HOW TO

OPEN
A PRESENTATION

BEST WAYS TO FASCINATE THE

AUDIENCE RIGHT FROM THE
BEGINNING

BY AVI SALMON
 Copyright © 2011 by Avi Salmon

All rights reserved. No part of this

publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted by
any means – electronic, mechanical,
photographic (photocopying), recording,
or otherwise – without prior permission
in writing from the author.

Preface
Congratulations! Thank you for
downloading me and endeavoring to
learn practically about how to open your
next presentation making it the best
presentation you ever gave.
Are you at lost wondering why your
lectures are not memorable? How come
you see such great presentation on TED
but your own does not leave the
impression you wanted to get? Do you
want to be perceived as the best speaker
in your organization?
Presentation skills are a key set of
skills that will enable you to achieve
your goals faster, create a better image
about your professionalism and brand
you as “The one that knows what she is
talking about”. After reading this guide
you will surly know what to do when
you start your presentation and have a
set of tools to choose from when
building your next lecture at work and
elsewhere.
Join me in the journey to make your
next public talk a one that will be talked
about.
Contents
Introduction
Why should you read this book?
About the Author
Objective
Chapter 1 No second chance for first
impression
Chapter 2 Tell a Story
Chapter 3 By the numbers
Chapter 4 Humor is the key
Chapter 5 Questions
Chapter 6 Visualize
Chapter 7 Play to win
Chapter 8 Provocation
Chapter 9 Where do we go from here?
 Introduction

Hello intrepid reader and

congratulations on purchasing this book.
You have chosen to work harder
towards your goals and aims, and this
book provides you with the opportunity
to improve your skills as a presenter.
The chapters will guide you through
every stage of a presentation, starting
with the all-important role for the first
impression. Let's get underway
to achieve your goals.

The very first impression that any

individual or group of people will have
of you is built within a few seconds.
This is a very small window of
opportunity and you have to take the
advantage to gain interest and undivided
attention. If you fail to impress your
audience at first, you cannot go back in
time and try to do so again. The book
focuses on the most crucial moments
when success or failures are decided. A
good first impression is the secret of
great presentations. The very first
moments are the most crucial ones as the
audience decides right away how much
attention they are willing to give you.
These moments will decide everything
from your approach to your topic. This
is when you gain their trust. If you do,
the rest of the presentation is in your
hands. A great start will help you to
achieve your goals.

One of the many pitfalls of a poor

presentation is the lack of an objective.
Many presenters have a weak or
misconceived target and end up giving a
poor presentation. The audience will
pick up on this within moments and
quickly lose interest. Avoid this at all
costs by having a clear objective and a
direction for the presentation.

One other thing that you need to avoid is

monotony. There is nothing worse than
sitting through a typical Monday morning
presentation that looks the same as every
other presentation. In order to avoid
such dull presentations you need to
engage your audience from the start.
Furthermore, you have to avoid dreary
long dialogues that shift the attention of
the audience towards their smartphones
and away from you. You should always
remember that a bored audience is a
deaf audience. A good first impression
creates the path way for a successful
presentation and will not only get you
praise from the audience but also help
you to achieve your goal or objective.
Why should you read
this book?
“How to open a presentation” is a
practical guide that will introduce useful
concepts and ideas that you can put into
practice at your very next presentation.
While reading this text you can begin to
practice better presentation skills by
following the advice and tips in later
chapters. After going through the text,
you can put your skills into test by
recalling your previous presentation and
think about how you could have
presented them better?

By reading this book you may gain one

of the important tools of leadership. The
greatest leaders know how to speak and
how to present their ideas. In order to
succeed or become a great leader, it is
important to learn these steps and gain
the admiration and respect of your peers.
Every new contact you make will be
impressed by the first impression upon
meeting you. When perceived as a good
leader by your presentation audience,
you already have their attention due to
your charismatic leadership.

Presentation is one of the key factors of

success. No matter in which sector you
work in, or whichever goal motivates
you, a presentation is crucial to put
forward your most convincing sales
pitch or lucrative idea. A great
presentation needs a great impression
from start to finish.
About the Author
Avi Salmon is an engineering manager in
a large international high tech company.
Avi has more than 20 years of
experience giving different kind of
lectures and workshops including
“leadership”, “innovation”,
“constrictive confrontation”, “Kid
programming” and more. Avi has taught
“presentation skills” inside his
organization and externally to different
forums. He is coaching individuals for
effective presentation for technical
conferences and general presentations.
Many of his students and co-workers
have found his methods effective. They
have become more effective and
efficient in presenting their topic and
keeping their audience on the edges of
their seat. These presentation skills and
public speaking abilities are essential
and key subjects to learn in the 21st
century. Avi holds a BSc. in electronics
from the Technion institute, MBA from
the Haifa University and coaching
diploma. Avi is happily married with
three adorable kids.
Objective
The following chapters will teach you
more about improving relations and
wowing audiences with the first
impression. The main concept of this
book deals with the opening impression
of a presentation so the rest of the
presentation is up to the individual
reader and not within the scope of this
book. Simply reading this book is a good
start but success will come from putting
these ideas into practice. Here is a tip,
always remember to get feedback. This
will help you to inspire your audience
and act upon your presentation's final
summary. Later chapters will give plenty
of opportunity to try out the scenarios
starting today. With this knowledge in
your arsenal you are one step closer of
becoming a successful presenter and
going closer to achieving your goals.

