How To Structure A Presentation – The Start And The End

The past few blog posts stated to prepare you for your public speaking gigs and presentations you have to give. In this one, I will talk more about how to structure a presentation, with the focus on the beginning and the ending – either for your public speaking gig or a presentation you have to hold within your company.

THE BEGINNING

You should think about how to start your presentation and there are many ways of course. I will outline a few for you here.

ANECDOTE

You can start with a personal experience, a good joke or a short story that is maybe relevant to a current topic that is also in the news.

IMPACT

Bring an item/music/image that will have a strong impact on the audience. It does not have to be an obvious connection to the topic that you are talking about but try to make a connection at some point in your talk.

QUESTION

Questions are a good way to connect to the audience. It can be a question that you want them to answer or a rhetorical question. If it is rhetorical, make sure you pause, but don’t pause too long because people might wonder if they should answer.

QUOTE

Use an appropriate quote from a well-known person that connects to your topic.

NEWS

If it fits, why not start with a current topic that is going through the news.

OVERVIEW

Start by giving an overview of what you are talking about.

COMPARISON

Can you maybe use two topics and compare them to each other?

COMPLIMENT

You could compliment the audience for coming – in an indirect way “You being here proofs that you care about XYZ”

HISTORICAL

Is there a relevant historical fact that you can start your presentation with?

PARTICIPATION

Get the audience to do something at the beginning. Get them involved straight away?

THE ENDING

How you end your presentation is very important.

WISHES/HOPES

Finish by saying that you wish them well or that you hoped to have given them a new direction of thinking or whatever else you wanted to achieve with your presentation.

CONCLUSION

A conclusion is also a good other way to end your presentation.

OUTLOOK FOR NEXT STEPS

Give an outlook on what you do next or what you want them to do after your presentation.

APPEAL

Make an appeal to the audience.

CONFIRM ASSUMPTION

If you made an assumption at the beginning of your presentation, end your presentation with confirming the assumption.

If you want to learn more about how to become a better presenter and get into public speaking, check out my book ‘The Public Speaking Formula’.