Anyone who has listened to me for any length of time knows how much importance I place on a strong start to your presentation. It’s a show biz maxim. Start strong – finish strong.
That first minute sets the tone, wakes them up, grabs attention and tells them you mean business.
And here’s a technique I often mention: say something counter-intuitive.
Say something crazy.
Start right off and bust a myth or two. After all you are probably not there to tell them things they already know. You probably want to break some of their misconceptions and replace them with your brilliance. Or maybe even your affordable widget.
A good exercise is to explore these counter-intuitive ideas and even list them. What are the most outrageous things you can say about your topic?
I have found, from reading a lot of scripts and seeing a lot of presentations, that these controversial nuggets are often right there in the material. They are frequently buried and not up front.
If you are sure about your convictions. If you know you can show them a better way, then bust open those bad ideas and promote your better ones. Maybe even right in the beginning.
An example: The best way to almost instantly improve your presentation is not to learn better presentation skills. The best way is to build a clearer, more logical presentation. Once you have created a great presentation, then you can learn to deliver it more effectively.
Search for those commonly held beliefs that you can break. It will set you and your ideas, products or services apart as leaders. Just make sure you can back it all up.
I know this sounds crazy, but…
Get more crazy but proven ideas here: https://ready2speak/coaching
Tom
