COMPREHENSIVE TECHNIQUES FOR

INTRODUCING PRESENTATION

Presentation:
“Presentation” means the story, the structure, the content and the planning and the
actual delivery as well as the design.
The word “presentation” does not equal single slides or slide decks or the delivery
skills when showing these slides. We use the word presentation in its widest
definition the whole presentation landscape: formal presentations and informal
presentations to internal or external audiences, presentation documents and slide
documents, small workshop presentations and keynote addresses, corporate
presentation templates and single slide decks, using flipcharts and whiteboards or
graphic recordings.
Techniques for introduction
The introduction is the most important part of your presentation. It is the first
impression you’ll make on your audience. It’s your first opportunity to get their
attention. You want them to trust you and listen to you right away.
Developing an organized presentation starts with your introduction. The
introduction opens your speech. The common way in which many presenters start
their talks — “My name is . . .” or “Today I’m going to talk to you about . . .” — is
not much of an introduction.

Purpose of introduction:
The purpose of a good introduction in a formal presentation is to achieve three goals:

 Grasp the audience’s attention.

 Identify the topic and the purpose or core message of the talk.

 Provide a brief overview or agenda of what you will cover in the talk.
1. Start Your Presentation By Getting People’s Attention:
Getting your audience’s attention from the beginning is the most important
thing one can do in starting a presentation. Yes, you want to introduce
yourself and complete the formalities as quickly as possible, but without
grabbing their attention, you’ve already lost them. Remembering the
importance of capturing the attention of who you’re speaking to will set you
up for the many other strategies we convey.
2. Welcome Them with A Thank You:
Another important formality is welcoming your audience with a thank
you. It shows both sincerity and appreciation and additionally establishes the
sense of community with your audience. A great example of this is
welcoming them coupled with a thank you for the opportunity to speak, pitch
or share.
3. State The Purpose Of Your Presentation:
Generally your audience will know your purpose or why you’re there but you
want to be sure make it clear to them. For example, as a sales person you may
be pitching to win a marketing and leasing assignment of a building in New
York. As you begin to pitch the owner’s management team, they’ll know
you’re there to talk about how you can help market and lease their
building. But another approach can be changing the purpose to “I’m here
discuss our team’s capabilities but more importantly discuss strategies you
can implement and why they would be effective.” Thinking about the purpose
gives you that northern star to point throughout your presentation and they’ll
constantly revert back to it.
4. The Quote:
A quote is a line said by someone else that helps set up what you’re going to talk
about. When using a quote, you want to accomplish two things. Cite the source of
the line and tie the quote to your topic.
Kicking off your presentation by sharing a meaningful quote by a famous or
respected person will also set your presentation up for success. A well-chosen quote
can serve to grab your audience’s attention, build your credibility, and introduce
your subject. Just make sure that the quote you choose is relevant to your topic.
Don’t choose a quote just because you like it.
5. Tell a joke:
A touch of humor in good taste is a great way to break the ice with an audience; that
is, to ease the tension and relax everyone.
  The key, as with a quote, is that the joke must be tied to the topic you’re going
to talk about. Otherwise, it serves as a distraction and can turn an audience
off regardless of its humor.

 If you’re not comfortable as a joke teller, go with another introduction

technique. There’s nothing worse than watching someone fumble in trying to
tell a joke.
6. Tell Your Audience A Story:
 This is as basic is it gets, but story telling is the best way to connect with an
audience. You can start a start at the beginning of your presentation and then
connect it to the purpose of why you’re there.
 Many great presenters use this technique and it remains one of the most
critical pieces to becoming an effective presenter.
7. Get the audience to participate:
With this technique, you start your presentation by having the audience do
something, from a brief exercise to responding to questions. This technique
gets people’s energy levels up. However, don’t choose an activity that creates
such a ruckus that getting the audience to focus back on you becomes difficult.
Manage with care.
8. Ask a rhetorical question:
A rhetorical question is a thought-provoking question that you ask the
audience but don’t expect them to answer out loud. When you ask the
question, you want to answer it either within your introduction or a short time
later in your talk. Otherwise, the question serves only to confuse people.
9. Give an interesting example:
In this technique, you start with a demonstration, showing something or
describing a situation that illustrates what your topic, and especially its core
message, is about. To be effective, the example must be relevant and fairly
brief. The example isn’t the actual talk, but it sets up the presentation that will
follow. A good example of this technique is the showing of before-and-after
pictures from the use of a product or service.
 10.Outline Your Presentation:
You should outline the key points or highlights of your topic.
This prepares your listens and helps to get their attention. It will also help them
follow your presentation and stay focused. Here are some great phrases to help you
do that.
Examples:
 First, I’m going to present… Then I’ll share with you… Finally, I’ll ask you to…
 The next thing I’ll share with you is…
 In the next section, I’ll show you…
 Today I will be covering these 3 (or 5) key points…
 In this presentation, we will discuss/evaluate…
 By the end of this presentation, you’ll be able to…
11.Make a bold statement:
A huge mistake is to start a presentation with a generic statement, like “the
world is changing” or “meetings matter.” This is boring and doesn’t engage
anybody, but people have a tendency to do it often.
Instead, make a bold statement. Not something crazy or just to get attention;
your presentation needs to back up your point. But bold; something you
believe to be true.
“It signals confidence, and it also primes the audience to expect to hear how
I'll be backing up such a strong assertion,” Bergells said
12. Make eye contact with your audience:
Making eye contact with your audience during a presentation makes you
appear more authoritative and confident. Before you even begin your
presentation, you should make eye contact with someone near the back of the
room and hold it for a few seconds as you give your introduction. Then,
continue to make eye contact with audience members as you present your
material.
13. Skip the usual introduction:
One of the most boring ways to start a presentation is to tell the audience your name.
If you want to make sure that they know your name, put it on the first slide of your
visual aid or at the top of a handout that you distribute. Just don’t waste your precious
opening by saying, “Good morning. My name is…