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It's presentation season, when thousands of company executives around the world will be pitching products, services, or companies to a wide range of audiences—at investor and analyst conferences, trade shows, sales meetings, and conventions. The majority of these presentations will be boring, convoluted, and uninspiring. Most presentations flop out of the gate because they fail to answer the key question on the minds of listeners: Why should I care?
In an interview in the March, 2003, issue of O: The Oprah Magazine, talk-show legend Oprah Winfrey offered this advice on public speaking: "A powerful beginning and ending will stick with your listeners. What's the most important message you want to leave your audience with—and why should they care? Every listener instinctively wants to know one thing: What's in it for me? The greatest public speakers are those who work at making their addresses both interesting and relatable." Oprah gets it. Make yourself interesting from the start. You can't afford to have your audience lose interest in those first few moments.
You literally have just a few seconds to make a lasting impression—from as little as two seconds to 90 seconds, depending on which study you cite. Regardless of the exact time, it's fast. Let's leave it at that. Given that fact, it's important that you make a strong, emotional connection with your listeners with your first few words. And those first few words should grab your listeners by getting them involved with the content of your presentation.
MONSTER MOMENT. I once had the opportunity to interview Monster.com founder Jeff Taylor. At the time, Taylor was giving anywhere from 30 to 70 speeches a year on topics ranging from entrepreneurship to employment. As a speaker, I found Taylor to be exciting, captivating, and consistently inspiring. That's because Taylor understands the power of a strong opener. Sometimes, he gets an entire audience chanting a mantra in unison. Other times, he'll involve the audience by asking them to physically do something in order to set up the theme of his speech.
For example, in his talks about innovation, Taylor will ask the audience if they believe they are true innovators. Of course, many people will nod their heads. He then takes off a shoe and asks his audience to do the same. Then he points out the true innovators, or "early adopters," those who removed their shoes immediately; the "massive middle" representing most consumers; and finally the "laggards." Taylor will then ask the innovators and the laggards questions.
I am not suggesting you do something as bold as to ask people to take off their shoes at your next presentation. Taylor has a lot of experience speaking before crowds of several thousand people, and his audiences expect him to be a little outrageous, to push the envelope. They don't necessarily expect that type of opener in your next staff meeting. But they do expect you to grab their attention by giving them a reason to listen, a reason to care.
REASON TO CARE. Make a positive impression on your listeners by giving them a reason to care about your message. Let them know that the next 20 or 30 minutes will be valuable for them. Last year, I worked with the vice-president of sales for a well-known high-tech company. His goal in preparing for the company's annual sales meeting was to motivate his sales team about the state of the company and its new products. This particular executive had planned to begin the presentation by outlining a very long agenda. (It's worth mentioning here that Apple (AAPL) Chief Executive Steve Jobs, considered to be one of the most charismatic pitchmen in corporate America today, never starts with an agenda slide. He gets right to what the audience wants to hear.) (see BusinessWeek.com, 4/6/06, "How to Wow 'Em Like Steve Jobs")
Anyway, back to our VP. The agenda was long. After several minutes, I began losing interest. This wasn't the way to motivate his team, I thought. So I asked him to tell me what he really wanted to say. He thought about it for a moment and said, "Well, this year is shaping up to be the best year in our company's history. We just signed the largest retail agreement in our history and not all of my salespeople know the implications of it, and for most of my sales guys, this will be the most lucrative year of their careers." And with that he not only grabbed my attention but gave his listeners a reason to listen. The agenda slide was out and his new opener was in.
The goal of most presentations is to lead the listener to some sort of action: buying a product, scheduling a follow-up call to learn more, visiting a Web site, investing in a company, or doing whatever it may be. The more memorable the message, the easier it is to act upon.
Make your message memorable by grabbing the attention of your listener right out of the gate. Give them a reason to care!
Gallo is a Pleasanton (Calif.)-based corporate presentation coach and former Emmy Award-winning TV journalist. He's the author of the book 10 Simple Secrets of the World's Greatest Business Communicators. Visit him online at www.carminegallo.com
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