The MOST IMPORTANT 60 seconds of your presentation!

These are arguably THE MOST IMPORTANT 60 seconds of your entire presentation!

Why?

Because your audience will decide both if they trust you AND if they want to engage in your presentation.

You therefore need to show them that you are an authority on what you're presenting and that by listening to your presentation you will begin to solve problems for them.

BEFORE we even think about Storytelling, you need to win their trust.

The structure above is a good way for you to do this.

It is far more important than "Today I am going to talk about..." Your audience has heard this line HUNDREDS of times and know to instantly switch off!

Instead, your first (and possibly second) sentence should state your Key Idea - think about the question "why is it important people listen to this presentation?" The answer to this is your KEY IDEA! Spend NO MORE SENTENCES explaining this!

Next up is taking 2-3 sentences to explain your Insights. These are the ideas you have gained (perhaps the problems you have experienced) which has led you to your Key Idea. This part of your introduction lays out the problems or the ideas you have had so that your audience can begin to understand what needs addressing. THINK: How do my insights on the Key Idea give me credibility to talk about it?

Your final sentence (just one) should be your objective. This needs to be clear, specific, attainable and have emotional resonance with your audience. That is how you transform an audience’s thinking and move them to action.

Think of this as a mini elevator speech. By the end of your opening 60 seconds you should now have the audience's attention; they should be clear about what your Key idea, Insights and Objective are. Within the body of your presentation, you can then elobrate on your solution to the objective.

Think of these opening sixty seconds as your opportunity to gain permission from the audience to present the rest of your presentation.

By engaging with them, using this structure, in the opening sixty seconds, you will find them more receptive to the rest of your presentation.