Receiving feedback from your friends is

worth nothing instead videotape yourself
while you are practicing a presentation.
This will give you the best reflection on
your presentation and highlight your
strong as well as the weak parts. It can
be both insightful and amazing It can be
insightful and amazing how many details
you notice upon watching your recorded
video that you never noticed by yourself.
There is simply no other efficient
feedback method than viewing a self-
recorded presentation.
 Chapter 1
No second chance for first impression

In 2005, Sunnafrank and Artemio

Ramirez Jr. at Ohio State University
conducted a research study on
relationships and first impressions. As
many as 164 students were assessed as
Ramirez and Sunnafrank closely
monitored their relationships over the
semester; watching their interactions as
they met and worked together.

The study found that with repeated and

continued exposure to their colleagues
over multiple meetings during the
semester, their opinion of their partner
remained unchanged from the first
impression upon meeting them. Despite
many opportunities to develop
relationships their opinion about the
other person remained unchanged.

The main fact to take from this study is

that people make snap judgments in a
very short time, and once that first
impression has formed, very little can be
done to change their opinion. The
amount of time spent with a person after
an initial meeting has no effect upon the
first impression, whether it's 3 minutes
or several weeks.
Now apply this idea to a presentation.
The length of a presentation can be short,
from 5-10 minutes, or a lengthy 1-2
hours. Regardless, bearing the study
mentioned above in mind, the first 5
minutes are the most important in
deciding how your audience will feel
about the presentation and their
relationship with you. Two weeks from
now, six months from now, or even 2
years from now, the first impression will
affect your working relationship with
them. Perhaps the presentation is a sales
meeting. These potential new clients are
deciding how much money they will
invest in your company over the next few
years. In conclusion of the study by
Sunnafrank and Ramirez Jar highlights
the important fact that there is no second
chance to make a good first impression.
So how can we make the most of such a
small window of opportunity to open a
presentation? Here are some ideas.

You want to make the best impression,

so get out there and meet your audience
while people are arriving before the
start of the event. Greet them as they
arrive, ask how they are and be
professionally polite. Keep pleasantries
short and to the point. A handshake
speaks a thousand words. If waiting for
the audience to be seated, be present in
the moment. Smile say good morning
chat make eye contact, don’t sit and look
nervous or stressed and don’t worry
about the presentation. This is the very
first impression each person will have
of the moment they lock eyes on you.

Make the first 5 minutes count. You

should aim to cover the main idea of
your presentation so that if someone
leaves, they already know the most
important factors of the presentation and
what the main message is. After this you
can discuss each section in more detail.

Reveal straight away what’s in it for the

audience. You should not flood them
with information on the topic they may
already know. This can be a turn off and
bore your audience.
Any audience will be thinking about how
this benefits them. Expect this question
to arise often. So be quick to answer
them by addressing it in the key moments
of your opening. Your first impression
will create a lasting memory in your
audience, hence you will need to be
interactive and communicate relevant
interest to keep them engaged.

One common mistake presenters make is

to leave the main message to the middle
or end of the presentation. This
achieves nothing but disappointment and
a weary audience who is likely to miss
the point entirely. Many expert speakers
become set in this routine and audiences
react predictably to such structure. This
harms your first impression and
disengages the audience leaving you
with a much weaker presentation. Give
them the bottom line right from the
beginning.

Keeping eye contact and interacting with

your audience is very important.
Fiddling with slides or shifting pictures
around; results in loss of interaction and
a complete waste of time. Use a remote
control to change slides and causes less
destruction and attracts less attention.
This gives you time and comfort to focus
on your speaking.
Don't antagonize your audience and go
with the flow. If they are tweeting, using
tablets or phones engage with them and
acknowledge it. Getting the audience to
like you is a great first impression.

If it feels appropriate for the audience

you can encourage them to use social
media and share socially. Make sure you
keep the attention on you though, you
worked hard to gain momentum during
the opening, don't lose it.

In the modern day world of social

media, many of your audience may have
done their research before your
presentation. Assume they have at least
searched for your name or looked up
information on your company,
background, or product brand.

Likewise, you should prepare

beforehand and get to know potential
individuals who may be attending your
presentation. Consider how to make your
first impression by getting to know their
background and most importantly deliver
the questions that they will have in mind
at the start of your presentation. You can
use this information right at the
beginning as part of your opening.

Answering these questions early at the

start will immediately gain their
attention and keep them focused on you
waiting for you to provide the answer.
Providing the answers will alert your
entire audience as they will keep
listening to you to get vital information
that benefits them directly. Make a
personal effort to involve each member
of your target audience as if it was a two
way conversation, speak to them
directly, but as a whole group. When the
audience feels a connection with your
presentation and with you as a speaker, a
great first impression is made and
conveys a strong message of knowledge
and trust in your key selling points.

Traditional presentations in the past

have titled their sections to differentiate
certain points, naming them things such
as “introduction”, “agenda” or
“summary”. Involving the audience in
the titles and creating a brilliant first
impression, can be modernized and
titled such as "how this affects you"
"Why choose this result?" "Where do we
go from here?" Your questions and
comments"

Notice how these titles are more inviting

and less generic by using "we, you and
your" to personalize it.
 Chapter 2
Tell a Story

I remember the first time I had to give a

presentation in my organization. It was a
presentation about my design and I was
scared to death. I wanted to get noticed
by my managers and to be remembered
as a good designer. I needed them to
understand the creative work in my
design. “Hello, I am Avi; today we are
going to talk about… Subject 1 is ….
Then subject 2 is…”. My speech was
dull and had no life. The presentation
went on to be all right but it was not
what I had in mind. It had no charisma
and was just like an engineer trying to
present his plan for doing his job. I
understood that if I want to deliver a
message, and impress my audience, I
need to do things differently. This is my
story about my first engineering
presentation.

