Comments on: Three levels of presentation openings – which should you use?

By: Olivia Mitchell

Olivia Mitchell — Mon, 24 May 2010 09:34:49 +0000

Hi Shankar
That does sound like a great system for opening a presentation.
Olivia

By: Shankar Nath

Shankar Nath — Mon, 24 May 2010 03:30:22 +0000

When addressing a group of juniors at work, I always use the Steve Jobs Stamford Univ. Commencement Speech pattern. Here’s how he did it -
Sentence 1 – “I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.” (Praise the audience)
Sentence 2 – “Truth be told, I never graduated from college and this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation.” (Connecting with the audience)
Sentence 3 – “Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.” (Set the agenda)

I call this the NOBO approach (NO-Brainer-Opening) and has worked everytime I address my staff members who are junior to me and esp. in sales meetings.

By: bunny_car (bunny_car)

bunny_car (bunny_car) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 07:26:08 +0000

http://tinyurl.com/cfsg2w
Presentation Openings | Speaking about Presenting: Presentation Tips from Olivia Mitchell

By: 10 Steps to Promote Learning in Your Conference Presentation « ALA Learning

10 Steps to Promote Learning in Your Conference Presentation « ALA Learning — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:37:34 +0000

[...] that is about to take place. Olivia Mitchell, who blogs over at Speaking and Presenting, suggests three possible openings – Organized Opening, Story Opening, Dramatic Opening — and discusses when/why to use [...]

By: Life After PowerPoint! » Blog Archive » Where to Start a Speech

Life After PowerPoint! » Blog Archive » Where to Start a Speech — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:25:47 +0000

[...] I’ve blogged about ways to begin a speech here and Olivia Mitchell offers her insights here. [...]

By: Ricardo Bueno

Ricardo Bueno — Fri, 01 May 2009 18:52:09 +0000

Hi Olivia!

Thank you for the quick response and the reinforcement! I never opened up with an extensive business/company profile because I didn’t want to come across as pushy. I guess I figured “I’m here to be helpful and if people see value in what I do, they’ll ask me for help afterwards” – and those are the kind of people I ultimately want to work with anyhow.

What I don’t have are handouts. I have my business cards and I direct people to website (portfolio and blog) and schedule appointments then and there. I’m often pretty good about follow up to which has worked well. BUT…maybe I should cook up a few hand-outs to compliment my presentation

Thanks Olivia!

By: Olivia Mitchell

Olivia Mitchell — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:22:08 +0000

Thanks Ricardo for adding your experience. Notice that I say that opening with a question is “risky” not that it shouldn’t be done. The risk is that some audiences who are conditioned to take a very passive role during a presentation will not respond. The riskiness also depends on the personality of the presenter – if you’re the type who can develop instant rapport – the risk will be less. So congrats that it works for you – and it may not work for everyone and for every audience.

I definitely don’t recommend opening with your business/company profile. People aren’t interested in this until they’ve decided that they might want to do business with you. As not everybody in your audience is likely to be interested in this, I would recommending putting this information in a handout.

Olivia

By: Ricardo Bueno

Ricardo Bueno — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:10:05 +0000

I tend to open with a question. And when I read “this seems like a good idea” I was feeling confident until you followed up with “I think using your very first words to ask a question is risky.”

Ha!

Well my experience for the most part has been positive. People don’t expect my question, they raise their hand (I say “raise your hand if you think ________), laugh for a moment and at that point I know that I’ve loosened up the crowd. So far, so good.

I feel weird opening up with a strict presentation of my business/company profile. Is that wrong? Would you advise opening up with that as opposed to closing?

By: Olivia Mitchell

Olivia Mitchell — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:31:36 +0000

Hi Chris

I agree that the audience can be a little distracted as they get used to you at the beginning of your presentation. So I recommend not saying anything absolutely critical in the first minute or two.

Olivia

By: Andrew Lightheart @alightheart

Andrew Lightheart @alightheart — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 07:20:22 +0000

The beginning is very much where you have to answer the loudest questions in people’s minds.

I like the way you’ve ranked the beginnings in order of difficulty.

You *do* need some chutzpah to start with a dramatic opening – and if it’s not your style, it can fall flat.

One of the questions to answer is ‘Which of my problems are you about to solve?’. In the first few sentences, I’d say.

You’re also on the money with allowing people to get used to you in the first minute or two – depending (of course) on the group’s familiarity with you.

Nicely done!