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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

• Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

• Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

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How to Create a Training PowerPoint Presentation

A well-designed PowerPoint training presentation can be a powerful tool for conveying information, fostering training skills, engaging learners, and facilitating understanding. This type of presentation can be applied in many industries and can suit different learning styles.

Whether you’re a seasoned trainer looking to enhance your presentation skills or are new to the world of instructional design, this article will guide you through the essential steps to create a training PowerPoint presentation that captivates your audience and delivers meaningful learning outcomes.

What Is a Training Presentation?

A training presentation is a visual tool designed to deliver knowledge in a structured and engaging way in different training contexts.

It is a format that allows instructors to present training materials that keep the audience responsive and motivated, promoting comprehension and retention.

Training presentations are used extensively in educational settings and in staff training. Whether you’re introducing new employees to company policies, teaching students a complex subject, or demonstrating how to use a new software tool, training presentations make learning more effective and engaging.

A good training presentation is a combination of several design and structural elements that ultimately enhance learning effectiveness. Here are some key elements of training presentations:

• Content . The core of a training presentation is the content you deliver to your audience. It’s the information you want your trainees to absorb, memorize, and use effectively in the future.
• Visuals . Visual elements play a crucial role in training presentations. Besides using slides with text, presenters also include graphics, images, and even interactive elements . These visuals help learners better understand and remember the training material.
• Structure . Even with top-notch content and amazing visuals, if the presentation structure is not organized logically, the audience will have a hard time understanding it. That’s why a clear outline is needed so the learners can follow the flow of information and build their knowledge during the training session.
• Practical exercises and assessments . It’s a good idea to include assessments or quizzes in your training presentations to determine participants’ understanding and measure the effectiveness of the training. As an instructor, you can also integrate real-life cases and scenarios to help trainees put the recently acquired knowledge into practice.

The Importance of Effective Training Presentations

In short, an effective training presentation lays the foundation for more profound training experiences. By structuring information logically and using engaging visuals and interactive elements, training presentations improve training and promote efficient retention of knowledge.

An effective training presentation can become a powerful tool for employee training and professional development because it:

• allows the participants to visualize the training content in a logical structure;
• can be adapted to accommodate different learning styles;
• improves the skill development process for both new and seasoned employees;
• provides a tangible resource that trainees can revisit when they want to refresh their knowledge. 

Types of Training Presentations

Training presentations come in many forms, depending on learning goals, target audiences, and training contexts. Understanding the different types of training presentations can help you choose the format that’s most suitable for achieving your training objectives.

Let’s take a closer look at some common types of training presentations:

1. Informative Presentation

Informative presentations are the foundation of knowledge transfer. They are designed to deliver key information, facts, or concepts to the training audience. Informative presentations often rely on an instructor with great presentation skills who leads the session.

Some examples of this type of presentation are:

• Lecture-style presentations
• Product knowledge training
• Safety briefings
• Compliance training

These presentations often include a summary slide that highlights what the trainees should take away from the session.

2. Skill Development Presentation

Skill development presentations are all about hands-on learning. They provide trainees with opportunities to gain practical skills or new professional competencies. These presentations typically include: 

• Demonstrations 
• Guided exercises 
• Interactive simulations and role-plays
• Feedback and evaluations

All these elements help participants put theory into practice right away. Skill development presentations can also come in the form of pre-recorded video presentations that illustrate how the skills work in real life.

You can use the following questions to define your training presentation’s objectives:

• What do you want your audience to learn from the presentation?
• What specific skills or knowledge should they acquire?
• How will this training benefit the organization?
• Is there a behavioral change you want to achieve?
• How can you measure the success of your training presentation?

Step 2. Outline the structure

The next step is to define the structure of your PowerPoint presentation . Break down your content into logical sections or modules . Prioritize key information and decide on the main points you want to cover in each section.

You can divide your presentation into sections based on the main topics, the key skills, or the type of activity you’re going to include in the training. It’s up to you to choose the structure. Just make sure to follow it consistently throughout the presentation.

Content creator:

Charuan Aguilera

A learning and training enthusiast, Charuan seeks to empower his readers with the latest insights and trends in e-learning.

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Powerful and Effective Presentation Skills: More in Demand Now Than Ever

When we talk with our L&D colleagues from around the globe, we often hear that presentation skills training is one of the top opportunities they’re looking to provide their learners. And this holds true whether their learners are individual contributors, people managers, or senior leaders. This is not surprising.

