Advice

First line: if your opening is forgettable, the rest of the talk has to work twice as hard. Simple. Brutal. Useful. A good beginning and a fierce ending are the twin skills every presenter should polish — especially in business rooms from Melbourne CBD to a dusty meeting room in Geelong. Too often I see managers treat their openings like an afterthought and their closings like slide-end filler. That’s a mistake. The way you start and finish shapes what people remember, what they do next, and whether your message survives the commute home. Why the bookends matter Your first encounter with an audience frames everything. A sharp opening captures attention, builds relevance and trust, and gives listeners an internal map: what’s coming and why they should care. Equally, your closing is not merely a summary. It’s the last emotional and cognitive nudge you get to convert thought into action. Done poorly, it wastes all the effort you put into the middle. Done well, it amplifies it. I’ve coached execs who can deliver immaculate content yet lose the room with a limp opening or a beige finish. It happens in every sector — finance teams in Sydney, regional ops managers in Adelaide, C-suite folks in Perth. The story you tell at the start and the way you land it matters as much as any slide deck. Two assertions you might argue with (and that I’ll back): - Short is almost always better at the start. Don’t warm up the audience unless you can make the warm-up itself brilliant. - Slides are props, not the main event. Use fewer words; provoke more thought. Both are contentious. People love a graceful, measured stroll into a topic. Others swear by dense slides. Your context will decide. But the audiences I train respond better to brief, intentional openings and minimal, purposeful visuals. What an opening must do (in plain terms) - Hook: Make people stop whatever mental scroll they’re on. - Orient: Tell them what the talk will cover and why it matters now. - Earn trust: Signal that you know your stuff and respect their time. Hook first. Then orient. Then, if necessary, add credentials. Which order you pick is tactical. If you begin with a sharp question, drop the credentials later. If you begin with a bold stat, tie it to relevance immediately. Effective hooks that actually work - A short, vivid story. Personal. Concrete. Not a saga. - A provocative question that hits a real pain-point. - A surprising statistic that reframes the problem. - A quick demonstration — something visual, physical, unexpected. Stories are still gold. They reduce resistance and make abstract data feel human. Tell a story in 60–90 seconds that introduces the central tension you will resolve. End the story by promising — explicitly — the benefit of listening. Use of statistics: do it sparingly. One clear, credible number can make a claim stick. For example, global workplace engagement hovers depressingly low — Gallup reported 21% engagement worldwide in 2023 — and that fact alone explains why an opening about connection or communication will land. But follow that stat with relevance; don’t leave it floating. Make your audience mentally invest If people mentally commit early, they follow better. Ask for a small promise. “By the end of the next 20 minutes, you’ll have two questions you can ask tomorrow morning.” That sets a measurable expectation. It primes attention. It’s simple behavioural design: make the goal concrete and time-bound. Write your opening like copy Headlines, not paragraphs. Openings should be short, punchy, and repeatable. Practice the sentence that frames your talk until it feels like something you’d say on a tram — natural, crisp, and not robotic. Crafting credibility without ego Audiences are suspicious of both arrogance and apologetic modesty. The trick is to establish relevance and competence quickly and plainly. One line: “I’ve worked with several Australian banks and retail teams to cut their meeting time by 30% while improving decisions” — that’s clearer than a CV dump. If you do name a company, only say something positive — and do it briefly. The psychology of a great close Closing is persuasion. You remind, you consolidate, and you motivate. If your opening is the promise, the closing is the proof that the promise was kept — or at least the call to continue. A strong close will: - Restate the problem and the solution succinctly. - Highlight the behaviour change you want. - Create an emotional residue that nudges action. People often forget to give the audience a next step. A “what now?” that is crisp and doable beats a dramatic flourish without utility. Ask yourself: what one behavior should change after this talk? Make that the centrepiece of your close. Techniques for memorable endings - Return to your opening story. Full circle. Humans like closure. - Pose a final provocative question that the audience carries home. - Offer a concrete micro-action: three-minute habits, one question to ask, a template to use. - Use silence intentionally. Pause. Let the main sentence land. Too many presenters race to applause. An example close: summarize three takeaways in three short sentences, then give one micro-action and