10 things to help you start brilliantly

So many people ask how do you start well in a presentation, and in a previous post I talked about learning from Shakespeare to make maximum impact in those first few seconds. It’s a 2000 year old lesson to learn and is the foundation of story structure. Remember that the first 2 minutes are the point at which you have the audience’s full attention, so the best presenters use that full attention to full effect. To intrigue, interest and take control of the room- to allow their story to be told. Here are 10 things to help-

Before the event –

• Contact as many people as you can before the date and ask them what they want to get out of the session, what they’d like to know and what they don’t want.  Even if they don’t respond, they’ll remember you asked them and it will warm you to them.
• Get a list of names before the event and memorize as much of the list as you can, then fit faces to names as they walk in to the room.

On the day –

• Meet people (even if you know them) as they come into the room, shake hands, have a brief chat with them to help show your confidence and ‘break the ice’.
• Tell them who you are and why you’re there (I’m the person who knows this system as well as anybody in the world and I’d like to help you learn how to make the most of this excellent piece of software…’).

At the very start of the presentation –

• Tell them what they’re going to get out of being here (You’ll get an interesting, useful and memorable set of hints and tips that will help you to make the most of the investment you’re making….).
• Tell them how long you’ll be and that if they ‘do with patient ears attend…’ they’ll get lots out of the session. (I’ll talk for 20 minutes, and you’ll see how useful this product will be for you…).
• Tell them what you want them to do to get the most out of the talk. (Please feel free to ask questions as we go through and help me to give you what you need, though if I’m going to cover the point later I may ask you to be a little patient with me…’).
• Match your energy to the energy in the room (just above the energy level of a quiet room and just below that of a noisy room).
• Take them through the ‘story structure’ for the presentation so they see your logic at the start.
• Do your introduction to a blank screen at the start so they focus on you and use the story structure slide for the ‘bridge’ to Act 1  Then you’re in control and ready to go.

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