Effective communications skills are a powerful career activator, and most of us are called upon to communicate in some type of formal presentation mode at some point along the way.

For instance, you might be asked to brief management on market research results, walk your team through a new process, lay out the new budget, or explain a new product to a client or prospect. Or you may want to build support for a new idea, bring a new employee into the fold, or even just present your achievements to your manager during your performance review.

And now, with so many employees working from home or in hybrid mode, and business travel in decline, there’s a growing need to find new ways to make effective presentations when the audience may be fully virtual or a combination of in person and remote attendees.

Whether you’re making a standup presentation to a large live audience, or a sit-down one-on-one, whether you’re delivering your presentation face to face or virtually, solid presentation skills matter.

Even the most seasoned and accomplished presenters may need to fine-tune or update their skills. Expectations have changed over the last decade or so. Yesterday’s PowerPoint which primarily relied on bulleted points, broken up by the occasional clip-art image, won’t cut it with today’s audience.

The digital revolution has revolutionized the way people want to receive information. People expect presentations that are more visually interesting. They expect to see data, metrics that support assertions. And now, with so many previously in-person meetings occurring virtually, there’s an entirely new level of technical preparedness required.

The leadership development tools and the individual learning opportunities you’re providing should include presentation skills training that covers both the evergreen fundamentals and the up-to-date capabilities that can make or break a presentation.

So, just what should be included in solid presentation skills training? Here’s what I think.

The fundamentals will always apply When it comes to making a powerful and effective presentation, the fundamentals will always apply. You need to understand your objective. Is it strictly to convey information, so that your audience’s knowledge is increased? Is it to persuade your audience to take some action? Is it to convince people to support your idea? Once you understand what your objective is, you need to define your central message. There may be a lot of things you want to share with your audience during your presentation, but find – and stick with – the core, the most important point you want them to walk away with. And make sure that your message is clear and compelling.

You also need to tailor your presentation to your audience. Who are they and what might they be expecting? Say you’re giving a product pitch to a client. A technical team may be interested in a lot of nitty-gritty product detail. The business side will no doubt be more interested in what returns they can expect on their investment.

Another consideration is the setting: is this a formal presentation to a large audience with questions reserved for the end, or a presentation in a smaller setting where there’s the possibility for conversation throughout? Is your presentation virtual or in-person? To be delivered individually or as a group? What time of the day will you be speaking? Will there be others speaking before you and might that impact how your message will be received?

Once these fundamentals are established, you’re in building mode. What are the specific points you want to share that will help you best meet your objective and get across your core message? Now figure out how to convey those points in the clearest, most straightforward, and succinct way. This doesn’t mean that your presentation has to be a series of clipped bullet points. No one wants to sit through a presentation in which the presenter reads through what’s on the slide. You can get your points across using stories, fact, diagrams, videos, props, and other types of media.

Visual design matters While you don’t want to clutter up your presentation with too many visual elements that don’t serve your objective and can be distracting, using a variety of visual formats to convey your core message will make your presentation more memorable than slides filled with text. A couple of tips: avoid images that are cliched and overdone. Be careful not to mix up too many different types of images. If you’re using photos, stick with photos. If you’re using drawn images, keep the style consistent. When data are presented, stay consistent with colors and fonts from one type of chart to the next. Keep things clear and simple, using data to support key points without overwhelming your audience with too much information. And don’t assume that your audience is composed of statisticians (unless, of course, it is).

When presenting qualitative data, brief videos provide a way to engage your audience and create emotional connection and impact. Word clouds are another way to get qualitative data across.

Practice makes perfect You’ve pulled together a perfect presentation. But it likely won’t be perfect unless it’s well delivered. So don’t forget to practice your presentation ahead of time. Pro tip: record yourself as you practice out loud. This will force you to think through what you’re going to say for each element of your presentation. And watching your recording will help you identify your mistakes—such as fidgeting, using too many fillers (such as “umm,” or “like”), or speaking too fast.

A key element of your preparation should involve anticipating any technical difficulties. If you’ve embedded videos, make sure they work. If you’re presenting virtually, make sure that the lighting is good, and that your speaker and camera are working. Whether presenting in person or virtually, get there early enough to work out any technical glitches before your presentation is scheduled to begin. Few things are a bigger audience turn-off than sitting there watching the presenter struggle with the delivery mechanisms!

