Dr. Gretchen N. Vik recommends several useful strategies for engaging your audience as you lead them into a short presentation. To get you started, Dr. Vik begins with a recommendation to imagine that you’re in the elevator with your company’s CEO (or, in our case, crossing paths with your district superintendent in a school or district hallway). She labels this extemporaneous moment, an "elevator speech," we’ll call this interaction a “hallway chat;” with this in mind, how would you summarize what your project is all about in one-sentence? Tough, isn’t it? This is the one-sentence that will most effectively springboard your presentation.
Initial-line: This is not the moment in your presentation (or your superintendent’s busy schedule) to discuss the details of your planned work; instead, simply & succinctly describe the essence of your project or planned presentation.
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2 comments:
It's interesting, I never spend much time trying to figure out what I am going to start out saying with my presentations. I spend a lot of time figuring out how to close things up in a meaningful way. However, the author brings up a good point in saying you need to have an "opening statement" if you will, especially considering that a speaker has about 4 seconds to talk before hw will be "sized up" by everyone sitting in his audience. You, however, have nothing to worry about...You're a phenomenal speaker.
This is probably one of the most important tips offered. I like how Dr. Vik said to get right to the point and to avoid the opening joke (which frequently falls flat). Too many people try to be cute. Personally, I like short, sweet, and to the point. Those are the people that I take seriously.
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