Effective Ways to Start Your School Presentation
The beginning of your presentation can often make or break how successful it will be and how much the audience will engage with you, so you need to make sure you open with an introduction which will grab their attention and keep it. It is not an easy task and public speaking courses are a good way to gain more in-depth knowledge on starting your presentation and building a rapport with the audience.
Tell a Joke
If you feel that you can pull it off with the audience, a joke can be a good way to break the ice and make everyone feel more relaxed. If you are feeling really nervous about your presentation, you may want to make a joke about this as it can help to take the strain off a little. However, telling a joke will hugely depend on the subject matter of your presentation. If you are tackling a serious subject, it may be best to avoid doing this but if your presentation is light hearted, this can be a good way to begin. You can make use of public speaking courses as a means of finding out whether this is appropriate for your topic and style of presentation.
Statement
A guaranteed way to make your audience pay attention is to make a statement that while either shock or surprise them. You may only be making it for the sake of captivating their attention but it will definitely be a way to make them stand up and take notice for the rest of your time on stage. A controversial statement may be the best method depending on the content of your presentation, but again, due care should be taken when adopting this type of introduction.
Ask the Audience
Another effective method of starting a presentation is to instantly turn the tables by asking your audience a question. It doesn’t have to be anything too outrageous, just a simple question which will get their minds working and will capture their attention. Public speaking courses are a good way to find out what the most effective questions would be to attract attention for all the right reasons.
Story Telling
Instead of going straight into your speech when you start off, a bit of storytelling can be another effective method of breaking the ice. Presentations can be really dull if you don’t think about what the audience are looking for, which means you won’t get your point across and could find that people are nodding off as you speak. If you begin with a story, something you think will relate to the audience, such as a personal experience, you will find that people will sit up and pay attention.
Public speaking courses are an effective way to learn how to introduce your presentation and ensure you grab the attention of your audience. You can read more here on how these courses can work for you.