How many boring presentations have started with a classic “Hi everyone, I am Donato. I work in the supply chain and I am very happy to be here”
Congratulations. You have already lost half of them.
Starting a presentation with your name and role is a classic, and it is exactly what most presenters are doing.
You might ask yourself: “Why is this a problem?”
The problem is that when people listen, they will involuntarily make a step to interpret what is going to happen, and when such an average start arrives, they will automatically think, “I’ve listened to 100 presentations like that. Why do I need to listen to the rest?”
As I mentioned, you have lost them. The best way to change is to start your presentation with something that is a little bit more surprising.
There are five techniques which are used by the most expert presenters, and I have summarized them for you here.
Technique 1: The element of surprise
Let’s start with the first one. When you start your presentation, it’s very easy to lose your listeners’ attention. But this technique fixes that with one simple trick.
I could say something like this,
47. The average software developer spends 47 hours a year fixing bugs that could have been prevented. Today, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to talk about how to write cleaner code and eliminate the most common sources of errors.
Or another one,
8. Just 8 minutes of moderate exercise can measurably improve your brain’s blood flow. Today, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to talk about what happens inside your brain when you move and how to use it to improve your focus.
You want to give people something to think about to get them engaged and avoid their interpretation of what is going to happen.
That could be an interesting statistic, an interesting fact, anything that breaks that expectation of what is expected.
Simple, but effective. The way I like it!
I know it sounds very simple, but there’s something that most people mess up all the time. And that is usually that they rush through it.
Give it a try. First, think about a topic that you would like to talk about, then, start with what could be a surprising statement.
Technique 2: Raise your hands if
A few weeks ago I gave a short talk in front of 150 scientists at Merck in Germany. My presentation was the last one before lunchtime. The audience was already thinking about their delicious meal. So I started exactly in this way:
Raise your hands if you are hungry! For sure I am, so let’s keep it exciting for the next ten minutes and we go for lunch together. Here’s another question for you…
Now, did you see what I did there? That is called a show of hands. And it’s super easy, right? You just ask a question and you ask people for the response.
This one I love to use because it’s so simple, and it engages the audience. But there’s also some complexity around it.
Anytime that you share this show of hands, most people tend to rush through it. And so, what you want to do is acknowledge the audience, like I did when I said: “For sure I am, so let’s keep it exciting for the next ten minutes and go for lunch together.”
You can play a little bit with the audience so that they feel listened to. Otherwise they’re like, “Ah, you’re just asking this for the sake of asking it.”
Technique 3: Let Them Imagine
If you want people to sympathize with a certain problem, this is the one you should use. Here’s an example:
Imagine you’re in a meeting with ten people. Everyone is talking. Someone is interrupting, someone is checking their phone, and nobody really seems to be listening. Then one person starts speaking. They don’t raise their voice. They don’t have the highest position in the room. But somehow, everyone stops talking. Everyone looks at them. And within thirty seconds, the entire room is moving in the same direction. You might think, ‘How did that person just take control of the room without even trying?’ That, ladies and gentlemen, is leadership. And today, we’re going to talk about the three things that make people naturally follow you.
To engage your audience, anytime you can ask them to imagine a certain situation.
So, you say, “Picture this.” Or, “Imagine this.” Those imaginary worlds work the best if you also use action verbs there.
So, don’t just summarize the event, but rather say something like,
Imagine you walk into your apartment after a long day. You put your keys on the table, you take off your jacket, you sit down on the couch, and then your phone starts ringing. You look at the screen. It’s a number you don’t recognize. You hesitate for a second… and then you answer. ‘Hello?’ There’s silence. And then you hear your own name.
You see, all those action verbs make it much more interesting. They pull us into the moment.
Technique 4: Right to the point
When you present, it is never about you, but about them. And they will ask themselves in the very first second what they are going to get from you. One of the best things you can do is to give this to them right away!
Unless you say this explicitly, well, people will just start zoning out. They’re like, “Okay, I don’t need to listen to that stuff.”
In the next 10 minutes, you’ll discover how one simple change in the way you organize your code can reduce debugging time by up to 30%.
Or,
In today’s talk, you’ll discover how a simple change in your sleep routine can influence your memory, concentration, and ability to learn.
Right to the point! Try not to start with “Uh, today I will show you X, Y, and Z.” but instead with: “Today you will uncover. Today you will learn.”
The moment you make it about the other person, they feel much more involved. But you also want to make it about the benefits and not the features.
You don’t want to say, “Well, today I’m going to share my roadmap for 2026.”
It would be better to say something like: “Today you’ll discover how to eliminate the three biggest time-wasters in your workday, so you can get more done without working longer hours.”
But remember, if you promise something, you have to deliver it.
Technique 5: Story
In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath describe an experiment at Stanford where students gave short speeches about nonviolent crime in the US.
Afterwards, they were asked to write down everything they remembered.
5% remembered a statistic, but 63% remembered a story.
So, if you want people to remember your message, don’t just give them facts, tell them a story.
And it doesn’t have to be a gigantic story, but sharing a personal story right at the start will make it so much more interesting.
Just last week, I walked into a small electronics store because I needed a new pair of headphones. I found the ones I wanted, walked to the counter, and reached for my wallet.
The guy behind the counter stopped me and said, ‘Wait. Before you buy those, try these.’
I looked at him and said, ‘Why?’
‘Because I think they’re actually better for what you need.’
And as I walked out with a cheaper pair of headphones, I thought, ‘Wow. How often do we put the customer’s interest before the sale?’
Today, ladies and gentlemen, we’re here to talk about trust in business.
And after that, you proceed with the speech.
Before you go
Now, you’ve listened to five different ways of how you can hook an audience right at the start. Which of the five do you think is the one that most professional speakers use the most? The stories. One of the most powerful ways to be remembered and chosen, and yet so underestimated, especially by scientific and technical experts.