When we start a presentation with a

story, and better yet a personal story, we
are immediately connect with the
audience and getting them involved with
their hearts and not just with their minds.
A good story always has a point. The
best stories have a moral or a value the
listener can relate to and learn from.
A story with no point, no empathy and no
direction, quickly loses our interest.
Remember this as you carefully choose
the words with which you tell your
story.

Open with a story of a personal nature or

one that relates to your subject even
before introducing yourself. In many
leadership sessions I begin by telling a
story. I tell stories about how I moved
from being a couch potato into a half
marathon runner. This story has personal
information and has all the elements to
reflect upon the leadership changes on
you and to others. After the story I
introduce myself and the subject of the
lecture. Now I have the audience in my
hands that are emotionally invested in
what I have to say and are ready to hear
more.
Choosing your story should be easy but
done with consideration. Make it
relevant to the key points of your
presentation. This resonates with your
audience instantly. Draw upon your life
experiences so as to make it personal
and emotional. This will able them to
relate to the topic, if not empathize with
you.

So once you have a story idea, how do

you lead into it? Why should we use a
story? Many of us have attended
countless presentations that begin
undoubtedly with the conventional
opening:

“Thank you for coming tonight, I’m

excited to speak to you about...” and then
watched as the audience instantly loses
interest and turns into a snoozefest with
no attention paid to the speaker. This
should be avoided at all costs.
Along with your story idea, here are
some powerful tips to provide you an
excellent tool for gaining the admiration
of your audience.

Use a metaphor. Choose a keyword that

you will repeat later in the presentation.
Suggest a metaphorical situation that
immediately makes your audience to
think outside the box. This leaves an
amazing first impression and for the rest
of your presentation may think outside
the box, they certainly need to pay
attention now.

Ask a rhetorical question that relates to

the story and its message. The audience
does not need to acknowledge it so you
can continue your opening without
skipping a beat. Your audience is likely
to answer it in their thoughts within a
minute. Then provide the obvious
answer after a minute and demonstrate
how it relates to the rest of your
presentation, remind them how it
answers or solves your first question
just moments ago. This is a great trick
that lets your audience feel in tune with
you as their thoughts match the
presentation in real time, and now you're
interacting with your listeners in more
ways than one.

You can also open your story with an

actual question that will invariably be
answered by the story. For example,
“how many of you had a bad experience
with...?” The audience may answer this
right away verbally or by show of hands.
Don't be afraid to divert from your
structure to engage the audience if they
are vocalizing with you, but continue to
lead in to the story to share your bad
experience with them.

One excellent example of a great

speaker of our time was the late Steve
Jobs. In 2005 he addressed students of
Stanford University during the
commencement speech. He opened with
a story, about his college experiences.
This gained him immediate empathy and
kept the attention of the students. He
followed with another story and a joke
about his choices in college and how
they helped his career. You can find
Steve Jobs' commencement speech on
YouTube by searching for “connecting
the dots”.
This is the perfect method of opening
any presentation and is one of the best
ways to succeed in your speech. Try and
apply this approach to your next
presentation.

In my main job I am a manager of a high-

tech company where I often coach
people to present technical presentation.
I often heard people say that technical
information is very boring or no story
can be related to them. I believe in the
complete opposite. There is always a
story behind a technical story. 'Inventing
the lamp' by Edison is a technical
subject with a huge story behind it. The
same applies to the legendary and
historical story of the Wright Brothers'
efforts to build and fly the first airplane,
or Einstein conducting mind experiments
on his theories. In one of the technical
presentation, an engineer planned to talk
about a new method of arranging
computers in the data centre. As it
sounds, it may not be so interesting. I
asked him to tell how difficult it was to
get into the data centre when the cleaning
lady mistakenly pulled out a wire when
she was using the vacuum cleaner. It
took 2 weeks to reconnect the wire and
restart operation. With this story in mind
we lead in to the new structure of the
data centre. This type of lively
visualized story gave some life and
humor to an otherwise dull technical
subject.

In another case, when speaking about the

way data is arranged inside a computer,
the term “Big Endian” and “Little
Endian” was introduced to explain how
data is placed in computer memory. Big
Endians store the most significant
information first while Little Endians
store the least significant information
first. This may not be the most exciting
of subjects but before explaining this we
opened with the real story about “big
Indian” and “ little Indian”: "In Jonathan
Swift's well known novel 'Gulliver's
Travels' the Big-Endian and Little-
Endian parties quarrel over how to
govern the warriors over the practice of
breaking eggs. Traditionally, Lilliputians
broke boiled eggs on the larger end. A
few generations ago, the Emperor of
Lilliput at the time had decreed that all
eggs be broken on the smaller end after
he cut himself breaking the egg at the
larger end. The differences between
Big-Endians (those who broke their eggs
at the larger end) and Little-Endians
(like most modern day civilians broke
their eggs at the small end) had given
rise to six rebellions. This rebellious
war over eggs cost one of the Emperor
his life, and another’s crown. The
Lilliputian religion says an egg should
be broken on the convenient end, which
is now interpreted by the Lilliputians as
the smaller end. With that story we
managed to give some life to a very
technical detail with a nice story and
inject a little humor into it. People who
have attended my lecture have since then
never forgotten about the difference
between Big Endians and Little Endians.

