaiton with pizzazz everytime you speak. That’s what you’re learn from this practical and powerful ebook. You can apply the techinques in your next presentation, then repeat and hone them for each presentation. You’ll read this book several times to reinforce the tips while you adapt them to your standard presentation.
Want help writing that opening line? You’ll find the answer here. What are the non-verbals you can use to grab attention? What ar the magic words that make the difference? Get this email now.
Open Your Presentation with Pizzazz
Short answer, No, No, No!
There’s an old myth that you should start your speech with a joke. You are not a talk show host. You are not a comedian. It would be nice to use humor during your speech. But, don’t start with a joke beause it has nothing to do with your message. It often falls flat and you lost credibilty. Instead you want to engage your audience with your key message.
Take lessons from Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities.
What’s the conflict between the best of times and worst of times?
How might you use that language in your opening?
Black and white. Good and evil. Hot and cold. Leverage contrast to grab attention.
Silly phrases to avoid when you start speaking. Instead what might you say to grab attention and establish credibility with your audience? Here are opening phrases you might use to grab attention when you start speaking.
Grab Attention When You open Your Presentation
Recognize that it’s okay to feel anxious. The audience doesn’t need to know that you might feel that. Prepare yourself by knowing the opening without needing to read it. Calm yourself with slow and deep breathing before you start. Walk slowly and purposefully on stage. Pause for at least three seconds before you start. Smile and speak.
The best opening is one that captures attention within five seconds and leads to your main message.
That might be a provocative statement, a bold promise or a challenging question. You want to immediately engage the audience and make it about them and the value they will receive from your presentation.
It might be from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. It depends on the full length of the presentation. 30 seconds for a five-to-15-minute presentation. 3 to 5 minutes for a 30–60-minute presentation.
No!
If you aren’t a stand-up comic or talk show host don’t’ start with a joke because it will probably fail. Even their jokes fail at times, and you don’t know how to recover from a bad start. Often the speaker tells a joke that sounded funny in the bar but doesn’t work on stage. It has nothing to do with the message and the audience is wondering, “What was that about?”
No need to apologize for the weather, poor lighting, late start or your bad hair day. Start with a positive attitude. Don’t start by reading your notes or worse – the slides because that is agonizing for the audience. Don’t play with the microphone and ask, “Can you hear me now?” because that smacks of amateur and unpreparedness.
Is it okay to start with a question?
Yes. And some questions are better than others. A better question is one that immediately engages them because it speaks to them about their concerns. Engage them by entering the conversation in their minds. Address their fears, concerns and hopes with your question.
Don’t play silly games by asking them to validate you. Don’t ask them to raise their hands right at the start because they’re not ready yet to play and that’s about you.
Yes, of course, because that is a powerful way to start. Put them into the story immediately, Paint the picture, the challenge and the resolution. That could be a success story or a painful failure. Both work if they can relate. Don’t tell us how you climbed Mount Everest and therefore we can too. We can’t relate.
This is the purpose of your opening. Grab their attention within 5 seconds. Start with a calm dramatic pause. Be sure that everyone is listening before you speak while you make eye contact around the room. Own the room before you speak. Start with a bold statement or intriguing question. Then pause again to let it sink in. Make it clear that you are not going to ramble, you are going to challenge them.
It’s the fist impression of you and the presentation. The audience makes instant decisions about how well they will listen and if they believe and trust you.
During the opening they are ticking the boxes in their mind: Should I listen? Do I believe this person? Do I trust this person? Should I leave early? Should I check my messages instead?
Yes and no. “What I’m going to cover is about you and your agenda.” That’s the typical teacher and professor approach. They simply want to cover their material because that’s what they get paid for – covering – not teaching or connecting.
When you want the audience to listen, tell then what they will gain and learn and how they will benefit from what they hear today. Make it about the benefit for your audience not about your “to do list”.
Effective communication starts by understanding the principles, then developing your skills with practice and coaching.
