Imagine you have just thirty seconds to transform a room of strangers into a captivated audience that will hold on to your every word.
This is your moment to make a powerful first impression in any presentation—whether it’s a high-stakes sales presentation to win a training contract, an educational seminar, or a keynote speech to your ideal audience.
I believe your presentation’s opening needs to arouse interest in your subject.
At the beginning of a speech, presentation, seminar, client meeting, report to senior management, sales presentation, or any presentation you deliver, you need to arouse interest in the subject. After all, we stand in the rain to watch a movie. Would you stand in the rain to listen to your presentation? You have thirty seconds to command the attention of your audience immediately. Please don’t waste it.
Specific speech openings captivate, mystify, and create an emotional bond that keeps an audience riveted to the speaker’s words.
They great ways to bond instantly with an audience so you never see them dozing off, wandering out of the room, or turning off their webcam and focusing elsewhere?
Before she hired me to help upgrade her presentation, one of my clients wanted to connect to her audience and opened this way. “Good morning. It’s so great to be here. The weather in your city is so much nicer than in mine. My husband came with me, and we are turning this into a mini-vacation.” My advice was, “Nobody cares. They do not want a weather report on their city and may resent you taking advantage of this opportunity to serve them with your vacation. There is nothing wrong with adding a vacation. Just don’t tell your audience”.
There are dozens of ways to open your presentation; the best way to begin depends on your style and the purpose of your message. You will most likely deliver different types of presentations, from informal to formal, to a handful of colleagues or a large audience on stage.
Transport the Audience to A Different Time and Place.
These lines launch into a story and take your audience with you. Here are examples:
- “I wish you could have been there…”
- “I’ll never forget the first/last/only time I…”
- “It was one of the most exciting days of my life…”
- “When I was growing up, my father/mother/teacher always told me…”
- “Can you imagine how I felt when…”
- “Perhaps you can relate to this situation…”
- “Do you remember the first day of your first grown-up job…”
These techniques transport your audience into the past. When transporting the audience to a scene, please be confident they want to be there. If you want to take your audience into the future, use the word “Imagine…”
Stories Are Always a Crowd Pleaser
If you speak at a sales meeting, tell a story about a sales professional or team with dogged determination to close a sale. I might be you or a client you coached.
If you are a corporate consultant, tell a story of how changing one approach or making a straightforward change saved one of your clients an incredible amount of money.
If introducing a new product or service, paint a picture of your client’s life and business with your latest offering.
If you deliver an inspiring speech, tell a story about overcoming a challenge, adversity, or situation in which a mentor showed you the way.
Interesting Statistics or Little-Known Facts
You undoubtedly have several within your presentation. Bring one into the opening and add an emotion before: “Would it interest/surprise/amaze you to know…” For example, “It might interest you to know that 5 billion people in the world own a mobile device.”
When I addressed 350 Seventh-Day Adventist pastors on “How to Design and Deliver a More Charismatic Sermon.” My opening was, “465 times in the Bible, it says: ‘It came to pass.’ It does not say it came to stay. Unless your sermon is well constructed, artfully crafted, and charismatically delivered, it will not come to stay in the hearts, minds, and lives of your congregation.”
A Powerful Quotation
At the beginning of your presentation, I recommend you use quotes from influencers in your life, such as your parents, coach, or first boss. We never want to flavor the opening with the idea, “I have heard this before; nothing in this talk is likely to be new.”
For example, the first day I went to work, as my father pushed me out the door, he said, “In your career, do not concentrate on making a lot of money. Rather, concentrate on becoming the type of person others want to do business with, and you most likely will make a lot of money!” Better-known quotes can be included later in your presentation.
I often ask my NSA friends, “Why are you quoting other speakers who are much more famous than you are? They don’t need the promotion.”
A Question
If you ask, “Have you ever stood up to speak and forgotten what you wanted to say?” Most likely, the answer would be nods from the audience. Next time you ask this question, change it to “How often have you…?” The assumption is that it will happen again, and your message becomes more urgent.
You can also use a rhetorical question: “If I were to ask you…Is 2025 the year you double the impact of your presentation? “You may say, “Yes,” or “No.” Most likely, it would be Patricia. I would love it to be. Can you tell me how?” Be sure to include your name. Even when our audience loves us, they do not remember our names! Help them out.
Often, you will use a combination—a story, followed by an interesting statistic, then a question.
“To watch how our veteran group of salespeople became involved in your Storytelling to Increase Sales was impressive. We are excited to continue your training with FrippVT Sales.” Jeff Walters, Vice President, North American Sales, Peak-Ryzex
“For my most important speeches, I call Patricia Fripp.” Wanda Hope, Chief Diversity Officer, Johnson & Johnson Worldwide
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My journey into professional speaking and coaching began in an unlikely setting — a bustling salon on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands. 