People ask me “Where will I get these

stories from?” My answer is to start
collecting them day by day. While you
are aware to the fact that you need good
stories for your presentations, they will
start showing up. Collect them. Write
them down. Listen to other people
stories and be aware when you listen to
other lectures.
Now you have heard my story, it is time
to start creating your own story?
Remember your last presentation, how
well did it go? What would you have
done better? Put down this book and go
write a short story about your past
experiences, make it short and relevant
to the topic of that presentation. Include
an anecdote or a metaphor that hints
toward your key message. Try to
remember your target audience, make the
story funny, entertaining in some way,
but always speak from the heart with
wisdom and experience. Practice
delivering your opening story until it
flows naturally into the rest of your
presentation.

Remember the wisdom of Steve jobs as

he said “you can't connect the dots
looking forward; you can only connect
them looking backwards.”
 Chapter 3
By the numbers

What is “23”?

A very successful approach to opening

any presentation is to start with a
number. The number can be anything as
long as it's related to the main point of
the presentation. Display the number for
all the audience to see and engage them
by asking what they think about the
number or what it represents. Engaging
your audience in this manner keeps them
alert and they start paying attention to
find out the importance of the number.
For an exceptional opening try to
combine this method with a story., Your
story should be such that the audience
can guess the relevance of the number
after you are done telling the story.. This
is your moment to shine by dropping
your sheer brilliance into the mix. Ask if
anyone can remember the number. Now
elicit for a few guesses and then reveal
exactly what the number stands for and
how it relates to your presentation.

So what is 23? In a presentation I gave

to my team within my high-tech
company, I started with a slide showing
this question and after a few guesses
from the audience I stated that this is the
number of design contracts our group
successfully won last year. I then
continued to show the relevant number
for the previous year, which was much
lower at 12. That created the exact
impression I wanted by showing growth,
improvement and success.

You can also start your presentation by

asking “What do 366 stands for”. You
might get the response like “the number
of days in a leap year”. After getting few
guesses from the audience you can elicit
further answers or acknowledge that the
number represents the number of jobs
that company created this year. Another
example is “What does the number 2012
signify?” You can follow up by
announcing it's the year of the dragon in
the Chinese calendar, and “2012 is the
number of people this product helped
quit smoking last year”

Which numbers to use may be a daunting

choice for some and should be relevant
to your business or subject, here are
some suggestions:

Total number of employees

Average income of target market
Number of years in business
Age you made your first sale
Number of customers
Statistically speaking:
Statistics are fun. Provide your audience
with a surprising or shocking statistic.
Using this method leaves an impression
that you can recall later in the
presentation and continually refer back
to the statistic and don’t forget to remind
the audience how your presentation
deals with that information. It also
shows that you have tremendous
knowledge on the subject.

In addition to using numbers to focus

your audience, statistics can play an
important part of your opening and can
even be fun and interesting.
Controversial issues are a powerful tool
you can use on the audience. Delivering
statistics on issues that are touchy
subject will keep the attention of your
audience and no doubt raise questions
they will want to ask you later. For
example, you can talk about the increase
or decrease in the unemployment trend.
If this relates to a solution then use
employment statistics. It guarantees
alertness and a respect of factual
knowledge upon your part as the
speaker. Imagine a presentation on
pharmaceuticals, a good statistic to use
in this situation may be the total number
of obesity cases in a particular country
or time period. Any other health statistic
is also a valid choice if it refers to a
solution your presentation is offering.
The key factor is to make your statistic
mean something In other words, keep it
relevant to the direction of your goal and
always point towards your solution or
contribution that the audience can relate
from.

A good statistic should clearly identify a

problem that needs solving. Your
presentation is the solution and
introducing a casual reference is a good
plan.

“Did you know that 1 in 6 children in the

U.S.A are obese?”
“Would you be surprised to know that
within the past 6 years only 58% of
students was seeking a Bachelor's
degree?”

Now think about your presentation. If

there's nothing on the horizon, remember
your last presentation and use it as an
example. Go ahead and prepare for your
next presentation right now. Research
some statistics on the topic of your
presentation and practice delivering
them as your opening speech. Choose
your statistics carefully so that it
highlights your key message as a
relevant solution to address the statistic.
This shows organizing, planning and
forward thinking. Combine a number to
start with and even open with a short
story. Put all this together and you will
create a potent opening to wow any
audience.

As an incentive challenge to prepare

yourself for presenting, what statistic
data can you find to address the key
messages below?

- We need to save our planet

- Do not drink and drive
- Drink more water
- Sustainable energy now
 Chapter 4
Humor is the key

Using humor and jokes are a great way

to directly ease tension and build a
lasting relationship with your audience.
It should be noted that many of us just
don't have the natural flair for being
funny enough to capture a laugh. Within
my organization one of my colleagues, a
very popular top level manager, often
uses jokes in his presentation. People
love his presentation as he has some sort
of stand-up comedy routine. After he
promoted to a higher position in the
company his successor felt he should
continue the style and the approach of
his predecessor. Although his efforts
were admirable, he was far from being
funny. His intelligence and analytical
expertise were second to none. The
jokes he used fell flat and were dreadful,
resulting in the exact opposite effect of
what he was trying to achieve. The
message is clear, if you have a natural
ability to make people laugh, use it to get
your message across with a smile, if you
are not comically blessed you may want
to avoid ruining your all-important
opening.

