HOW TO GIVE A STUNNING INTRODUCTION (part1)

Sometime ago, a guy was asked  to speak to  a Japanese audience. Though they understood English, the presenter wanted to start his speech with something exceptional. He earnestly learned how to say good morning ladies and gentlemen in Japanese. On the day of his presentation, he began by greeting this way. It was quiet surprising but interesting to him to observe that everyone in the audience adjusted promptly to listening to him. At the end of the presentation, someone in the audience walked up to him and asked “why did you start your presentation which such a weird greeting? I was wondering why you said good morning toilets and urinals”

   His introduction though improper served its purpose- it held the attention of his audience. The experience helps us to understand why the opening statement of a presentation should be interest arousing.

    The introduction to your presentation is very crucial because your audience makes their judgment about you and how interesting your speech will be the first 60s of your speech. If your presentation is a meal, then the introduction is the aroma. A good aroma, I’m eager to taste the food, a bad one, I lose my appetite. That the audience sitting in front of you doesn’t mean they will always listen to what you have to say because they have a lot of things going through their minds. At the beginning of your presentation, you have to prove that your speech is more important for now than anything else they are thinking.

So, what’s the best way to start a presentation?  I first intend to tell you what to avoid. Don’t say ‘ my name is…., and I am   here to talk about …… that’s  just too boring.

You can use any of these:

1.     A quote

2.     A question

3.     A short story or illustration

4.     A startling experience

5.     Statistics

6.     A personal anecdote or experience

7.     Joke

8.     An expert opinion

9.     A proverb or parable

10. A success testimony

Whichever you choose to use, note that an introduction has three main purposes:

• Getting your audience attention

• Clearly identifying your subject and

• Showing why the subject is important to your audience.

Anything short of this is not a good introduction.