Finally, be kind to yourself. Despite thorough preparation and practice, sometimes, things go wrong, and you need to recover in the moment, adapt, and carry on. It’s unlikely that you’ll have caused any lasting damage and the important thing is to learn from your experience, so your next presentation is stronger.

How are you providing presentation skills training for your learners?

Manika Gandhi is Senior Learning Design Manager at Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning. Email her at [email protected] .

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Our Top 8 Tips For Creating Effective Training Presentations!

Table of contents.

Staff training for all employees, including managers, supervisors, and executives, is vital to an efficient and safe working space. For optimal results, you not only need active participants and good public speaking skills, but you need effective training materials that are easy to digest.

If you’re hoping to create a staff training PowerPoint presentation, or any other training material, this is the place to be. Here’s our guide to creating effective training presentations that leave lasting impressions on your trainees .

What Is A Training Presentation?

As many individuals in the human resources department know, employee training is mandatory for employees to complete when they start a job.

A training presentation is a learning material that helps build the right skills that employees need in order to perform their jobs accurately. For optimal results, your training presentations should include lessons that showcase the specialized knowledge in well-structured and easy-to-read slides .

An effective presentation will create a great learning experience for your audience and will illustrate the main message throughout the presentation.

Youth Employment Services Training Presentation

Youth Employment Services (YES) was faced with the challenge of developing a training series aimed at you guessed it, increasing youth employment. A typical PowerPoint just wasn’t captivating enough, so we gave them an engaging presentation from start to finish.

Why Are Effective Employee Training Presentations Beneficial To My Company?

Providing relevant training information to your team is extremely important to the overall safety and efficiency of your company. A solid training presentation that can provide knowledge and important information to your participants can benefit your company in a number of ways. Here are just a few that come to mind:

Peace Of Mind

First, a training presentation can provide peace of mind to your organization. When your team members fully understand the importance of safety requirements or the different responsibilities of their job, it means you can rest assured that they are well equipped for daily tasks and emergency situations.

Employee Retention

Another benefit of effective training presentations is employee retention. When your employees fully understand their role in your organization and feel equipped and supported, they are more likely to stay in their role. Also, knowledge is power and development/progression is more than just monetary.

Setting Standards & Expectations

Finally, an effective training course will ensure that your team members have a set of clear expectations and standards to hold to throughout their time at your company. Clear expectations for your employees can not only lead to a more efficient workplace, but can also create a safer and healthier work environment.

5 Tips That Ensure You Have An Effective Training Presentation

Now that we understand what a training presentation is and why a good presentation is so beneficial for your company, we can focus on how to create a professional and effective training presentation.

Here are 5 training presentation tips that you can use to enhance your training Powerpoint slides and keep the materials interesting to your audience:

Tell Your Story And Articulate Your Learning Goals

When you present your training course to your employees, you want to first start with a summary of the organization’s story and what your main goals are. Your brand’s story should be woven throughout the presentation so that everything ties back together. This solid structure will allow you to build off it and further engage your audience.

In order to engage your team you want them to understand why your business exists and what the main mission or key goals are. When you include these things in your Powerpoint presentation, you can further engage your audience.

As seen in this training presentation for Soccer Shots , the organization’s mission and main goals are clearly articulated at the beginning of the training session.

Make Your Presentation Accessible

In order to even fully engage your students at a training session, they need to be able to hear the presenter and see and read the slides.

Creating an accessible presentation will allow every person in the audience to gain knowledge from the Powerpoint slides.

Accessibility can mean different things for different people, so it’s important to know what kind of needs your audience requires. For example, you may need to use a larger text size, a microphone, a clear font, sign language, or narration throughout the presentation.

As a presenter, it’s important to ensure that everyone present at the session is able to reach each slide, complete each task, and can hear the trainer’s speech.

Cater To Different Learning Styles

Another aspect of a good training presentation is understanding that everyone learns differently. Where some employees can gain a lot of knowledge from slides full of bullet points, other employees may need more interactive elements during the training presentation.

To ensure that your professional training presentation appeals and engages all types of learners, you should try to include a variety of elements in your PowerPoint presentation design .

For example, you might include more graphics, images, or videos that can talk for you. Or, you can have specific conversations starters where participants can engage in conversation with the trainer and the other audience members.