You may choose to open with a joke but

you have to be very careful. In fact,
maybe my best recommendation is “do
not start with a joke!”. It can often fail to
impress the audience because there
hasn't been time to develop rapport or
they are not in the mood. Telling jokes is
not the same as being outright funny; it
may not suit the audience or the theme of
the presentation. So know yourself and
feel your audience first. Instead use a
funny story which can be more
successful than a short joke with a punch
line.

What kind of joke should you use to

proceed? The best kind of joke to get a
laugh from the audience would be a
funny story about you. People love to
relate to things that they have also
experienced and enjoy laughing at your
expense as well as their own misfortune.
This is such a powerful method because
you are welcoming empathy from your
audience, and this emotion can create
strong bonds between you. What a
fantastic first impression that can be.

No matter how many of the audience

members you know beforehand, the
majority of your audience will be like a
cold sales call. They are going to be
unresponsive, disengaged and pre-
occupied, like a locked door. Humor is
the key that will warm up your audience
and open the door to success.

You can be funny in other ways besides

telling a joke. Here some methods which
you can try while giving your
presentation:

1. As mentioned, telling a funny

story about you. This will make the
audience feel more connected to you.
Telling something about you is one of
the best ways to connect to the
audience. So start remembering all
your funny stories as they are far more
entertaining than a series of short
jokes. Telling short jokes can be risky
as not all of the audience will find the
jokes amusing Making Funny relative
abbreviations.
2. Funny invented acronyms: When
you are giving a presentation to
company, i.e. IBM, try coming up with
something funny with those initials.
Example, if your presentation is on
financial issue, you can start by saying
IBM- I Believe in Money. The
audience loves it and feels more open
towards your idea. The same goes true
every company, so try and come up
with funny relative interpretation.
3. Cartoons that relate to your
subject. You can try and buy some of
the cartons that relate to your topic.
You should try and open your
presentation with one of them. This
can work as a joke and the audience
might find it amusing.
4. You can try out funny quotes. This
helps to get the attention of the
audience. Example, when giving a
presentation about the future of
technology you can use something
like, “I think there is a world market
for maybe five computers”. It was
said by Thomas John Watson, Sr.
Chairman and CEO of International
Business Machines (IBM) at 1943.
Look for a relevant funny quote that is
related to your given subject.
5. Try using props. You can bring
something funny to open your
presentation with. If you are giving a
lecture on effective listening, you can
try using two giant ear lobes. But be
sure to take them off on time before it
starts to look ridiculous. You can use
anything as long as it relates to your
subject. Go on stage with a Nightgown
if your lecture is about sleeping
problems or a broken wheel if you are
talking about car safety (This is what
is left from my car…).
6. Try using anachronism. You can
try using a funny statement like,
“would you imagine George
Washington using Facebook?”,
opening with questions like these will
automatically let your audience know
about your subject and making them
think about your topic.
7. Using funny titles from the
newspapers. You should start
scanning for any kind of title which
 will relate with your topic. This will
grab the attention of your audience.

All of these methods can be used all

along your lecture. It will always awake
your audience and bring back their
attention to you. It is very powerful at
the beginning of your lecture. It is often
said, make a person laugh and you are
50% of the way to winning their heart.
As long as your act is delivered with
confidence, good timing and relevance
to presentation, it's a good chance to
make a memorable first impression.

If you're willing to go the extra mile on

this approach, try attending the next
open-mic night near you and try out your
material on an audience. This can be a
good learning process and will make a
great story which you can share during
your next presentation. Even if the open-
mic night goes dreadfully bad, retelling
the story of your bad experience can get
a laugh from a future audience. Learn
from it. It will take great courage to do
such a thing but will serve as a
wonderful learning experience.

Another option is to join an

improvisation class. This is much easier
and less frightening. I can assure you it’s
a lot of fun. It will sharpen your
confidence to stand and be a little bit
funnier. It will help you develop
personal skills to react at a moment's
notice and improvise under any situation
as you begin to quickly feel out a
situation and an appropriate method of
action

It is now time that you start practicing

jokes or funny stories for any upcoming
presentation. . If you don’t have a
relevant subject to practice on, you can
research for them on the internet. Try to
improvise different methods of
delivering a funny story to people
around you and see how they react. Now
create 3 jokes relevant to your next
presentation. Try them on your
colleagues, co-workers, friends and
family. Which ones work and which
ones don't? Work some funny thoughts,
reflections or past experiences into your
story ideas.
Chapter 5
Questions

“Who wants to be the best presenter

around after reading this book?”

Children are inquisitive by nature and

often ask “why?” Anyone who has
raised children can attest to this
repetitive daily routine. It's this playful
nature that you need to tap into as a
presenter and key speaker. Asking
questions is how we learn that which we
don't know. Questions pose potential
situations and their answers provide
solutions.
Your audience is always looking for
answers, and most importantly,
solutions. The goal of any presentation is
to provide the audience with these
answers and solutions.
It is important that you anticipate the
right question and provide the most
useful answers when securing a contract
or selling a product. This will help you
towards achieving a successful
presentation that conveys your message
powerfully and achieves your goal.
Remember when we were young how
fun it was to ask questions. Those were
the times when we were innocent and
looked at everything with an open mind.
As we grew older our minds became
more complex and started to form our
own point of view. Questions are a great
tool to communicate when you are
presenting an idea. You should try and
encourage the audience to ask questions.
This will allow you to capture their
attention. All you need to do then is to
capitalize the opportunity and leave an
attractive first impression.
What are the right questions to ask? The
short answer is, the kind of question that
you already know the answer to and one
that sells the key point of your
presentation that the audience is left with
no doubt in their mind about the potential
of your presentation.
Let's look at the different kinds of
question you can open with.

