Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes - The Goodman ...

“I get right to it,” says Gerry Tabio. “I say, ‘Good afternoon everybody. Take out a piece of
paper. You’re going to make a list.’ No introduction. No how are you doing.” Joel Bradshaw
is equally quick from the starting gate. “Typically, I open with, ‘We’re going to talk about
the 2004 election,’ and I show a picture of a woman in front of a TV set sobbing. The
audience gets the point right away,” and Bradshaw’s workshop is off and running.
In Presenting to Win, Jerry Weissman says you have to hook your audience within the first
90 seconds at most. Max Atkinson believes you have even less time – 10 to 30 seconds
– making it even more imperative that you start strongly. Skilled presenters prepare and
rehearse their openings so they can talk without notes and look audience members in the
eyes at a time when most of the audience is still looking back.
Some reliable techniques for opening include:
• Telling a story that crystallizes the subject matter of your talk.
• Asking questions that make audience members consider their personal
relationship to your subject (e.g., When was the last time you sat through a truly
awful presentation?).
• Throwing out a compelling statistic (e.g., there are three times as many places to buy
guns in America as there are McDonald’s).
• Showing a picture that genuinely lives up to the “thousand words” promise.
Keep in mind, however, that diving right in does not exempt you from observing the
basic etiquette of presenting. Once you have captured the audience’s attention, it is both
permissible and advisable to spend a few moments thanking the people who invited you,
covering any ground rules for the session (e.g., when it is appropriate to ask questions), and
further establishing your credentials if the introduction omitted anything important. But
be advised: While this may be proper etiquette, you are still imposing on the good will you
have just established with your audience via your opening. So as Terrence McNally likes
to say, keep it “brief but brilliant.”
And Tell ’em How Long It Will Take
Perhaps the most familiar maxim in presenting is “Tell ’em what you’re going to tell
’em, tell ’em, and tell ’em what you told them.” To the first part, Jerry Weissman
suggests a small addition: Tell ’em how long the session will last. “When you establish
the endpoint at the beginning of your presentation,” he writes in Presenting to Win,
“instead of plunging your audience headlong into a dark tunnel, they get to see the
light at the end while they are still at the entrance. [This demonstrates] you are
aware of the value of your audience’s time and intend to use it productively.”
See Checklists to Go
for a detachable
summary of this section.
pg. 33