one indicator to watch. “If you do these three things this week, look at — and measure — X. Come back next month and you’ll see a difference.” Clear, actionable, measurable. Storytelling: more than a warm fuzzy Anecdote use is tactical. Start with a small, revealing moment — a misstep, a counterintuitive result, a customer quote. Make it sensory. Avoid cliché. In a financial presentation, a quick scene of a frustrated branch manager tells more than a slide of metrics. When you finish with the same story, the audience experiences narrative closure. It’s sticky. It’s human-centred persuasion. Provocative questions: the gentle jolt Questions work because they force internal dialogue. A well-crafted question primes the brain to search for an answer — and you supply it. Ask questions that are specific, uncomfortable, and useful. “What’s the one thing in your processes that costs your team one day a month?” That kind of question stops autopilot. Using statistics: short, local, relevant If you use numbers, make them relevant and local where possible. A global stat is fine, but a figure connected to your listeners’ world lands harder. Don’t drown the audience in numbers. Choose one or two that matter and interpret them plainly. “This number means X for your role” — translate and localise. Reinforcing key messages Repetition is not lazy; it’s necessary. But repetition must be structured. Don’t just repeat the same sentence three times. Reframe the takeaways in different modes: one emotional, one practical, one visual. For example: “Remember the rule of three — three decisions, three measures, three-week check-in.” That gives rhythm and practicality. Bring it full circle Reference your opening in the close. It signals coherence and helps memory. If you began with an anecdote, finish it. If you began with a statistic, show the implication. Full-circle endings are satisfying. They also make your presentation feel designed rather than improvised. Objections and handling scepticism Address likely doubts early and again in the close. If your listeners are sceptical, name the scepticism. “You’re thinking: that won’t work in our current system. Fair point — here’s one small test we ran that showed otherwise.” When you call out the objection, you disarm it. Practical rehearsal tips - Run the first 90 seconds and last 90 seconds until they’re crisp. They need to be muscle memory. - Practice silence. Intentionally pause after your main close line. - Rehearse with a co-worker who will ask the dumb questions — the real ones attendees will ask. - Time your micro-actions. Be specific: what will someone do tomorrow morning? Common traps to avoid - Starting with a long logistical preamble. “Firstly, I’ll cover…” is a snooze unless the preamble itself is compelling. - Ending with a vague ‘thanks’ and no direction. - Overloading the close with too many next steps. Focus on one meaningful action. - Using humour that punches down, or humour that’s too niche. A few contrarian views (because I like stirring the pot) - You don’t always need a story. A story for the sake of a story is worse than a crisp statistic or a live demo. - Slides are not sacred. If your slides do all the talking, you’re not presenting; you’re reading notes. Cut them down. Expect some to disagree. That’s okay. The proof is in the room. How to design openings and closings for different settings - Town-hall (large, mixed audience): Use a strong, simple stat or story that everyone can access. Finish with an organisational-level micro-action. - Boardroom (executive): Open with direct relevance to the strategic objective. Close with a decision or a specific recommendation and criteria for success. - Training workshop (skills-based): Start with an experiential hook. End with an ‘apply-it-now’ exercise and peer accountability. - Virtual session: You must win attention quickly; use short polls or a striking visual. Close with an explicit follow-up and a clear place to continue the conversation online. We — at our training practice — design openings and closings as the two most valuable minutes of a session. Not glamorous. But they determine whether the session is talked about or forgotten. We recommend rehearsing them until they feel unrehearsed. Measuring the impact Ask for one metric. Survey attendees the next day: “What was the one idea you’re most likely to act on?” Measure how many cite your main takeaway. That simple check is a better indicator of an effective close than applause counts. Gallup’s data on engagement shows engagement is stubbornly low; good openings and closings are one small lever to move attention and follow-through. A final practical checklist (quick) - Hook: Is it vivid and short? - Relevance: Does the audience know what’s in it for them? - Credibility: One clear signal — not a lecture. - Close: One specific behaviour to change. - Closure: Reference the opening. - Pause: Let your main line land. So practise the first 90 seconds and the last 90 seconds like your promotion depends on it. Because sometimes it does. Sources & Notes Gallup. State of the Global Workplace 2023. Gallup reported that 21% of employees worldwide were engaged in 2023.