Too much text can lead to an information overload that can cause participants to zone out while the trainer is talking. Instead, structure your presentation slides with some white space so your audience isn’t overwhelmed with information.

Use Real World Examples In Your Training Sessions

Another way to boost training skills in a good training presentation is throughout using real life examples. While data charts and abstract ideas can provide extremely helpful information to participants, real world examples can allow that information to stick.

People are more perceptive to ideas that make an impact on their own lives. So, if you include examples from daily life to illustrate and explain your point, you may find that your audience is more engaged in the training presentation.

Now, use your findings to integrate realistic situations as examples or exercises that show trainees the value of your session. The key to an engaged and motivated audience is to keep things real.

Design Is Critical, So Don't Underestimate It

One of the most important tips for creating effective training presentations is that design matters. As much as it may seem that the information is more important than the design for a training course, the design is actually very critical.

Not only can your design reinforce your brand image and brand identity, but it can further engage your participants. Charts that showcase data and information, graphics, high quality images, eye catching colours, and smooth transitions can all help you make a powerpoint presentation that gets your point across effectively.

A great presentation template and slide deck will have a organic design that not only pleases the eye, but will explain important information to your audience.

Consider Additions or Alternatives To Help Support Your Training Efforts

An effective presentation isn’t just about the slides. There are other components that you need to keep in mind before leading your presentation.

Practice Your Presentation Skills

For one, the trainer will need to practice the presentation ahead of the course.

Good public speaking skills and having a strong idea of what you are talking about can all help with creating an effective and engaging presentation.

Use Effective Handouts

You may also want to use handouts to aid your presentation, but make sure it isn’t just information that is already on a slide in your presentation.

Whether it’s an article with more information, notes about the course, a summary of information, or further tips, handouts can be beneficial for your audience.

Hire a Design Agency

Finally, you should consider hiring a presentation design agency to help you create these slides.

While a presentation template can be a good starting point, a great presentation requires a lot more time, effort, and skill. A professional design agency can take this task off your hands so you can focus on the speech aspect.

This was the case for a Lawyer at BelkerPalm Legal who was giving a presentation to a group of law students. Although his experience was vast and his presentation skills were strong, he didn’t have the visuals to back him up. He was relieved to find the Geeks!

Need Help Designing Your Training Materials?

Look no further than the geeks!

We’re a presentation and training manual design company that truly understand how crucial it is building effective training materials for new employees. We’ve done it for clients, and ourselves, but we always put you first.

Author:  Content Team

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Top 7 Training Presentation Templates with Examples and Samples

Sherin Sethi

“The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.” - Henry Ford

Employee training and productivity optimization have increased thanks to integrated learning and hybrid work environments. These days, corporate training consists of an array of live online courses, SCORM courses that workers can take at their leisure, and in-person group sessions.

Training is the fuel for development, creativity, and employee empowerment—it's not just a box to be checked during the onboarding process. Teams that get practical training are equipped with the knowledge and abilities necessary to meet the expectations of their specific field of work. It's essential for maximizing potential, encouraging teamwork, and ensuring that everyone in your organization has the tools necessary to give their all.

According to a Fierce Inc. survey, 86% of executives and workers attribute workplace failures to ineffective communication and cooperation.  Thus, the modern corporate world greatly needs effective business communication. In light of this SlideTeam curated the Top 10 Business Communication Training Presentations to make the task easier.

Training presentations are the foundation of the efficient flow of data. They create a bridge between knowledge and understanding, breaking down complex ideas into easily understood nuggets. An effective presentation may engage your audience, improve retention, and lead to thought-provoking conversations.

Picture yourself as a mid-level marketing manager in a bustling technology company. You are given a task to deliver a compelling training session to your team. You know the importance of effective presentations, but the challenge of crafting engaging content that aligns with your industry and captivates your audience is real.

You are not alone in this. The struggle of developing training presentations that are visually-appealing, educational, and engaging for the trainees is one that many professionals experience. With the help of our pre-designed PowerPoint Templates, draft your training presentations like a breeze. These top 7 training presentation templates are 100% editable and customizable. This gives you the time to focus on the content rather than the design of the presentation.

Let's explore the Templates now!

