A good presentation can be a delightful experience, an elegant performance, and an unforgettable show for its audience."
The opening is one of the most important parts of a presentation. This is where you either keep your audience's attention for the rest of your speech or lose it for good.
A good opening will:
Create an audience connection—it is estimated that an audience will form an opinion of you within the first 90 seconds.
Make certain that you stand out for the right reasons!
Makes the audience sit up, take notice, and gives them a reason to listen to you by providing a "hook" (another reason for knowing your audience and their background).
Here are four ideas for memorable and catchy openings. Don't miss out!
Consider the following scenario:
Request that the audience imagine a scenario. The first word used in this method is "imagine..." or "suppose." You then present to the audience a scenario to which they can relate and which serves as the main focus of your presentation. This method works best if you don't introduce yourself first and instead 'hit them' with this statement.
Example
"Suppose you could reduce your equipment downtime by 10%; how would that affect your profit and productivity?" says a computer science research student. My name is....., and this is the topic of my research."
What and why is the second opening?
Why and what
Tell them what you're going to do and why you're doing it. This is a more "traditional" way of starting a presentation, but it can also be delivered in a way that makes it relevant and interesting.
Example
“Hello, I'm here today to talk about how to target your customers and how my approach has resulted in a significant increase in sales. I'll show you why current methods don't work, what my alternative is, and how even I was surprised by the sales increase and staff cost reduction I achieved."
This variation:
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It does not repeat your name or title.
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Informs the audience of what they are about to hear (providing signposting and presentation flow)
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The audience is drawn in because there is something directly in it for them (profit and commission)
Opening 3 - Thought-provoking
This method can be especially effective if you show only one figure as the audience settles in, rather than an opening title and name slide. This ensures that the audience has already developed an interest in what you are about to say by attempting to determine what the number/statistic relates to. It's a little like a crime show that doesn't finish the 'mystery' until after the break or another night.
The only rule of thumb is that your statistic must be directly related to your audience and the main goal/message of your presentation.
Example
According to a 2011 report, there were 3.6 million poor children in the United Kingdom. This equates to 27% of the child population, or slightly more than one in every four. 3.6 million is too large for most people to reference and contextualize, but 27%, or one in four, is manageable. Especially if you then directly relate this to the audience by telling a 400-person audience that poverty will affect 108 of them, or even better, getting 108 of them to stand up as a visual representation (the easiest way of doing this is placing 108 colored pieces of card or paper on chairs prior to your presentation)
Opening 4 - Get the audience involved.
Getting a show of hands or asking a question are two ways to get the audience involved.
Example
Insert a slide with the relevant statistic and ask the audience, "Hands up all those of you who got a good night's sleep last night?" A certain percentage will raise their hands after a brief burst of chatter and laughter. You then present your statistic: "It is estimated that one in every three people in the UK suffers from insomnia, and I / my team have been researching ways to reduce this number, which is great news for those of you who didn't raise your hands!"
As previously stated, some openings are better than others depending on your style, topic, and audience. The central premise, however, remains the same: your opening must capture the audience's imagination, distinguish you from the competition, give the audience a reason to listen to you, and support your main message.
Thank you for reading!
