ENG336 Opening a presentation

Opening a presentation

Giving a presentation is like taking your audience on a journey.  At the start, your audience needs some basic information so they can accompany you on this journey. Once they have this information, they should be on your side and ready to pay attention. So begin by telling them the Who, the Why, the What and the How.

Who

Introduce yourself, either formally or informally, depending on the audience.

Formal: On behalf of ABC company, I would like to welcome you here today. My name is David Davis and I am responsible for…

Informal: How’s everybody doing today. I think most of you know me but for those of you who don’t, I’m David Davis and I’m head of marketing here at ABC.

Why

Tell your audience the destination – the reason they’re here to listen to you today.

For example: What I’d like to do today is tell you how to change your life for the better.

What

Outline the roadmap for the journey – the main points you are going to cover. Audiences listen better when they know the structure and shape of your presentation.

For example: Today I want to cover three things. I want to start with …, then I want to talk about… and finally we will look at…..

How

Clear up any questions the audience may have about how the presentation is going to unfold, such as:

Timing: My talk shouldn’t take longer than 20 minutes of your time.

Notes: You don’t need to take notes since I will be passing out handouts after my talk.

Questions: Feel free to interrupt me with questions during the presentation.

   Or…

     I’ll be taking questions / leaving time for questions… at the end of my talk, so I’ll ask you to please hold off until then.

Getting your audience’s attention:

After covering the who, why, what, and how, it is essential to “hook” your audience, i.e., make them curious and interested in what you will talk about. Three good techniques to do this are the question technique, the amazing facts technique and the story/anecdote technique.

Examples:

Question technique: Begin by asking the audience a rhetorical question and tell them you will provide the answer in your presentation.

TOPIC- Meeting deadlines: Have you ever had a lot of work to do on a short deadline? Well, today I’m going to talk about the solution to this problem.

Or

TOPIC – American culture:  How many people here today have wondered why Americans talk so loud that everyone in the restaurant they are eating in can hear their conversation? This afternoon, I am going to explain the reason for this.

Amazing facts technique: Give them some amazing fact that is related to the topic of your presentation.

TOPIC - Bangkok:  According to a survey of the readers of Travel and Leisure magazine, Bangkok is the number one city in the world.  This afternoon I’m going to try to explain why they feel this way.  

Story technique: Tell the audience a personal anecdote that relates in some way to the topic of your presentation. It should be a story that your audience can relate to and understand.

TOPIC – Deciding on a career: You know, when I was 21, I didn’t know what to do with my life. Then my friend told me I should do what I love as a career – baking cookies. Now I have my own cookie factory. Today I’m going to tell you how I did it!

Practice opening a presentation:

Practice getting your audience’s attention by completing the following sentences with your own creative ideas. Work in small groups using the techniques from the previous page to open presentations on the following topics:

A) Presentation Topic: Songkran

QUESTION TECHNIQUE 1.      Did you know that…………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….         Well, this morning I am going to …………………………………………………………………….. 2.      How many people here today have wondered why…………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………?

B) Presentation Topic: Amazing Thailand

AMAZING FACTS TECHNIQUE 1.        According to the TAT,……………………………………………………………………………………? 2.        According to a recent survey,……..…………………………………………………………………..? 3.        Statistics show that………………………………………………………………………………………..?

C) Presentation Topic: Success/Overcoming obstacles

STORY TECHNIQUE 1.      You know, a few years ago I ………………………………………………………………………….. 2.      Have you ever been in a situation where ……………………………………………………….?        Let me tell you what happened to me.  I was …………………………………………………..        ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...