Template 1: Business Development Training template

This PowerPoint bundle includes a total of 78 slides that showcase the value of training and development initiatives for businesses to maintain current expertise among staff members and address any skills shortages. It highlights the interpersonal, communication, emotional intelligence, and other abilities needed for employees to achieve their objectives and keep a positive mindset inside the company. Additionally, this deck offers leadership abilities like strategic thinking and people management, which support treating staff members just and favorably while enhancing their self-assurance and productivity. It emphasizes technical abilities, including proficiency with program writing like Python, SQL presentation strategies, etc.

Download Now!

Template 2: Workforce Training Template

This PowerPoint Bundle highlights the relevance of workforce training to keep your employees up to date. It consists of several coaching programs showcasing various methods to train your employees, the importance of coaching for employees and employers across the firm, etc. It also includes training guidelines for employees at the workplace and a game plan for maximizing their performance. Aiding employees in achieving their personal goals by lending additional support and enabling personalized learning experiences to manage skill gaps are also part of this informative bundle.

Template 3: Learning Management System Training Program template

This informative deck, a compilation of 46 slides, depicts your organization's requirement for a learning management system. Issues like delays in the project, employees suffering from skill gaps in compliance with their job profiles, and low conversion rates, which lead to the need for training within the organization, are a part of this bundle. Developing a training program that could be classroom-based, online training sessions, or on-the-job training, etc, is also included.

Download now!

Template 4: Employee Training Program Proposal Template

The core component of any successful business lies in efficient personnel administration. It is now essential for businesses to focus on the overall growth and development of employees in the workplace. The employee training program becomes essential to train newly hired employees and help them adjust to their roles. This informative bundle includes evaluating employees by assigning them tasks, providing feedback, conducting ice-breaking sessions between the trainer and employees, etc. The timeline of the training program, vision, and mission of the training program, along with past client testimonials, are also included.

Template 5: Training proposal template

This PowerPoint Template is a deck of 29 slides. It depicts an in-depth proposal regarding corporate training and professional growth. Objectives and actions such as team building workshops, ensuring the stability of the business, time management, etc., are included. These must be carried out during the training session, along with identifying the responsibilities of the teams and employees. Drafting a budget and presenting an estimated time of the course is also a part of this informative bundle.

Template 6: Workshop Training Proposal Template

Professional grooming has become essential to human resource management, encompassing anything from writing formal emails to being proficient in the newest software and engaging in fundamental communication and personality development activities. This PowerPoint Slide presents an outline for pitching your company’s resources for training your clients’ employees. It showcases a cover letter, table of contents that allows you to get through all the major highlights of the presentation, objectives, and project context. Components of your proposed workshop, like corporate communication, Microsoft suite proficiency, personality development, etc, are included with this training proposal. Specially designed graphs, charts, and line diagrams ensure your pitch is presented in the best possible outline. The training objectives of the workshop, like social media presence management, formal etiquette, corporate lingo fluency, fundamentals of finance, and more, are also presented.

Template 7: Training And Development Powerpoint Template

This PowerPoint Template set showcases how training and development maximize the performance of employees in an organization. It includes an interactive learning roadmap of planning, delivering, and evaluating. This eye-catching deck includes a personalized development plan, a professional development plan, monitoring, and feedback, along with information about the team, the vision of the organization, and its goals.

Template 8: Training Schedule Powerpoint Template

This PPT Slide showcases the importance of a training schedule for smoothly conducting the tasks. The training schedule for enhancing email writing skills, improving communication skills, or any other skill businesses require to stay ahead of cut-throat competition from their competitors is presented in different colors for a clear understanding of the client.

Elevate Your Training Sessions

It is not just the information but also how it is delivered that makes training impactful. You may enhance your training sessions with our tailored training presentation templates, curated to your needs. Whether you are holding client presentations, team training, or product launches, our PowerPoint Templates for training presentations offer a polished and captivating framework that ensures consistency and saves you time. The meticulously planned layouts, interactive features, and attention to detail will captivate the audience, making your training sessions more memorable and successful.

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Home Blog Presentation Ideas How to Start a Presentation: 5 Strong Opening Slides and 12 Tricks To Test

How to Start a Presentation: 5 Strong Opening Slides and 12 Tricks To Test

Knowing how to start a presentation is crucial: if you fail to capture the audience’s attention right off the bat, your entire presentation will flop. Few listeners will stick with you to the end and retain what you have told.

