The ultimate door opener. The opening and closing of your presentation are your greatest opportunities to create impact with your audience. You must grab them right away and leave them changed in some way. These first and last minutes of your presentation can make or break your outcome. Why not invite them (or entice them) in…

It’s critical that you spend time scripting, practicing, and rehearsing these sections of your presentation. Never wing it. Plan it. Commit to memory. Time it.  Walk it through.  Practice it until you have it near perfect. Execute it brilliantly.

Here are five strategies for creating a more powerful opening and closing to your presentations:

1. Take them to the promised land;
2. Avoid palaver or idle chatter;
3. Put the good stuff upfront in the presentation;
4. Avoid the weak wind down;
5. Your energy will make all the difference.

Here’s more insight into each of these five strategies:

Take them to The Promised Land. The idea here is that you must grab their attention immediately. Capture their attention right off the bat with some powerful statements. Give them a compelling WHY they should listen to you.

Avoid palaver or idle chatter. Resist the temptation to waste the precious few minutes of your presentation opening with a general greeting such as:
“Good Morning Everyone. I hope that you all slept well and that you are as excited as I am to be here for this meeting.” While civil and polite, this is just meaningless chatter. It’s a waste of your time and theirs. They know that it is morning. It’s up to you to make it good.

Move the Good Stuff Up Front. I was working with one key marketing executive at a leading financial services firm. She had made some powerful statements about mid-way through her presentation. We pulled those statements up front to create a gripping beginning. Think of it as re-arranging the furniture or pictures in a room. A little change can make all the difference in impact.

Avoid the Weak Wind Down. Your closing comment(s) is the second most important time in your presentation. Most presenters never consider how they are going to close the presentation. They just let it happen, usually by either running out of time or asking a throw-away question like Are there any questions? Don’t let your presentation close by itself. End solidly and with purposeful intent. Demonstrate one more time that you are expert in your field and clearly in charge of this presentation. Seal the deal.

Your Energy Will Make the Difference. There is no substitute for a genuine enthusiasm and belief in your topic. The energy you bring to the presentation by way of your voice, your movement, your passion, and your creativity will go miles toward creating a more powerful, lasting impact. You have control over the volume on that energy. Personally, I like to start with high energy, but you choose the intensity level based on the response you wish to create and your preferred style. Stage it. Choreograph it. But at the very least, think about how energy will play into your presentation.

Some of my favorite techniques for opening and closing a presentation include:

Techniques for Presentation Openings:

1. Tell a Personal Story. Get personal. Launch immediately into your personal story. Assume a casual, friendly posture to make it feel like it’s just you and one other.
2. H.M.O.Y. which stands for How Many of You Have… Start with questions that get people immediately involved by raising their hands. A series of three H.M.O.Y. questions is a fun and easy way to start your presentation. Here’s how it might work…

Let me begin by asking you a few questions…
How many of you came here today to learn more about the state of our business and our changing relationship with customer ________?  [Raise your own hand high…and pause.]
That’s great…
How many of you came here today to find out if and how this situation might impact you and your specific line of business?   [Again, raise your own hand high as an example of what you want them to do…and then pause.]
That’s great…
How many saw a bunch of your colleagues going somewhere and followed along because you thought there must be free food involved?  [Raise hand, pause and allow for the laughter.]
That’s great….
Well my name is _____________ and today I’m going to share with you_________

Techniques for Presentation Closings:

True confessions. I have always been challenged with how to close my presentation. I would never plan it and just pray that it would go well at the end. The result was that I usually over talked, rushed and ran out of time. Aware of my weakness, I have pushed myself to plan ahead and to experiment with my presentation closings.

I have recently had a lot of fun using physical prop to create a lasting visual memory. Using a simple everyday object, you can create a memorable and meaningful connection between the object and your key message. I have successfully used Boomerangs, women’s shoes, and river rocks. Get creative and leave them with something to remember you by.

Here’s an example of how I used a Boomerang to close my Motivated Networking Follow-up presentation:

Check out our Presentation Tips for more ideas on how you can become a more powerful and motivated presenter.

To raise the bar on the presentation skill and confidence of you and your team, call Kathy McAfee at (860) 408 -0033 or check out our presentation training workshop series The Motivated Presenter:

• Level 1: Essential Fundamentals of High Engagement Presentations
• Level 2: Advanced Delivery Techniques for High Engagement Presentations

Here’s to your presentation success!

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