What are effective ways to start and finish a presentation?

1 Hook your audience

The first few seconds of your presentation are crucial to grab your audience's interest and curiosity. You can use various techniques to hook your audience, such as asking a provocative question, telling a relevant story, sharing a surprising fact, or using a striking visual. Whatever method you choose, make sure it relates to your main topic, creates a connection with your audience, and sets the tone for your presentation.

2 Preview your main points

After hooking your audience, you need to give them a clear and concise overview of what you are going to talk about and why. This is called a preview statement, and it helps your audience to follow your structure, anticipate your arguments, and understand your purpose. A preview statement should include your main points, your thesis statement, and a transition to your first point.

3 Deliver your content

The main body of your presentation is where you deliver your content in a logical, coherent, and persuasive way. You should organize your content into clear and distinct sections, each with a subheading, a topic sentence, supporting evidence, and a summary. You should also use transitions, signposts, and repetition to guide your audience through your presentation and reinforce your main points. Additionally, you should use effective presentation design principles, such as contrast, alignment, repetition, and proximity, to enhance your visual aids and make them easy to read and understand.

5 End with a call to action

The final step of your presentation is to end with a call to action that motivates your audience to do something as a result of your presentation. A call to action can be a request, a recommendation, a challenge, or a question that prompts your audience to act, think, or feel differently. For example, you can ask your audience to sign up for your newsletter, buy your product, adopt your proposal, or share their feedback. A call to action should be clear, specific, and relevant to your audience and your topic.

6 Thank your audience

The last thing you should do before closing your presentation is to thank your audience for their attention, time, and participation. This shows respect, appreciation, and professionalism, and creates a positive impression of you and your presentation. You can also invite questions, comments, or suggestions from your audience, if appropriate, and provide your contact information or other resources for further information.