That is mildly unpleasant when you are doing an in-house presentation in front of your colleagues. But it can become utterly embarrassing when you present in front of larger audiences (e.g., at a conference) or worse – delivering a sales presentation to prospective customers.

Here is how most of us begin a presentation: give an awkward greeting, thank everyone for coming, clear our throats, tap the mic, and humbly start to mumble about our subject. The problem with such an opening performance? It effectively kills and buries even the best messages.

Table of Contents

• The Classic Trick: Open a Presentation with an Introduction
• Open a Presentation with a Hook
• Begin with a Captivating Visual
• Ask a “What if…” Question
• Use the Word “Imagine”
• Leverage The Curiosity Gap
• The Power of Silence
• Facts as Weapons of Communication
• Fact vs. Myths
• The Power of Music
• Physical Activity
• Acknowledging a Person

How to Start a PowerPoint Presentation The Right Way

Let’s say you have all of your presentation slides polished up (in case you don’t, check our quick & effective PowerPoint presentation design tips first). Your presentation has a clear storyline and agenda. Main ideas are broken into bite-sized statements for your slides and complemented with visuals. All you have left is to figure out how you begin presenting.

The best way is to appeal to and invoke certain emotions in your audience – curiosity, surprise, fear, or good old amusements. Also, it is recommended to present your main idea in the first 30 seconds of the presentation. And here’s how it’s done.

1. The Classic Trick: Open a Presentation with an Introduction

When you don’t feel like reinventing the wheel, use a classic trick from the book – start with a quick personal introduction. Don’t want to sound as boring as everyone else with your humble “Hi, I’m John, the head of the Customer Support Department”? Great, because we are all about promoting effective presentation techniques (hint: using a dull welcome slide isn’t one of them).

Here’s how to introduce yourself in a presentation the right way.

a. Use a link-back memory formula

To ace a presentation, you need to connect with your audience. The best way to do so is by throwing in a simple story showing who you are, where you came from, and why your words matter.

The human brain loves a good story, and we are more inclined to listen and retain the information told this way. Besides, when we can relate to the narrator (or story hero), we create an emotional bond with them, and, again – become more receptive, and less skeptical of the information that is about to be delivered.

So here are your presentation introduction lines:

My name is Joanne, and I’m the Head of Marketing at company XYZ. Five years ago I was working as a waitress, earning $10/hour and collecting rejection letters from editors. About ten letters every week landed to my mailbox. You see, I love words, but decent publisher thought mine were good enough. Except for the restaurant owner. I was very good at up-selling and recommending dishes to the customers. My boss even bumped my salary to $15/hour as a token of appreciation for my skill. And this made me realize: I should ditch creative writing and focus on copywriting instead. After loads of trial and error back in the day, I learned how to write persuasive copy. I was no longer getting rejection letters. I was receiving thousands of emails saying that someone just bought another product from our company. My sales copy pages generated over $1,500,000 in revenue over last year. And I want to teach you how to do the same”

b. Test the Stereotype Formula

This one’s simple and effective as well. Introduce yourself by sharing an obvious stereotype about your profession. This cue will help you connect with your audience better, make them chuckle a bit, and set a lighter mood for the speech to follow.

Here’s how you can frame your intro:

“My name is ___, and I am a lead software engineer at our platform [Your Job Title]. And yes, I’m that nerdy type who never liked presenting in front of large groups of people. I would rather stay in my den and write code all day long. [Stereotype]. But hey, since I have mustered enough courage…let’s talk today about the new product features my team is about to release….”

After sharing a quick, self-deprecating line, you transition back to your topic, reinforcing the audience’s attention . Both of these formulas help you set the “mood” for your further presentation, so try using them interchangeably on different occasions.

2. Open a Presentation with a Hook

Wow your audience straight off the bat by sharing something they would not expect to hear. This may be one of the popular first-time presentation tips but don’t rush to discard it.

Because here’s the thing: psychologically , we are more inclined to pay attention whenever presented with an unexpected cue. When we know what will happen next – someone flips the switch, and lights turn on – we don’t really pay much attention to that action.

But when we don’t know what to expect next – e.g., someone flips the switch and a bell starts ringing – we are likely to pay more attention to what will happen next. The same goes for words: everyone loves stories with unpredictable twists. So begin your presentation with a PowerPoint introduction slide or a line that no one expects to hear.

