If you want to leave your audience yawning instead of listening, try this traditional ho-hum opening for your next presentation…

“Hello, my name is Mr. Bo Ring and I am here to talk to you about the intricacies of the new Labour Code. Please hold all your questions to the end.”

Prepare yourself for blank stares, nodding heads and the sound of snoring after that opening!

Think about sitting at your computer surfing the web. How long do you give a web site to grab your attention?  Participants in IWCC’s Presentation Skills workshops tell us 3-5 seconds – that’s it. And, you have about that long to grab the attention of your audience when you open a presentation.

IWCC suggests you spice up your opening with a relevant icebreaker.

To create an immediate connection with your audience and set yourself up for success, you have to break the ice and lower the relationship tension that exists between you and the audience at the beginning of a presentation.

Consider these two suggestions for “breaking the ice” to start your next presentation distinctively.

State a fact
State a fact or statistic that relates to your topic.  For instance, here’s a fact you could use to open a presentation on dealing with B2B Communications:

“Ever wonder why people don’t respond to your e-mails right away?  According to recent research, two million e-mails are sent every second of every day.  That’s a lot to compete with ...”

Run a poll
Engage people’s brains by asking them to participate in a poll. Make it quick and relevant. For instance to open a presentation on dealing with speaker nerves you could say:

“People seem to fall into three categories when it comes to speaker nerves: 1. no nerves at all; 2. some nerves at the beginning of the presentation; and 3. hands sweating, knees knocking debilitating nerves. I’d like to run a quick poll. Raise your hands if you have:

• No nerves at all when you present?
• What about some nerves especially at the beginning?
• Finally, who has those hands sweating, knees knocking debilitating nerves?”

Two MUST Do's
To deliver that ice breaker with the best impact remember these two tips:

1. Begin with your ice breaker. Don’t even introduce yourself until you have their attention.
2. Start with a blank screen behind you. Don’t compete with a PowerPoint slide that introduces your presentation – the slide will win.

Remember, until you grab their attention, they won’t listen to what you have to say!