A riddle:
This will take some creativity on your
part but work extremely well within the
first 5 minutes of opening a presentation.
Posing a riddle as a question will get
your audience thinking and keep them
occupied and focused on your message.
Once they hear the solution or answer
they will get the importance of the
message you are presenting. It works
well to pose the riddle and move on,
allowing them time to think, but don't
forget to come back and answer the
riddle within 3 to 5 minutes. This will
draw their attention to the next segment
of your presentation.

Rhetoric:
Rhetoric is self-explanatory questions.
“Setting goals is easy, but achieving
them isn’t. How are you sabotaging
yourself?” The audience no doubt wants
to avoid self-sabotage and will start
listening to learn how. It's easy to
imagine applying such rhetoric to the
main topic of your own presentation.

Rhetoric is always a powerful trick to

get the audience to agree with you. When
they agree with you, they see themselves
as more like you and are far more
interested in your message because they
feel closer and start interacting with you.
Consider this, who do you take advice
from more often, a random stranger, or
close friends and family?

I like to ask the kinds of questions that

point directly to the goal of the
presentation and ones where the answer
gives the desired message I am
conveying. I sometimes raise my hand
and answer it myself, this can be
amusing to the audience but engages the
audience to interact with you and raise
their hands to answer. For example, ask
the audience “Who wishes their kids
would start listening to them more?”
Raise your hand and answer “I sure do”
Your audience will certainly raise their
hands in union too.

Think of three questions of your own, a

rhetorical, a riddle and a numeric.
Practice asking the questions with good
pacing and timing allowing a moment
before delivering the impressive
answer. Practice until this flows
naturally into the next segment of your
opening.
Chapter 6
Visualize

Nothing speaks more value than

allowing images to paint the picture for
you. Opening a presentation with an
image creates a good first impression by
cleverly endearing the audience to a
memorable scenic image. A captivating
image will stir emotion in the audience
and invigorate their imagination.

It's imperative that the image be relevant

to the main topic of the presentation.
The first thing your audience notices is
an image that immediately connects them
with your topic. You have imprinted a
magnificent memory into their thoughts.
Once again, being in tune with your
audience gains their favoritism instantly.

What kind of images can use that will

stir up your audience and make them tune
in to your presentation? This depends on
the goal of your presentation. Of course,
there are things you can do to make a
vivid first impression even before the
presentation begins. Aside from the main
topic, the audience is interested in you
and will be making decisions based on
how much they like you as a presenter
and an expert in your field.
It goes without saying; preparation will
make your presentation shine. A poorly
planned and ill-prepared presenter can
easily become flustered and will weaken
the whole topic and the message. If you
are using slides or visual cues, have
them ready, loaded and lined up at the
first slide. Make sure the slide-show is
working fine. You should already have a
title decided for your speech before
arriving, but use this time wisely to
consider how appropriate your title is,
and if it's relevant to the main topic. The
same applies to any images you choose
to show while you are talking.

If you are speaking about building a new

laboratory, choose a picture of a terrible
laboratory that is in disarray or poor
condition. This will draw attention to the
need for a new laboratory as a key
selling point. If your talk is about
teenagers, choose a relevant picture of a
teen grimacing at you. It gets the message
across clearly.

It's not only about still images or

pictures. Movies, videos and short
motion clips are highly effective visual
aids. There are hundreds of thousands
readily available video clips you can
use to open your presentation to deliver
the right message for almost any theme
or situation. You can use video clips
from Ameriquest Mortgage commercials
to show quickly we, humans, form our
first impression when talking about
forming first impressions. I showed the
video clip segments of these
commercials and found it effective as it
gave rise to laughter from the majority of
the audience. The effect was
instantaneous, they understood my
message that people can get the wrong
first impression within seconds of
meeting you, and my further message
was also clearly understood that many of
us are quick to analyze a person or event
based only on what we see in front of us.

The commercial shows a typical average

man at home preparing dinner, chopping
vegetables with a chef knife and
watching the sauce pot on the oven hob.
His cat knocks the sauce over on to the
floor; spilling the sauce. As the cat
jumps down to lick the sauce, with knife
in hand, he bends down to pick up the
cat. At this moment his girlfriend walks
in and assumes the worst.

