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“Our work is the presentation of our capabilities.”~ Edward Gibbon

Most presentations suck! One of the major reasons they do is because most presenters fail to both engage their audience instantly and to frame their message correctly.

Instead of getting the audience to think “wow… this is different…this is going to be powerful” their opening causes the audience to have the following internal dialogue “here we go again…one of those presenters…this is going to be painful…” or ” hum… I heard this before…not sure if I am going to stay for the entire thing…”

Laziness and lack of know-how are the 2 major reasons this situation happens over and over…

The good news is that anybody can avoid this trap and learn how to create influential openings that:

• Interrupts the current thinking pattern that your audience has (whatever the story they have in their heads) and focus on your message
• Sets up the tone for your message so your audience thinks “…this is going to be good..”
• Creates a context for your entire message, so it is easier for your audience to understand what is coming next;
• Induces curiosity, and
• Could, in some cases, engage them physically from the geco (it applies to public speaking)

My clients usually ask me what is the best opening to use. Even though I tend to use stories to open up live presentations and webinars, my answer is always the same:

“It depends”.

It depends on the context of your presentation, how much time you have, your outcome, if the audience already knows you, how much you personally like that particular opening, etc.

Today I will be sharing with you 8 different opening strategies that I have used in the past in live presentations, webinars and videos on the topic of “How to Grow Your Business Using Video Marketing”.

I chose NOT to include “storytelling” as an opening in this article because it is so important and it deserves it is own article ( I will be covering “How to open a presentation with stories” in the future).

Here they are:

1) Statement:

You tell the audience a shocking statement that is supposed to grab the audience attention immediately:

For example:

“Video Marketing is the fastest way to grow your business!” Pause. In the next 30 minutes you will understand why…

2) Fact

You tell the audience something that has happened (fact) but it is not your opinion (like a statement).

For example:

“The reason I was invited to speak for you this morning is because Mr. Brown saw one of my videos on YouTube” and sent me an invitation. That is the power of Video Marketing.

3) Statistic

You share with your audience a statistic that supports your core message.

For example:

“According to ComScore, a company who tracks online video viewing, 182.000,00 Americans watched online video in the month of December 2011, in average, 22.3 hours per month. Today you will learn how to capitalize on this growing trend.

4) Question

You ask a question that will help “set up or position” your content. The question strategy, when done properly, is a great way to get your audience to buy in.

For example:

“If you could own your TV channel, broadcast your message to thousands of people with virtual zero cost, would you do it?” (pause). If you said “yes”, than I am confident you will love Video Marketing, because it has the same benefits of having your own TV channel…
5) Prop

You use any object to grab people’s attention and peak their curiosity. For example:

I can have a cloth covering my hand (which is holding an object) and my audience is wondering what I am holding.

So I could say something like:

I my hands I have a tool that will be help you to: get you new prospective clients, save you time on training, improve your customer service,
increase your brand awareness and increase your relationship with your database. And the best part, this tool is virtually FREE:

Pause. Then I removed the cloth and show my smart phone or a video camera.

6) Video

You can show a short and emotional clip that demonstrates the power of video. In the end of the clip you can ask your audience a question that
will help position your message.

For example I can show this video (Visa Commercial) and ask the audience: How many of you got chills by just watching this 58-second video? How many of you would like to learn how to create the same emotions in your clients?

7) Future Pacing

You take your audience into the future and have them visualize their lives after they have adopted the idea you are about to propose. You do the best you can to have them feel and experience NOW the benefits they will get in the future.

Imagine you show up to work on Monday and one of the first things you do is to record a quick video. You both feel and look good because you know your message will help your audience.

After spending 1 hour working on this project, you share your video with your prospective clients and clients and you jump to your next task.
Within 1 hour of sharing your video you already got several new orders. You also got a couple of your loyal clients to share your video with their database (over 20,000 people). The orders keep coming. You actually have to stop what you are doing because know you have thousands of dollars to collect. It is not the end of the day, and you are already hit your weekly sales outcome. You smile and you tell yourself, “yes, I love video marketing”.

8.) Quote

You use a quote from an expert or someone who your audience respects to help you position your message.

According to the best selling author Jeffrey Gittomer, “Video is the new black”. I agree with Jeffrey, Video is the foundation of your marketing for this point on.

