Powerful ways to open and close a presentation
- 1. Powerful Ways to Open a Presentation We’ve all been there before: staring at the glow of your blank computer screen with no idea on how to open or start your talk. For starters, you should never be staring at PowerPoint with no clear objective (that’s a conversation for another day), but let’s be honest, we’ve all struggled with the best ways to open a presentation. It’s time to get unstuck. Here are 5 powerful ways to open a presentation: 1. Use Silence Most people won’t be able to pull this off very easily, but if you are feeling like a rockstar during your next presentation, opt for silence. Say a few words then be quiet. Say a few more words then be quiet. It’s a quick and easy way to own the room. Just make sure you can hold your composure. 2. Point to the Future or Past I have two simple statements for you: -Prospective (looking to the future): “30 Years from now, your job won’t exist.” -Retrospective (looking to the past): “In 1970, Japan owned 9% of the market. Today, they own 37%.” The reality is that looking into the future or past always sparks engagement since that’s where our hearts live. 3. Quote Someone The easiest way to open a talk is simply to quote someone. Think about that last presenter you heard when they opened their talk with a quote from Albert Einstein or Napoleon. A quote equals instant credibility. 4. Share Something Extraordinary I don’t know about you, but I love Snapple. Even more so, I love their bottle caps since they always share fun facts or extraordinary insight into ordinary things. Is my life going to be improved because I know how many times a bee’s wings flaps in a second? No. Is it crazy interesting? Yes. 5. Tell a Story Here’s the amazing thing about stories: If your presentation is based solely on facts and stats then your audience is going to react in one of two ways: 1) agree or 2) disagree. However, if you tell a
- 2. story, your audience will participate with you. Still not sold? Stories have been known to increase audience retention by up to 26%. So, what are you waiting for? Experiment. Try something new. Step outside your comfort zone. You’ll see some amazing results by trying any one of these techniques. 5 Powerful Ways to Close a Presentation We live in a world of judges: You will be judged by each and every person during your next presentation. Sound intimidating? It should be. No one ever said giving presentations is easy. So, how do you minimize the level of judgment that will be placed upon you? Your close is just as important as your open — it’s your lasting impression on your audience, your final words of wisdom. Your open grabs people’s attention; your close leaves them in awe. Here are five powerful ways to do that: 1. Circle Back Around I love films that provide me with a sense of closure. One movie that comes to mind is Mel Gibson’s film, Apocalypto, a tale about a warrior fleeing possible death from the Mayans in the deep recesses of the jungle. What makes this movie beautiful is that it starts with the cameras entering the jungle and ends with the camera exiting the jungle, providing a complete sense of closure. As an audience member you completely understand that the adventure is over for now. 2. Build Up to Something Since we are taking some inspiration from Hollywood in this post, make sure you take a lesson from M. Night Shyamalan, director of The Sixth Sense: Have a climatic ending! Create that ―I had no idea… ‖ experience. 3. Repeat the Important Stuff Author Daniel Pink often states that presentations are all about brevity, levity and repetition. I want to focus on the latter. If you are making a handful of significant points throughout your talk, use your ending to remind your audience of those items. 4. Have a Call to Action I have seen one too many presentations where the presenter never invites the audience to do something with the new information that was just presented. Audiences are always thinking – ―What’s the next step?‖ Download a PDF? Buy a book? Contact someone? The audience has just invested 30, 60, or 90 minutes looking for a value-add, so make sure you provide purpose to your talk by creating a compelling call to action.
- 3. 5. Inspire Every great journey begins with a single step. Unfortunately, most people aren’t willing to even take that action. If you find it challenging to do any of the above, then seek to create inspiration. Every human being loves a good ―pick me up,‖ so if you can encourage your audience to take that first step, you have added more benefit than you can possibly imagine. Are you going to be judged during your next presentation? Sure thing. Should you be nervous? You bet. Are you going to look amazing embracing these principles? Oh yeah…you’ve got this covered.