Lesson 5 – How to Open and Close Presentations? By Mark Powell

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To give a successful presentation, they say you need to have a good beginning, a good ending and keep them close together. And sure enough research shows that audiences remember the first and last few minutes of a presentation long after they’ve forgotten most of what was said in the middle. Psychologists call this the primacy-recency effect, but you might prefer to think of your opening and your closing as two bookends holding up your talk. To do their job they both need to be strong.

Now starting off by saying good morning, introducing yourself, thanking your audience for coming, apologizing for a small technical problem with your audio visuals and asking if people can hear you at the back is clearly not a strong opening.  At the preparation stage a lot of presenters like to create their close first so they know where they’re going. And then work backwards finishing up with an attention-grabbing opening. But whichever way you plan your talk, make sure you always give priority to the first and last three minutes.

Enjoy the video…

Source: Cambridge University Press ELT Channel on Youtube