Powerpoint Templates

Author Bryan Adams

The audience can make or break you. You may have heard that there are never bad audiences only bad presenters. There is a lot of truth to that. There are some cases where it’s just a bad audience, but a great presenter can bring them around, 90% of all audiences want you to do great because they don’t want to sit through a bad presentation.

You have most likely heard that the first 1 to 3 minutes of a presentation are the most important and it’s true. But what most speaking coaches don’t tell you is why.

Here are just a few reasons the first 1 to 3 minutes are so important.

1) That’s when you are going to build a connection with the audience.

2) Depending on where you are speaking and to who a lot of the audience may rather be somewhere else.

3) They may have had a speaker last month and are waiting to compare you to them.

4) Some attendees may be sitting with their arms crossed hoping you finish early.

5) A lot of attendees may be thinking “what’s this one trying to sell”.

6) Some attendees will be daydreaming of what they are going to do when you finish. They don’t want to be there but it’s better than work.

I could go on and on with different scenarios of what goes through the minds of the attendees before someone starts a presentation. How do I know, because I ask? I try and get 10 or 20 honest answers at every presentation I do. Do you? You should.

It seems like attendees have a force field up and the best way to bring it down is humor. Having the audience laughing in the first 1 to 3 minutes is the best way by far to get your presentation started.

Do your own research on the audience. Find out what their day to day life is like. If you are presenting to a company find out if there are any long running jokes or if there is a favorite place they have lunch, (you can most likely use it in a funny way).

Try to talk to a few people before your presentation. Find out how their day has been going so far and if there is anything different about today. You want to learn something that you can use in the opening of your presentation, something that you can make humorous.

It’s easy to get people laughing when you catch them off guard. Opening your presentation talking about something that has just happened that morning and making it funny will catch everyone off guard. You’ll have everyone laughing within the first 1 to 3 minutes.

Here are a couple of examples:

I gave a presentation at a Toastmaster’s L.A.C.E. training over the summer. It was at a college at the top of a hill and there was no easy way to get there. Once you got there, they seemed to make it as tough as they could for you to find where the training was being held. I was surprised anyone showed up. So I began my presentation with, “OK, all of you made it; training over.” The entire room started laughing. Everyone had been thinking the same thing I had been thinking: it was tough finding the place. I made some more remarks about how great they were for finding the place. We all laughed and I was off to a great start with my presentation.

I’m always on the lookout for great jokes that I can use and relate to different topics. I always have three or four fresh on my mind that I can use to open with and every now and then use during my presentation.

Here’s one opening that has not failed me yet.

I wait to see who the last person to come in the room is. I say hi and get his or her name, let them be seated and then begin. After being introduced I start off with, “I would have started earlier but I was waiting on (name). I wouldn’t dare start without _____. Are you ready? Do you have everything you need? Let’s begin.” For some reason, everyone finds it funny and ______ enjoys having the attention.

With all humor, it’s not so much what you say, as how and when you say it. I practice humor every day in every situation I can in my personal life, so when I’m on stage its natural.

Brian Adams is a published author and award-winning speaker. Born and raised in rural North Carolina, Brian did not just endure but purposely overcame his poverty stricken and abusive upbringing. He decided at a very young age that he was not going to be a casualty of his environment but instead an example of the human strength and willingness needed to succeed. He learned early on that we can be, do or have anything we want, no matter what we experience in life.

Through the years he has mastered several styles of martial arts which enabled him to lead numerous training seminars for the Los Angeles Police Department. While teaching children’s and women’s self defense classes, he realized it was more important to teach people mental self defense.

He recently sold his successful hardwood flooring business to pursue his true life’s passion—helping others succeed.

Through his new company—Endless Possibilities—Brian shares his enthusiastic, motivational, and entertaining seminars in which he reveals the strategies and techniques that he has learned throughout the years on how to control the conscious and subconscious minds, in order to look at the good in EVERY situation and learn from them.

Brian’s life is a true example of what one can accomplish regardless of one’s background.