The First Words Your Audience Hears: "P.I.P."
Absent an introduction by a colleague or host, the first words your audiences hear should be your name and who you are. The situation might then call for a thank you or other acknowledgement. Depending on your style and situation, an opening joke might be appropriate. But after these few seconds, then what? I'm not talking about addressing the "situational problem" or the "pain," I'm talking about introducing your presentation.
Lately I've become a fan of a technique encouraged by Gene Zelazny in his book, Say It With Presentations. It's called P.I.P., and I love it because it gets everyone on the same page immediately and sets expectations. And it demonstrates respect for your audience and their time and attention.
In a matter of less than a minute, you should be able to clearly define for your audience your presentation's:
PURPOSE
•
IMPORTANCE
(to your immediate audience)
•
PREVIEW
(of what's the come)
Don't be long-winded, and don't get into the presentation itself. This is your elevator pitch.
You can be transparent with your PIP ("Before I start, I want to tell you the purpose and importance of today's talk and give you a preview of...") or more opaque ("Today is about increasing sales so we can avoid bankruptcy. I'm going to give you 3 strategies for...")
Here is my own transparent personal PIP for a presentation that I give (after I introduce everyone in the room):
- "The PURPOSE of the next hour is to introduce and explain the newly available tools and resources for employees at every level so our company can present better.
- This is IMPORTANT as these tools will make your lives less stressful and easier, and will let you focus more on your core jobs which hopefully will result in more new business wins and better client communications.
- Here's a quick PREVIEW of what we'll cover: Where to find the tools and how to use them. Much of time will be spent on the PPT template. This isn't a technical PowerPoint class, but one geared toward using the templates. I'm happy to take any types of questions you have during or after. Okay, let's begin..."
