How to Begin a Presentation
When you start a presentation, try and grab the attention of your audiences from the beginning. If you fail to grab their attention, you have slim chance to succeed. Based on the audience and topic, find subjects to create attention-grabbing situations. For example, thanking everybody at the beginning is a good move and it’s an introduction to tell people how today you all want to spend few minutes together.
Some people start with a poem or witty sayings, but I prefer the start to be directly related to the topic. Try and proceed based on the plan and the audience of that particular day and the opening ceremony. Because of their characters, some people can start the presentation with jokes and humors. They use that to break the ice.
Such start must be consistent with the mood and character of the audience and the setting of the presentation. State clearly and explicitly in your presentation what you want to talk. Mention the list of issues and your solutions. In this case, the audience is absorbed enough to listen to the presentation to the end. Some people shock the audience by giving certain information or statistics or presenting something nobody expects.
Shocking the audience may question the entire course of the presentation as it continues, unless you offer a solution after the shock. Otherwise, the audience becomes preoccupied. This type of start doesn’t always result in the desired outcome, but if you can manage it and offer solutions, it can engage the audience with you to the end.