Stories that Move Mountains: Storytelling and Visual Design for Persuasive Presentations

Opening, Closing, and Timing

Most presentation coaches focus on the opening and the closing. Rightly so, as this is where the oral delivery can be lost in seconds. If the delivery starts or ends badly, everything else is just wasted time. How long are we talking about? No more than a minute, often much less than that. Your audience is making their decision to listen or to read the rest of the delivery in the first few seconds.

So how should you start? You can find hundreds of pages on the Internet and books on delivering presentations to cover the oral presentation, with a variety of guidance about introducing yourself, avoiding jokes, smiling, and so on. But let's be clear; the people sitting in front of you have come to hear your story, and the first thing they need to understand is why it matters to them. You can share a key fact or ask a question that begs the audience to identify the sense of urgency. You might simply start with “Let me tell you a story.”

TIP: To leave your audience with a positive feeling — finish early! Delivering a 30 minute session in 25 minutes means your audience can leave calmly without having to rush away to their next scheduled event. This is such a little thing to plan for, but very powerful.

How a story ends matters more than how it starts. A happy ending is very powerful. If you end on a negative note, you can ruin the follow-through. The visual stories we create with CAST are about influencing change and decisions. You might end with a call ...