Another commercial shows a man

walking his dog in the park. After he
drops his chocolate bar behind the dog
he bends down to pick it up. From the
perspective of onlookers in the park it
certainly seems he is eating something
else, i.e. he was eating dog poo.
Ameriquest Mortgage had the slogan
“Don't judge too quickly, we won't” You
can find the commercials available on
internet sites such as Vimeo or Youtube.
Consider the type of presentation you are
usually involved with. Search your
portfolio, or look on the internet for
relevant images and videos you may use.
If you have nothing suitable, consider it
a motivational skill building challenge
and create events or opportunities in
which to make a photo that captures the
key moment which you want to sell. You
could even create your own video if you
have the tools to do so. Why stop there?
It doesn't hurt to prepare for other
presentations that you may give in the
future. If you have found a new idea or a
sales pitch, you should find a visual aid
that relate with your topic. You can then
begin your presentation with the video
and capture people’s attention. You are
becoming a better presenter by doing so.
Chapter 7
Play to win

In regular training sessions I give

constructive confrontation. I start off
with a game that the audience is required
to participate in. The audience is placed
into pairs and places their arms up on
the table ready to grip their partner's
hand for arm wrestling. The goal is to
overcome your partner and push their
hand down to the table. The rule of the
game is simple, the winner gains 10
points and they keep playing for as long
as the game lasts 3 minutes. The goal is
to earn as many points possible in these
3 minutes to win. The key message that I
deliver after is that they don't need to
struggle and fight against each other to
win. They could agree to let each other
win and score lots of points in 3
minutes. It is in our nature to win and to
compete to win, but the goal isn't
winning. It is about scoring points. The
important message here is, what I
continue to discuss in the training
session, teamwork and joint efforts can
achieve goals more easily.

This is important message, when we

work together we can achieve better
results, can help you to give a better
presentation. An alternative game for
anyone familiar with it is the thumb war,
where players try to pin down their
opponent's thumb using their own thumb.
The main point of these games can be
delivered up front right at the start of
opening your presentation. Now that's a
powerful message and a good first
impression that an audience will have of
you.

Another activity I often use in sessions

talks about life as a game. This poses
the theory of how life is more enjoyable
and less strenuous if we treat it as a
game. With that in mind I immediately
open with a story. I talk about a time I
waited with my kids in a queue for the
post office. There was a waiting line on
the ground. My kids, being kids with
attention deficit were getting bored and
started playing their own games
involving the line on the floor.

At this point I instruct the audience to get

into groups and hold a contest to see
how many games they can invent within
5 minutes that involve a line on the floor.
The energy in the room rises higher and
right away they start interacting with
each other and the speaker. This is a
sure-fire way to develop rapport within
minutes of opening any presentation. I
recommend that you try it out and
experience first-hand the amazing
results.
Activities do not always have to be
games; they can vary and be creative and
interactive for your audience. It will
warm them up right at the start. One of
my peers once gave a lecture in which
he opened with a task for each row of
the audience to complete. Each row was
required to change places and sit
according to age, youngest to oldest.
This impressed the audience because it
was vastly different to the standard
presentation where many sit and fall
asleep while listening to the speaker
drone on the same speech they have
heard too many times before.
Rearranging the audience according to
age worked especially well in this
particular presentation because the
subject was self-sustainment and de-
centralized management. This activity
alone revolved around the whole
message of the presentation that without
central management they can collectively
manage any task as a group if they
communicate well.

Remember, for the activity to work it

needs to be relevant with the topic that is
being presented. .

In another lecture I saw the presenter

preparing envelopes and placing them
below each seat. The presenter asked
each member to take it out and read it.
What was the lecture about? Perceiving
situations and reacting. The envelopes
contained scenarios they had to perceive
and act on.

These kinds of activities engage your

audience right from the start and get them
interacting with each other. They will
know instinctively that this presentation
or lecture will be different. They need
to pay attention because they are part of
it. This is especially important when a
lecture time is just after lunch. People
tend to be lethargic and want to sleep
after eating, so get them up and get them
moving around.

Remember, an entertained audience is

more receptive to your key message, and
more welcoming to interactions with
fellow audience members.

Devise a small 5 minute activity of your

own to open a presentation. Practice
playing the game with a family member
or close friend to get a feel for the
outcomes and limitations. Once you are
comfortable with the game, you can
adapt it to fit almost any situation. Keep
in mind how you felt during the game,
and after. Knowing your audience and
how they are feeling gives you the
advantage. What other games or
activities can you come up with to open
a presentation?
Chapter 8
Provocation

Using provocation to open a presentation

can provide a strong and vigorous
impression but it needs to be used
carefully without arousing antagonism
within your audience. In a certain
presentation I once coached, my trainee
gave a TED style lecture for my
organization. Now bear in mind that my
organization is very sensitive to politics
so I had to proceed with caution. The
topic explored the way we as humans
automatically judge people and
categorize them immediately upon
meeting them. There was a simple
message to convey during the speech that
in order to engage creativity. We need to
be more open minded and consider the
thought process that begins when our
mind starts initiating a judgment. While
coaching, the speaker opened the
presentation with a provocative
statement using a political message.
During the initial set-up to prepare for
the event, an actor had been chosen and
placed in the audience. When the
politics began, the actor rose up and
began yelling and heckling the speaker
much the way one would during a stand-
up comedy routine. The actor caused a
planned disruption denouncing the need
for politics within the organization.
Others in the audience responded to
attempt calming the actor to let the issue
go. The presenter stepped in of course to
avoid a complete disruption of the
presentation. He then reveals that it was
a fake set-up and proceeded to quiz the
audience on how quickly they were to
judge his choice of words or topic. The
message was conveyed quickly and
simply to the audience while involving
them in the scene. This got some of the
audience thinking about their reaction.

This example can be succeeded by

quickly making a point and then drawing
the attention back to the topic. As
mentioned above, it is a sensitive
method that requires good timing and
careful planning. The goal is not to incite
dangerous rebellion, but to invoke
emotion in your audience and deliver a
message regarding how they react and
feel in that moment.

