Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “Opening”
Your first words are important because your audience is judging you. They are scrolling through questions in their mind:
Should I listen? How long will this take? Do I trust the person? How painful will this be? When will we get to the relevant part? What does this mean to me?
The purpose of your opening is to grab their attention, establish rapport and set the direction.
Most importantly – grab attention. How might you do that?
How to open your presentation
Your first words are important because your audience is judging you. They are scrolling through questions in their mind:
Should I listen? How long will this take? Do I trust the person? How painful will this be? When will we get to the relevant part? What does this mean to me?
The purpose of your opening is to grab their attention, establish rapport and set the direction.
Most importantly – grab attention. How might you do that?
Spend more time and effort getting your opening and close right.
When creating your opening and close, consider the possibility that they might only remember these two parts. If that was true, would they have received your intended message? If not, revise your opening and close. The body is the detail, the opening and close provide the motivation and the direction.
Open Your Presentation with Contrast to grab Attention. Why open you presentation with contrast? To grab attention, to engage, to trigger thinking. To highlight the difference between two opposite choices and the resulting outcomes. To create curiosity, stimulate interest and insight intrigue.
Those opening moments of your presentation are critical to establish your credibility and confidence with the audience. Don’t waste that time trying to work up your confidence. Instead, start with confidence and convey that with your first words. You owe that to your audience before you can expect them to listen to your presentation.
Fully engage your audience with your stories by putting them in the story. Help them see and feel the circumstances personally.
Imagine how your audience feels when they experience your story as opposed to simply hearing it.
The opening to your presentation is critical to your success. You shouldn’t be surprised that poor speakers have poor openings. When you speak, you can recover from many mistakes during your presentations – but a weak opening isn’t one of them. Be sure to start your presentation strong.
The beginning of your speech is the first impression for your audience. You want to convey a positive message because that determines how they initially judge you and your message. It might even determine if they will listen.
Don’t start your presentation with these mistakes.
You only have a few seconds to set the tone for your presentation. A good start paves the road to success while a weak opening can slam shut the door to success.
Your opening must accomplish three objectives.
