A few weeks ago, I was presenting a pitch to a client and several stakeholders when someone asked me a question that completely caught me off guard. "How do you get so comfortable speaking in front of people?" I froze, very ungracefully and blinked into the air as if someone had asked me to explain Wi-Fi. Eventually I managed to cough up something along the lines of, "You know... just be confident." Wow! Truly the Nelson Mandela of presentation advice.
The truth is, I'd never really thought about it. But after that conversation, I started paying closer attention to what makes some presentations memorable and others forgettable. One thing stood out immediately, most of us were taught to start presentations backwards. We've all sat through the same opening. "Good morning, everyone. My name is Omary … and today I'll be talking about customer service."
The speaker thinks they're being polite. The audience is wondering whether they should check their emails. The first few moments of a presentation are when people are silently deciding three things: Is this relevant to me? Is this person worth listening to? Is this going to be interesting?
Your audience doesn't need to know who you are before they care about what you have to say.