Here are a few hook examples you can swipe:

a. Open with a provocative statement

It creates an instant jolt and makes the audience intrigued to hear what you are about to say next – pedal back, continue with the provocation, or do something else that they will not expect.

“You will live seven and a half minutes longer than you would have otherwise, just because you watched this talk.”

That’s how Jane McGonigal opens one of her TED talks . Shocking and intriguing, right?

b. Ask a rhetorical, thought-provoking question

Seasoned presenters know that one good practice is to ask a question at the beginning of a presentation to increase audience engagement. Rhetorical questions have a great persuasive effect – instead of answering aloud, your audience will silently start musing over it during your presentation. They aroused curiosity and motivated the audience to remain attentive, as they did want to learn your answer to this question.

To reinforce your message throughout the presentation, you can further use the Rhetorical Triangle Concept – a rhetorical approach to building a persuasive argument based on Aristotle’s teachings.

c. Use a bold number, factor stat

A clean slide with some mind-boggling stat makes an undeniably strong impact. Here are a few opening statement examples you can use along with your slide:

• Shock them: “We are effectively wasting over $1.2 billion per year on producing clothes no one will ever purchase”
• Create empathy: “Are you among the 20% of people with undiagnosed ADHD?”
• Call to arms: “58% of marketing budgets are wasted due to poor landing page design. Let’s change this!”
• Spark curiosity: “Did you know that companies who invested in speech recognition have seen a 13% increase in ROI within just 3 years?”

3. Begin with a Captivating Visual

Compelling visuals are the ABC of presentation design – use them strategically to make an interesting statement at the beginning and throughout your presentation. Your first presentation slide can be text-free. Communicate your idea with a visual instead – a photo, a chart, an infographic, or another graphics asset.

Visuals are a powerful medium for communication as our brain needs just 13 milliseconds to render what our eyes see, whereas text comprehension requires more cognitive effort.

Relevant images add additional aesthetic appeal to your deck, bolster the audience’s imagination, and make your key message instantly more memorable.

Here’s an intro slide example. You want to make a strong presentation introduction to global pollution.  Use the following slide to reinforce the statement you share:

“Seven of nine snow samples taken on land in Antarctica found chemicals known as PFAs, which are used in industrial products and can harm wildlife”

Source: Reuters

4. Ask a “What if…” Question

The “what if” combo carries massive power. It gives your audience a sense of what will happen if they choose to listen to you and follow your advice.  Here are a few presentations with starting sentences + slides to illustrate this option:

Alternatively, you can work your way to this point using different questions:

• Ask the audience about their “Why.” Why are they attending this event, or why do they find this topic relevant?
• Use “How” as your question hook if you plan to introduce a potential solution to a problem.
• If your presentation has a persuasion factor associated, use “When” as a question to trigger the interest of the audience on, for example, when they are planning to take action regarding the topic being presented (if we talk about an inspirational presentation).

5. Use the Word “Imagine”

“Imagine,” “Picture This,” and “Think of” are better word choices for when you plan to begin your presentation with a quick story.

Our brain loves interacting with stories. In fact, a captivating story makes us more collaborative. Scientists have discovered that stories with tension during narrative make us:

• Pay more attention,
• Share emotions with the characters and even mimic the feelings and behaviors of those characters afterward.

That’s why good action movies often feel empowering and make us want to change the world too. By incorporating a good, persuasive story with a relatable hero, you can also create that “bond” with your audience and make them more perceptive to your pitch – donate money to support the cause; explore the solution you are offering, and so on.

6. Leverage The Curiosity Gap

The curiosity gap is another psychological trick frequently used by marketers to solicit more clicks, reads, and other interactions from the audience. In essence, it’s the trick you see behind all those clickbait, Buzzfeed-style headlines:

Not everyone is a fan of such titles. But the truth is – they do the trick and instantly capture attention. The curiosity gap sparks our desire to dig deeper into the matter. We are explicitly told that we don’t know something important, and now we crave to change that. Curiosity is an incredibly strong driving force for action – think Eve, think Pandora’s Box.

So consider incorporating these attention grabbers for your presentation speech to shock the audience. You can open with one, or strategically weave them in the middle of your presentation when you feel like your audience is getting tired and may lose their focus.

