what you’re going to tell them.Loved 86% of Dave Gray’s Communication Nation post today. If folks would follow his simple advice, we could rid the world of sorry presentations in a hurry. But I will take a minor issue with #4. Not that you shouldn’t start strong — you absolutely should. But I’ve never subscribed to the tell them what you’re going to say, tell them, and tell them what you said philosophy. I think the “tolday we’re going to talk about…” opening is not compelling. They’ll find out soon enough.Rather, get their attention with something else. A story. Analogy. News event. Anecdote. Magic trick. Something to spark their interest and serve notice up front that you are different. Then you can turn the presentation into just about anything you want. Same with a PPT index slide. Bad place to start. Just tell them, don’t tell them you’re going to tell them.And one of my biggest pet peeves is #3 on Dave’s list. It’s a great temptation, but the audience does not care. Move on. Give them value.
You can’t lose something that you don’t have. Grab their attention first, then give them content.
