Opening strong is a recommendation you'll hear from us in our programs—and it's fairly standard presentation advice. Most everyone will tell you to "hook the audience" and "make them want to hear more."
Practically speaking, how exactly do you do that?
It's not always easy to know. A speaker has to factor in their audience, their own speaking style, and the material they're presenting.
Here are some questions that can help you find your way to a better open—and a better overall presentation, too.
Who do I most want to reach with my message?
Often, we'll ask a speaker: Who's your audience? And they'll answer: Everyone! It's not an answer that helps. Our audience is rarely everyone—even if we're speaking to a general audience.
It might be more useful to think about who you most want to reach. For example, if there are people in an audience who agree with you and people who don't yet know what they think, you might determine that you are most interested in reaching the people who are still undecided. Or, if you know a couple of people are key to getting approval, those might be the ones you want to reach most.
What do they care about and what benefit do I bring to them?
As you define your audience, you're in a better position to think of what they care about. Are they going to be excited about a new data management process, for example? They might be, if it simplifies the work they do. Will the training you're about to deliver help them reach their personal goals or be more successful? Does your client pitch solve a problem or open up a new opportunity?
As speakers, it's our tendency to provide the what, the nut-and-bolts, often forgetting to include the why. Being clear, at the start, about the benefit of your message can get them to think tell me more or lower resistance they might have to hearing about change, learning something new, or the price of a project.
What's new or exciting in my message?
If there's something fresh, something people have been wanting, or something that will excite your audience, consider leading with it!
We've all had to sit through presentations that hold all the exciting news for the end. We'd be a lot more engaged if we knew this message was about something terrific or new.
How much knowledge do they have about the topic and how much do they want?
When we're speaking about something we know, it can be hard to see a topic from the audience point of view. Some speakers provide too much background. Others, not enough.
In general, we suggest:
- Avoid telling them things they already know. For example, don't open by saying to the head of marketing "Marketing is the lifeblood of your organization."
- Avoid launching your talk by starting at the beginning. If you need to reach back to the past, do it later—but perhaps don't start there. Start where it's most interesting, in media res.
- Avoid naming every person, using every technical term, and giving every step of the project—especially at the start. When an audience is getting into your topic, you don't want to overload them. Every name and term is another piece of information they have to grapple with that keeps them from grasping your main idea.
What's the one thing I want the audience to take away?
This can be a hard one for public speakers. Answering it can help you focus your message AND get off to a stronger start. If you're struggling to formulate your main idea into a simple sentence, you can try:
- Asking yourself, How do I hope people will respond when asked "What was that about?"
- Writing the takeaway as a paragraph, then reducing that paragraph to a sentence, then reducing that sentence to a word.
LEARN MORE
Find our step by step how-to for crafting a strong open here.
Struggling to find your main idea? See if taking the "poster approach" can help.
Wondering if you should open with a joke? Here's our take on that piece of advice.
