First Impressions Matter Especially with Presentations
Have you ever sat through a presentation where the speaker started speaking and it was just not that interesting?
Or worse, they start speaking and there doesn’t seem to be a direction in which they are going?
Or even more deadly, they stand behind a podium and start going through a 100 slide presentation?
ARGH…
When that happens I want to run screaming out of the presentation. We’ve all been that person of course. But hopefully we learn from our mistakes.
Now when I coach my clients on performance skills and scripting their story for presentation. We spend a good amount of time working on the opening few sentences so they make a BANG.
So what we do is always craft that first few sentences to be the IMPACT! You need to make as much impact as possible when you come out on stage, so that the audience will stop what they are doing (usually looking at their phones), start listening to you, and pay attention to you for the rest of the presentation.
It’s what you do in those first few sentences which makes the most impact, and will allow you to connect with the audience and have them with you through to the end. Then you will be able to have them take the next step with you.
The next time that you give a presentation, think about what are the first few sentences coming out of your mouth and how can you make an IMPACT.
If you come out and go, “Hey everyone. Thanks for coming to this presentation today. Thank you Bob for introducing me,” that is a sure way to make sure that your audience keeps their cell phone out and keeps texting their friends or checking their email along the way.
If you come out with a very strong opening sentence, get their attention and keep that attention throughout the whole rest of your presentation, they will love you for it and they will do what you ask them to do.
Place some comments below on what your thoughts are. Or even post a few opening sentences you have found to be the most impactful.
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