Your Visual Open
Last week, one of my favorite days of the year occurred—the opening of the Major League Baseball season.
Despite my love for baseball, I wasn’t planning on watching any of the pregame activities for my favorite team. I did, however, tune in early to avoid missing the first pitch, and when I did, I was immediately hooked. I couldn’t stop watching!
The pregame ceremonies were a visual spectacle: the fireworks, the video montage of amazing hits, catches, and double plays from years past, and the pictorial tribute to former players. It was all riveting, and it wasn’t just what the announcers were saying but what they were showing that grabbed my attention.
Right there on my TV was a critical lesson--that engaging an audience requires careful orchestration of what your audience hears and sees. For years we’ve been coaching clients to develop an engaging opening, and while this has typically focused on what they said, equal attention should be paid to what they showed. It’s critical to have an engaging VISUAL OPEN.
When developing a presentation, think about the first thing your audience sees. Will it capture their attention? Will it make them think? Will they ask themselves, “why is that picture there?”
OR
Is it a typical opening slide like this:
It’s all text. It’s boring bullets (even if there aren’t actual bullets). And it foreshadows a sequential plod through the content.
On the other hand, your audience could be greeted with the intrigue of this visual approach:
It’s easy and clean. It doesn’t require reading. It’s just two numbers, but it makes you wonder—is this how we did? Is this our new goal? Is this good?
From that visually evocative beginning you can launch into your content with an accompanying talk track like:
“Ten percent. In the wake of the pandemic, we had a modest sales goal of 10%, and...we did well. Really well. But we’re just getting started. With new markets, new strategies, and a growing team, we’re going BIG; we’re targeting sales growth of 30%, and today, I want to share how we’re going to get there.”
This is certainly more engaging than the corporate agenda slide. You seized on the opportunity to visually capture their attention, and you set a more lively tone for your presentation.
But you can still go further. Opening to a visually evocative image will have your audience wondering, thinking, and being active listeners from the very beginning.
Imagine opening your presentation to this...
The accompanying talk track could be:
“I always loved the Olympic Pole Vault. To soar twenty feet in the air, propelled by nothing more than a loaded lever arm, takes many steps—the right grip, the plant, the launch, the swing-up—all perfectly orchestrated. And there’s risk of plummeting to the ground every step of the way.
A successful pole vault is not unlike our new sales strategy. We need to be purposeful, focused, and coordinated to achieve our goal. But I’m confident we can clear the bar...and today we will go through the steps necessary to achieve our personal best.”
Together—an attention-getting opening narrative coupled with an intriguing visual image—sets the stage for a successful presentation. It invites your audience in and transforms them from a passive recipient of your agenda into an engaged, active listeners.
To use a baseball analogy, swing for the fences to make a bigger impact with your next presentation. Open your presentation the way my favorite baseball team opened their 2022 season, by visually engaging your audience. Oh, and ‘Go Cardinals!’