How to Start a Presentation Without Boring Your Audience

How many boring presentations have started with the classic «Hi everyone, I am Donato. I work in the supply chain and I am very happy to be here»?

Congratulations. You have already lost half of them.

Starting a presentation with your name and role is a classic, and it is exactly what most presenters do.

Why opening with your name and role is a mistake

When people listen, they involuntarily take a step to interpret what is about to happen. And when an average opening arrives, they automatically think: «I have listened to a hundred presentations like that. Why do I need to listen to the rest?»

As I said, you have lost them. The best way to change that is to start with something a little more surprising.

There are five techniques used by the most experienced presenters. I have summarised them for you here.

Technique 1: the element of surprise

Let's start with the first one. When you begin a presentation, it is very easy to lose your listeners' attention. This technique fixes that with one simple trick.

I could say something like this:

47. The average software developer spends 47 hours a year fixing bugs that could have been prevented. Today, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to talk about how to write cleaner code and eliminate the most common sources of errors.

Or another one:

8. Just 8 minutes of moderate exercise can measurably improve your brain's blood flow. Today, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to talk about what happens inside your brain when you move, and how to use it to improve your focus.

You want to give people something to think about, to get them engaged and to break the interpretation they are already making of what is coming.

It could be an interesting statistic, an interesting fact, anything that breaks the expectation.

Simple, but effective. The way I like it.

I know it sounds very simple, but there is something most people mess up all the time: they rush through it.

Give it a try. First, think about a topic you would like to talk about, then find the surprising statement to open with.

Technique 2: raise your hand if

A few weeks ago I gave a short talk in front of 150 scientists at Merck in Germany. My presentation was the last one before lunch. The audience was already thinking about the meal. So I started exactly like this:

Raise your hands if you are hungry! For sure I am, so let's keep it exciting for the next ten minutes and we go for lunch together. Here's another question for you...

Did you see what I did there? That is called a show of hands. And it is very easy: you just ask a question and you ask people for the response.

I love using this one because it is so simple and it engages the audience. But there is some complexity around it too.

Any time you use a show of hands, most people tend to rush through it. What you want to do instead is acknowledge the audience, like I did when I said «for sure I am, so let's keep it exciting for the next ten minutes and go for lunch together».

You can play a little with the room, so people feel listened to. Otherwise they think: «ah, you are just asking this for the sake of asking it».

Technique 3: let them imagine

If you want people to feel a certain problem, this is the one to use. Here is an example:

Imagine you are in a meeting with ten people. Everyone is talking. Someone is interrupting, someone is checking their phone, and nobody really seems to be listening. Then one person starts speaking. They don't raise their voice. They don't have the highest position in the room. But somehow, everyone stops talking. Everyone looks at them. And within thirty seconds, the entire room is moving in the same direction. You might think: «how did that person just take control of the room without even trying?» That, ladies and gentlemen, is leadership. And today, we're going to talk about the three things that make people naturally follow you.

Any time you can, ask your audience to imagine a situation.

You say «picture this» or «imagine this». Those imaginary worlds work best if you use action verbs in them.

So don't just summarise the event, tell it:

Imagine you walk into your apartment after a long day. You put your keys on the table, you take off your jacket, you sit down on the couch, and then your phone starts ringing. You look at the screen. It's a number you don't recognise. You hesitate for a second... and then you answer. «Hello?» There's silence. And then you hear your own name.

You see, all those action verbs make it much more interesting. They pull us into the moment.

Technique 4: right to the point

When you present, it is never about you, it is about them. And in the very first second they will ask themselves what they are going to get from you. One of the best things you can do is give it to them right away.

Unless you say it explicitly, people will start zoning out. They think: «okay, I don't need to listen to that stuff».

In the next 10 minutes, you'll discover how one simple change in the way you organise your code can reduce debugging time by up to 30%.

Or:

In today's talk, you'll discover how a simple change in your sleep routine can influence your memory, your concentration and your ability to learn.

Right to the point. Try not to start with «uh, today I will show you X, Y and Z», and start instead with «today you will discover», «today you will learn».

The moment you make it about the other person, they feel much more involved. But you also want to make it about the benefits, not the features.

You don't want to say «well, today I'm going to share my roadmap for 2026».

It would be better to say «today you'll discover how to eliminate the three biggest time-wasters in your workday, so you can get more done without working longer hours».

But remember: if you promise something, you have to deliver it.

Technique 5: the story

In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath describe an experiment at Stanford where students gave short speeches about nonviolent crime in the US.

Afterwards, they were asked to write down everything they remembered.

5% remembered a statistic. 63% remembered a story.

So if you want people to remember your message, don't just give them facts, tell them a story.

And it doesn't have to be a gigantic story. Sharing a small personal one right at the start makes it so much more interesting.

Just last week, I walked into a small electronics store because I needed a new pair of headphones. I found the ones I wanted, walked to the counter, and reached for my wallet.

The guy behind the counter stopped me and said: «Wait. Before you buy those, try these».

I looked at him and said: «Why?»

«Because I think they're actually better for what you need.»

And as I walked out with a cheaper pair of headphones, I thought: «wow. How often do we put the customer's interest before the sale?»

Today, ladies and gentlemen, we're here to talk about trust in business.

And after that, you proceed with the speech.

Which opening do professional speakers use most?

You have just seen five different ways to hook an audience right at the start. Which of the five do you think professional speakers use the most?

Stories. One of the most powerful ways to be remembered and chosen, and yet so underestimated, especially by people with a technical background.

If you have the expertise and you notice it isn't landing in the room, the problem is almost never what you know. It is how you open.