Make a great first impression
Good presentation skills are essential at work, improving the efficiency of communications and boosting productivity through stronger relationships.
And in every presentation, the opening few moments are always vital to success. Engage the audience, build rapport, make an impact. You’re nervous and so are they. Smile, break the ice. I read a book on customer service, which advised: ‘In the opening 20 minutes
of any interaction between a customer and a member of staff, the customer forms an impression of not just you, but your organisation’. Twenty minutes! It was an old book. These days, try half a nanosecond.
And why do we present? Presentations are either informative or persuasive. You’re telling or you’re selling. But remember – you’re always selling. You’re selling YOU. And if the audience buy you, they’ll buy whatever you say.
So, how do we ensure our presentation gets off to a great start?
You just need a good INTRO!
Let’s kick off with a suitable salutation. Now it’s time to raise the Interest levels in the room. How? Perhaps a sizzling anecdote or fascinating fact? Or a dazzling picture on the big screen, which provokes many questions? Or, a short DVD? Make sure there’s a clear link to the main topic.
Next, we point out that they Need to know what we’re about to share. There’s the classic WIIFM approach (what’s in it for me?). Sell the benefits of your presentation message from their perspective: “what this means for you is….” Dangle the carrot! Alternatively, if you KYA (know your audience), then you might decide on a different strategy: abandon the carrot and go for the stick!
One such sticky approach is to use SIS (situation, implications, solution). Describe the current challenging situation, remind the audience of the terrible implications of not listening to your message and complying with it, and offer a solution: do what I’m proposing! Using SIS as a form of leverage is unlikely to put a smile on the faces in the audience. However, they may not be happy, but at least they understand why they are not!
Next up it’s T for Timings. Tell them when you start, when you finish and when the breaks are. Let the audience know how and when they can Respond to your presentation. State your question policy! This can save you a lot of frustration and interruptions during delivery. For a short presentation, let’s leave the Q&A until the end. Or, for a longer presentation, let them know they can ask as we go along. Either way, let them know at the beginning!
Let’s finish off our INTRO: Clarify the overall Objective of your presentation. “I’m here today to inform/advise/convince/etc”. Why are you presenting? You know why, so share it with the audience.
Remember INTRO… Interest-Need-Timings-Respond-Objective
Conclusion
What have we learnt? You only get one chance to make a good first impression, and when presenting the opening few moments are extremely important. You are at your most nervous, and things are most likely to go wrong. So, get the audience interested in your content, point out that they need to hear it – don’t just tell it, sell it! Let them know about the timings and how and when they can ask questions, and clarify your overall objective for being there – you can learn how to in one of our presentation training London courses. A good start really does work wonders – for them and you!