Here’s how you can use the curiosity gap during your presentation:

• Start telling a story, pause in the middle, and delay the conclusion of it.
• Withhold the key information (e.g., the best solution to the problem you have described) for a bit – but not for too long, as this can reduce the initial curiosity.
• Introduce an idea or concept and link it with an unexpected outcome or subject – this is the best opening for a presentation tip.

7. The Power of Silence

What would you do if you attended a presentation in which the speaker remains silent for 30 seconds after the presentation starts? Just the presenter, standing in front of the audience, in absolute silence.

Most likely, your mind starts racing with thoughts, expecting something of vital importance to be disclosed. The surprise factor with this effect is for us to acknowledge things we tend to take for granted.

It is a powerful resource to introduce a product or to start an inspirational presentation if followed by a fact.

8. Facts as Weapons of Communication

In some niches, using statistics as the icebreaker is the best method to retain the audience’s interest.

Say your presentation is about climate change. Why not introduce a not-so-common fact, such as the amount of wool that can be produced out of oceanic plastic waste per month? And since you have to base your introduction on facts, research manufacturers that work with Oceanic fabrics from recycled plastic bottles .

Using facts helps to build a better narrative, and also gives leverage to your presentation as you are speaking not just from emotional elements but from actually recorded data backed up by research.

9. Fact vs. Myths

Related to our previous point, we make quite an interesting speech if we contrast a fact vs. a myth in a non-conventional way: using a myth to question a well-accepted fact, then introducing a new point of view or theory, backed on sufficient research, that proves the fact wrong. This technique, when used in niches related to academia, can significantly increase the audience’s interest, and it will highlight your presentation as innovative.

Another approach is to debunk a myth using a fact. This contrast immediately piques interest because it promises to overturn commonly held beliefs, and people naturally find it compelling when their existing knowledge is put to the test. An example of this is when a nutritionist wishes to speak about how to lose weight via diet, and debunks the myth that all carbohydrates are “bad”.

10. The Power of Music

Think about a presentation that discusses the benefits of using alternative therapies to treat anxiety, reducing the need to rely on benzodiazepines. Rather than going technical and introducing facts, the presenter can play a soothing tune and invite the audience to follow an exercise that teaches how to practice breathing meditation . Perhaps, in less than 2 minutes, the presenter can accomplish the goal of exposing the advantages of this practice with a live case study fueled by the proper ambiance (due to the music played in the beginning).

11. Physical Activity

Let’s picture ourselves in an in-company presentation about workspace wellness. For this company, the sedentary lifestyle their employees engage in is a worrying factor, so they brought a personal trainer to coach the employees on a basic flexibility routine they can practice in 5 minutes after a couple of hours of desk time.

“Before we dive in, let’s all stand up for a moment.” This simple instruction breaks the ice and creates a moment of shared experience among the attendees. You could then lead them through a brief stretching routine, saying something like, “Let’s reach up high, and stretch out those muscles that get so tight sitting at our desks all day.” With this action, you’re not just talking about workplace wellness, you’re giving them a direct, personal experience of it.

This approach has several advantages. Firstly, it infuses energy into the room and increases the oxygen flow to the brain, potentially boosting the audience’s concentration and retention. Secondly, it sets a precedent that your presentation is not going to be a standard lecture, but rather an interactive experience. This can raise the level of anticipation for what’s to come, and make the presentation a topic for future conversation between coworkers.

12. Acknowledging a Person

How many times have you heard the phrase: “Before we begin, I’d like to dedicate a few words to …” . The speaker could be referring to a mentor figure, a prominent person in the local community, or a group of people who performed charity work or obtained a prize for their hard work and dedication. Whichever is the reason behind this, acknowledgment is a powerful force to use as a method of starting a presentation. It builds a connection with the audience, it speaks about your values and who you admire, and it can transmit what the conversation is going to be about based on who the acknowledged person is.

Closing Thoughts

Now you know how to start your presentation – you have the opening lines, you have the slides to use, and you can browse even more attractive PowerPoint presentation slides and templates on our website. Also, we recommend you visit our article on how to make a PowerPoint Presentation to get familiarized with the best tactics for professional presentation design and delivery, or if you need to save time preparing your presentation, we highly recommend you check our AI Presentation Maker to pair these concepts with cutting-edge slide design powered by AI.

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Curiosity Gap, Opening, Public Speaking, Rhetorical Triangle, Speech, What If Filed under Presentation Ideas

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