Dear :

I send occasional updates about trends in media, technology, and culture — with a focus on the unusual, the newsworthy, and above all, the practical.

Today I will show you how to craft the most important part of any presentation: the beginning.

A Lesson from a "Yogi"

As the great sage Yogi Berra said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might wind up someplace else.”

Or nowhere. In my consulting sessions, executives run through their presentations, then I ask what they were trying to say. “I guess my point is that our footprint is bigger than customers think,” they might mutter.

Then I ask, “Why didn’t you say that?” They’ll answer, “I thought I did.” Yet the central message was buried on slide #16 in a bewildering PowerPoint deck. It should have been on slide #1.

The biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has occurred.

First, figure out what your principal message is. Then start with it.

Reveal How You Feel

In many ways, every tale is an autobiography, every poem a confession, and every painting a self-portrait. Are you revealing something personal? Communication, like management, means sharing.

When in doubt, start with a personal story. If you’re a manager, your direct reports want to know what you think and what you are feeling.

Are Words Necessary?

You can also start with silence. Napoleon would often stand mute in front of his troops for 40 or 50 seconds, no doubt as a way of collecting himself and at the same time ensuring that all eyes and ears were upon him.

This can be very effective, especially as a tool for quieting an unruly audience.

Don't Ever Say ...

“I’m excited to be here to talk to you.” Especially if your facial expression mirrors the woman's above. If you seem lackluster, there will be a disconnect.

Instead of saying that you’re enthused, show it, with energetic behavior.

Learn from Masters

By way of example, here are clever opening lines from books you may know:

1984: “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”

Peter Pan: “All children, except one, grow up.”

The Old Man and the Sea: "He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish."

These lines are captivating, because they’re simple and memorable.

When in doubt, start with a a colorful story or a startling statistic. Above all, be brief.

Shadows as a Crystal Ball

Foreshadowing, that is, hinting at events to come, is another powerful technique. Here’s the first sentence of the famous novel 100 Years of Solitude, written by Nobel-Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez: “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”

Not only does the author grab us with the prediction about the firing squad, but he also provides key details about the character’s life, all in the space of just 26 words.

In a staff meeting, you might say something like this: “Very soon I’ll share details about the new compensation schedule, but first …” Attention guaranteed.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need help starting (or rehearsing) your presentations, developing messages, or preparing for media interviews.

Have a pleasant summer. If you’re looking for a beach read, my third mystery novel, To Have and to Share, was just published in print, as an e-book, and as an audiobook.

Greg

Greg Stone, President
Stone Communications
www.gregstone.com

Author of mystery novels Deadline on Arrival,
Dangerous Inspiration, and To Have and to Share,
and three business books:
Branding with Powerful Stories:
The Villains, Victims, and Heroes Model,
Artful Business: 50 Lessons
From Creative Geniuses,
and Defining Hybrid Heroes:
The Leadership Spectrum from Scoundrel to Saint (co-author)

LInkedIn: stonegreg
Instagram: @gregstoneauthor
617-489-5400