Starting your presentation on the right foot is arguably more important than any other element of your talk. As a presentation design agency, we know–because we’ve seen it done very right, and very wrong.
How are you starting your presentation?
There’s this school of thought going around recently that skipping a strong intro in favor of getting “straight to the point” is advantageous. While, yes, brevity is more important than ever for our ever-shrinking attention spans, your introduction should never be shortchanged.
Giving your audience a reason to resonate with your message up-front gives you a huge advantage in the long-term. In fact, storytelling causes the whole internal neural network of an audience to come in sync with the storyteller’s brain according to this fMRI study. Successful presentations allow audiences to come along on a journey.
Establish yourself as a credible guide with these 3 presentation design agency-approved intros for your next big showcase.
Ignite Imagination
Have you ever found yourself lost in a “what if” scenario? As it turns out, many successful products started as a “what if” and became a solution. Therefore, leaning into “what if” is a great way to get your audience engaged in your presentation.
Try this: describe a scenario in which all of your audience’s pain points are alleviated. Wow. What a world! Help your audience see the need for your product and feel its absence on a deeper level through a quick pulse check with imagination.
Once you’ve captured their interest by way of imagination, now they are personally invested in what you have to say next. Enjoy the feeling of satisfaction as your audience hangs on your every word.
Presentation design agency tip:
Keeping your intro hypothetical and brand-agnostic will aid in imagination. Allow your audience to dream up their own improved future before diving into details about your specific brand or offerings. Let them create a best-case scenario that you can slide your brand into later on in the presentation.
Share Shocking Stats
There’s a good chance that science can help draw people to your brand. For years, presentation design agencies have been helping clients identify jaw-dropping stats that grab attention fast.
Learning a relevant stat creates an emotional investment from your audience. Why? Because they will likely share the impressive stat later while singing your praises to their boss. They need that nugget of shock factor to start working toward implementing your new product or service into their workplace.
Let’s say you work in the car industry and you notice that most of your sales are through referrals. If you can get the stat–the more staggering the better–you can hook your audience. Instead of saying something like “referrals are powerful” you can say “91% of car sales this year were a direct result of a friend’s referral”. Now that’s something your audience will want to act on quickly!
Remember to share where your stat is coming from and why it’s credible. Follow the trail of your statistic all the way to its original source and link it in your presentation for extra credit.
Presentation design agency tip:
Creating opportunities for your listeners to share your findings with others ensures your message will last far beyond the boardroom. We call this durability. Whenever you can link durability with credibility, we consider that a winning combination!
Point to the Pain
Companies are hurting. People are frustrated. Life is hard. Now, more than ever, people are searching for a life raft. But in the search, we, as audience members, are also likely skeptical about a life raft that’s too easy to come by. Or a life raft from someone we don’t think “gets it”.
It’s easy to point to a solution–it’s harder to point to the pain.
When you take a few moments at the beginning of your talk to recognize where your industry is and why it’s gotten there, you can demonstrate empathy. That empathy should lead to greater trust from your audience. Give them a reason to know you’re on their side.
For example, we recently worked with a paint company that’s revolutionizing a sector of their industry. When the pandemic hit, an ingredient in their paint became scarce–making them unable to fulfill demand. So… they made a better paint from different ingredients.
First, it was important for them to acknowledge how frustrating not being able to produce or supply the old paint has been–and how the industry has suffered because of it. Then, they shared new information, explaining what the scarce ingredient was, where it was being diverted, and why it was not going to be available any time soon for their paint. This set them up nicely to be able to share about their exciting, new, revolutionary solution.
Pain first, then solution.
Be as specific as you can in pointing out the pain. Make your audience feel like you KNOW them because you’ve BEEN there.
Presentation design agency tip:
When getting specific, try pulling on the five senses. How does this pain look, feel, smell, taste, and/or sound? Of course, not every industry is tied to all five senses, but try to appeal to at least one. If you’re having a hard time picking one, choose smell–it’s the most memorable.
So there you have it! Three solid, presentation design agency-approved ways to begin your next talk. It doesn’t matter what industry you come from, whether you’re selling a good or a service or just relaying information. If you ignite the imagination, share a memorable stat, or empathize with pain points, you’re sure to win over your audience early. How can you get started on this today?
We know one way– tap into the resources Ethos3 has taken over 15 years to develop. Not sure what we do? Reach out to us today and we’d be happy to walk you through our suite of presentation design services, finding a customized solution for you and your unique needs.
The post 3 Openers Presentation Design Agencies Admit Work Every Time appeared first on Ethos3 – A Presentation Training and Design Agency.
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