I hope you enjoyed these 8 opening strategies, they are extremely effective and they will help you engage your audience instantly when done properly.

People negotiate with credit card issuers with great enthusiasm and confidence without having any reason to be enthusiastic and confident. This combination of enthusiasm without knowledge complicates matters even further. There are many professional negotiators who find that they have to repair the damage done by the individual before commencing actual negotiations with the lender for debt settlement.

The first and most important factor that you should consider is NOT your negotiation skills. Whether you can negotiate or not is not the question. Even the best doctor will never operate on his own body. In the same way, even the best negotiator may find his skills and experience useless when his personal finance is at stake.

The most important factor is your financial condition. Can you afford to fail? If not, then it makes sense to utilize the services of a professional. Seeking debt consolidation loan and requesting a ten percent discount on the amount owed can be done on your own. However, approaching your credit card issuer for 70 % waiver is a different matter altogether. One must have knowledge about how credit card issuers work. You should know the right points to use and the right arguments to make. You should know how to subtly hint about the prospect of bankruptcy without explicitly using it as a tactic to scare your credit card issuer.

A professional negotiator will have detailed knowledge of
- the current state of the economy
- the policies of the government and its impact
- the position of the card issuers, and
- the income that card issuers have earned from borrowers

Choose a professional if you anticipate that all these arguments will have to be put forth in a convincing manner. To boldly claim that you can negotiate all these issues with your lender is one thing. However to actually do so and successfully get a high waiver is a completely different thing.

Further, one must also consider the time and effort required to complete the negotiations. Most of us cannot spare time, effort or money required to negotiate personally. Consider all these factors before taking your decision.

Those who want to establish themselves as experts in their field are encouraged to find speaking and teaching opportunities. Getting out in front of an audience is a time-tested way to demonstrate one’s mastery of the required skills and it is an excellent way to promote your enterprise and drum up business. Useful presentation techniques will make you feel more confident about your ability to communicate effectively.

Keep it simple and tell a story

The best speakers know that the more complex the topic, the more important it becomes to make that topic easy for an audience to understand. Distill a complicated message into fewer words. Include a personal anecdote or story that illustrates a key point you are trying to make. Stories and anecdotes make your presentation more compelling by placing the message into a context that is relevant to the listeners and helps them to make sense of the subject.

You are the star

You are the speaker and the stage belongs to you. Do not allow slides to upstage your talk. How do you do that? By not posting your entire talk onto slides and using them as a crutch. Avoid presenting an avalanche of text-heavy slides that you read from. Instead, speak to and connect with those who come out to hear you.

On your slides include important charts and graphs, key statistics, major talking points and relevant visuals that support and advance your message. Practice your presentation often and get to know your material, so that you are not overly dependent on slides.

Engage and involve your audience

Most of all, give the right talk. Know what the audience expects you to address. The person who schedules your talk can help you choose a topic and give you the heads-up re: big questions that audience members may want answered. To keep your audience engaged, pose a question or two at some point in your presentation. Also, be willing to answer questions as you go along and make your presentation more of a conversation with the audience.

We deliver

While good content is essential, that alone will not win over an audience. Body language and delivery also matter. Audiences size up and judge a speaker within the first three minutes of a presentation. Be sure to project confidence, expertise, good humor and approachability. Smile, make eye contact and use a pleasant, yet authoritative, tone of voice. Show appropriate enthusiasm and passion for your subject matter. Let the audience know that you like being up there speaking.

How to get to Carnegie Hall

Practice your talk and practice some more. It takes a lot of work to make a presentation look effortless. Skilled presenters give the impression that their clever ad libs and convincing responses to questions are all ex tempore, but nothing could be further from the truth.

The fact is, successful presentations are built on lots of preparation and rehearsal time. Wordsmith what may sound too complex or unclear. Carefully curate the text and images that will appear on your slides, so that they smoothly integrate with the talk. Anticipate questions that may be posed and formulate good answers. Read your talk out loud and record your voice, to make sure that you pace your delivery appropriately.

An effective presentation should inform, educate and entertain. Make that happen when you simplify your message and de-clutter your slides; interact with the audience by asking and answering questions throughout your talk; and practice a lot, so that you will be relaxed and confident as you present. Hit your mark and the audience will regard you as an expert. Mission accomplished.

Thanks for reading,

Kim