As usual, you’re right on about the problems with emphasising the “hook” at the beginning of a presentation, especially for people who are new to presenting. It can work about as well as opening with a joke, which is to say, not at all.

In my post I was probably projecting a bit too much of my situation into the advice for new presenters – I do a lot of conference keynotes and such, and organisers expect me to do a dynamic and somewhat controversial presentation. For a new presenter, suggesting that they try to come up with a clever hook was bad advice, or at least bad wording, on my part.

The important point is that you need some sort of an opening statement, which doesn’t have to be dramatic – it just has to be better than “Here’s the agenda for my presentation today…” which we’ve all seen far too often. The post you referenced (“Three Levels of Presentation Openings”) gives excellent advice on doing this.

Clients hounded me start teaching my “Facilitation and Presentations” class again, and next week is the first delivery in several years. (Yes, I’m a wee bit nervous.) I will definitely point everyone at your site as a primary source of excellent information.

Cheers,
Alec

- For beginner presenters don’t worry too much about the “hook” at the beginning of the presentation. see http://www.speakingaboutpresenting.com/content/presentation-openings-levels/ .
- Put your central point (what I call the key message) at the beginning of your presentation, as well as at the end.

Olivia

This is a wonderful post of 7 (“The Magical Number Seven…”) points for new presenters. It made me realise that when I’m teaching / coaching new presenters, I haven’t given enough attention to your #1 and #2 points about content. They’re spot on. I really stress points #5 (audiences are basically sympathetic – don’t mess it up, or, as Chris’ post said, they want you to succeed) and #7 (speak to one person at a time – and remember to go back to your “supporters” when you need a boost.)

Now, what’s the most useful piece of advice for new presenters? Two things people have told me they found most useful are:

1 – Even if you’re doing something seemingly dry, like a technical presentation or a status update, remember that you’re telling a story. And, as in the movies, you should storyboard it. I use the “5 bubbles” or “5 frames” approach – most presenters and presentation coaches have a similar framework.
1 – Get their attention with a “hook” that establishes why they even want to listen. It might be something counter-intuitive that jolts them, or something they strongly agree with that you have interesting backup for – there’s no formula other than knowing what matters to them, and how your presentation relates.
2, 3, 4 – describe the three key points you need (not want) to make to back up your contention / conclusion.
5 – wrap it up in the conclusion that you set out to bring them to, with a call to action if that’s appropriate.
I summarize it as “hook, line, and sinker.”
The central point is that you should be able to reduce your entire presentation down to a few sentences – a very short but compelling story – that you relate at the beginning of the presentation in a more interesting and cohesive way than the usual outline or agenda. I always think in terms of “what if I only had one minute to make my point?”

2 – Like the ancient Greeks did, establish the “rhetorical context” – audience, occasion, and purpose.
Audience – who are the participants, what are their biases, interests, demographics, and other components of their world view?
Occasion – not just the presentation itself (e.g., informal “lunch and learn” vs. conference session) but what’s going on in their world? (e.g., the company posted a record-setting quarterly loss yesterday and you’re seeking approval for an expensive initiative.)
Purpose, theirs and yours – what do they want out of the presentation (other than just getting out!) and what do you want out of the presentation?
The central point? Consider these, WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU CONCLUDE, and then ask “how will this affect my content and delivery?”

There’s lots more I could say, but, as usual, I’ve turned a comment into a mini blog post. Thanks again for a great post.

Alec

I’ve always thouth that content is king and delivery is its helpful or unhelpful servant. If people leave a presentation commenting on my delivery — “whew, I really liked the way he gestured” — the speech was a failure. I want people to remember my ideas and act on them.

Delivery is important, but it can be — and often is — overemphasized. There’s a reason for that: it’s easier to focus on externals — how you look and sound — than to create a compeling message.

And I agree that an audience will forgive most things, except lack of preparation (or anything that produces a really boring speech). It helps me to remember that audiences want speakers to succeed. Who wants to sit through a bad presentation?

Best, Chris