Let's take a look at the use Smuckers vs.

Sorell Ridge advertising pitch.

These two companies make fruit

preserves and confectionery goods in the
United States. The particular advertising
presentation used by Sorell Ridge
became a hugely successful marketing
campaign to be noted in history. What
happened in that presentation?
The presenter used their competitor’s
slogan against them and then went onto
discredit a well-known and loved
slogan. The presentation first provoked
shock from the company president by
displaying the slogan of their rivals
boldly at the beginning. This shock
turned to intrigue and surprise once the
presentation began to change, edit,
remove, disassemble and discredit the
statement in favor of their key message.
What was that slogan?

“With a name like Smuckers, it has to be

good”

Sorell Ridge firstly provoked not only

the company president, but their entire
target audience before pointing to their
key message, that their rival product,
wasn't so good without pure fruit like
Sorell Ridge used.

How can you use provocation to convey

your message during a presentation? To
answer this you need to know your
audiences before you begin the
presentation. Try to get into the mindset
of your potential audience. Imagine what
they might be thinking as they take their
seat or how they might respond to your
choice of provoking words. So choose
those words carefully. When a person
reacts strongly to something, you know
you have captured an emotion from them
and most certainly have made an
impression on them. It is important that
whatever method you use to provoke the
audience, it is in some way relevant to
the key topic of your speech. If you know
the audience, you already have the
advantage and can play on their emotion
to push some buttons on the issues you
know they may react to, such as
workplace ethics, gender equality, or
industry union politics. If you don't know
the audience, try something evocative
such as age relevance, political issues,
or sexism in the workplace. State your
words boldly and allow a few moments
for a reaction, then act swiftly to keep
their attention by directing this emotion
to a head on collision with the whole
theme of your presentation.

Once you have grabbed the attention of

the audience, it’s up to you to turn an
okay presentation into an amazing one.
Remember the key point of your entire
presentation and make sure that the
controversial statement you open with is
instantly followed up with a precise
revelation of just how the emotion you
invoked in them drives home your
message. Follow this technique and
you're one step closer to becoming a
much better presenter with all the
rewards that come from great
presentations.
It's time to put this into practice right
now. Implement this idea to a
presentation you already gave or
planned to give. As usual, the best way
to know if you have done well is to
practice it live on your next presentation.
As stated be careful with this and
remember that if you do it right, your
presentation would surely be
memorable.
Chapter 9
Where do we go from here?

See what I did there? Remember back in

good old chapter 1 in which I wrote
about suitable titles for the segments of
your presentation. Where do we go
now? We spent time together learning
about first impressions, but the message
is clear that the presentation may end,
but we will continue working together,
learning, developing, achieving goals.
Impress this upon your audience and
you're a winner. Each of the chapters
here has given insight into powerful
tools and tips you can use to make an
amazing first impression. Your audience
will be so invested in your whole
presentation; they will eagerly react to
your call for action.

If you invest the effort and follow the

practices listed in the chapters of this
book, your presentation will start
stronger every time and your first
impression will leave people in awe.
Remember the long term goal you have
set, the aim of your presentation will be
more easily accomplished simply by
winning the audience over the first 5
minutes of your speech.

Your career can flourish from this point.

By becoming a better presenter it opens
up more opportunities for promotion and
climbing the career ladder. Following
these practices such as using questions
and telling stories can not only score you
points with your colleagues and
superiors but also makes you a better
person. The first impression others have
of you in social environments will make
it easier to win friends and make more
contacts. The bigger your network of
influence, the more success you will
find. You will meet some great people
along the way to share your journey
with.

So where do we go from all of this?

In becoming a better presenter it is your
goal to recall the lessons in each of the
chapters and effectively using the
techniques in opening a presentation.
Take them with you and use them to
instill amazing impressions upon people
when encountering them for the first
time.

Remember Sunnafrank and Ramirez Jr as

they taught us first impressions rarely
change over time. The impression that
we form from the first few minutes of
knowing a person last a lifetime and we
rarely get another chance to impress our
message. So use the time wisely and
deliver your message instantly for
powerful impact.

Recall the story of Big Endians pounding

away at their eggs when you can achieve
more success by being like a little
Endian. Any technical information
shared can be done in a lively and
memorable manner. Adopt this method
to become a respected and well-loved
presenter.

Do you remember what 23 is? The

power of questions can keep your
audience paying attention to your every
word. Take this lesson and carry it with
you every time you speak.

Reminisce upon the videos you laughed

at and use the power of humor to
captivate your audience at every turn. Be
prepared for anyone to judge you quickly
and use those moments to create stories
others will love to tell about you in the
future.

Think back to the image of a teenager

grimacing down at your audience and
seize upon the emotions which evoked in
your spectators. Become an entertainer,
not just a speaker and remember the
oldest members of your audience are
located at the end of the row so that they
have a better access to the bathroom.

Excite and provoke your audience much

like the Sorell Ridge president during
the Smuckers Jam protests.

Humor the memory of Steve Jobs

powerful commencement speech and
remember to connect the dots by using
all of these tools to create a memorable
lasting impression.

I'm Avi Salmon. I would like to thank

you, the reader, for your time and
absorbing the valuable information
shared. I wish you success in using what
we've learned here on the importance of
first impressions. They really matter.
Now go present with bold confidence
and put these tactics into great use during
your next presentation.