Methods & strategies: How to start your presentation or discussion Hook them in 30 seconds: How to start your presentation “When you advertise fire-extinguishers, open with the fire,” said legendary advertiser David Ogilvy. Grabbing your audience’s attention right away is crucial in both TV ads and presentations. Presentation coach Bruna Martinuzzi’s advice is to surprise your listeners with a well-placed hook that should be “brief, well-rehearsed and pertinent to your topic.” She describes a few successful approaches. ■■ Use a contrarian approach. Make a statement of a universally accepted concept, then go against conventional wisdom by contradicting the statement. For example, a market trader starts by contradicting the commonly held advice of buying low and selling high. He says: “It’s wrong. Why? Because buying low typically entails a stock that’s going in the opposite direction – down – from the most desired direction – up.” This is a provocative opening that engages the audience right away. ■■ Ask a series of rhetorical questions. A common way to engage the audience at the start is to ask a rhetorical question. Better still, start with a series of rhetorical questions. A good example of this tactic is Simon Sinek’s TED presentation. He starts with: “How do you explain when things don’t go as we assumed? Or better, how do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions? For example, why is Apple so innovative? ... Why is it that they seem to have something different? Why is it that Martin Luther King led the civil rights movement?” A series of rhetorical questions stimulate the audience’s mind as they ponder the answers. ■■ Make a startling assertion. A sure-fire way to gain people’s attention is by starting with a startling or amazing fact. Take the time to research […] statistics that illustrate the seriousness of what you’re going to talk about. For example, a presentation about conservancy can start with: “Every second, a slice of rainforest the size of a football field is mowed down. That’s over 31 million football fields of rainforest each year.” ■■ Use the word “imagine”. The word “imagine” invites the audience to create a mental image of something. Ever since John Lennon’s famous song, it has become a powerful word with emotional appeal. A particularly skilful use of the word occurs in Jane Chen’s TED talk. She speaks about a low-cost incubator that can save many lives in underdeveloped countries. Chen opens by saying: “Please close your eyes and open your hands. Now imagine what you could place in your hands, an apple, maybe your wallet. Now open your eyes. What about a life?” As she says this, she displays a slide with an Anne Geddes image of a tiny baby held in an adult’s hands. There is power in asking the audience to conjure up their imagination, to play along. ■■ Arouse curiosity. You can start with a statement that is designed to arouse curiosity and make the audience look up and listen to you attentively. Bestselling author Dan Pink does this masterfully in one of his talks. He says: “I need to make a confession at the outset. A little over 20 years ago, I did something that I regret. Something that I am not particularly proud of, something that in many ways I wished no one would ever know, but that here I feel kind of obliged to reveal. In the late 1980s, in a moment of youthful indiscretion, I went to law school.” Curiosity here leads to some self-deprecating humour, which makes it even more effective. ■■ Use quotations differently. Many speakers start with an apt quotation, but you can differentiate yourself by stating the quotation and then adding a twist to it. For example, “We’ve all heard that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. But we need to remember that a journey to nowhere also starts with a single step.” ■■ Take them through a “what if” scenario. A compelling way to start your presentation is with a “what if” scenario. For example, asking “What if you were debt-free?” at the start of a money management presentation might grab your listeners’ attention as it asks them to look forward to a positive future. It can intensify their desire for your product or service. Using a “what if” scenario as an opening gambit is easily adaptable to almost any presentation. ■■ Tell them a story. Stories are one of the most powerful ways to start a presentation. Nothing will compel listeners to lean in more than a well-told story. Science tells us that our brains are hardwired for storytelling. But the story needs to be brief, with just the right amount of detail to bring it to life. It must be authentic and must have a message to support your viewpoint. How-to [A] 7.2 Search for it online or scan this page with the QuickMedia app 68 Key aspects Strategies Sample tasks 7 Media & social networks Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum d s Verlags öbv
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