Recent neuroscience has confirmed that we humans process emotional information first before exploring fact or rational information. We make first impressions in seconds. We make up our minds after several words. This would have made sense when everything outside your cave was dangerous. We needed to make quick decisions to stay alive. The world is a safer place not but our brain has not changed.
So….when you are presenting to a group of any size, it is critical to get them onside quickly. If their first impression is negative, they will continue to classify what you say negatively. They will seek information to confirm their first impression. If their first impression is positive, the reverse happens.
Here are some simple ways of starting off on the right foot:
- Use ‘you’ as the pronoun in the beginning. ‘What you will take away from my brief presentation today is….’ Avoid ‘I’ . ‘What I am going to speak about today is….’
- Relax yourself before you start. Get in a good mood. Soften your face. Be friendly.
- Greet people before you start. Be the reception committee.
- Encourage them to say ‘yes’ in the first few minutes. I am sure we would all like to be better at public speaking wouldn’t we?
- Make sure you are open to enjoying the experience. Look forward to the presentation.
- If you have negative thoughts that cause you to become anxious, let them drift away. They will go back to where they came from as long as you don’t encourage them.
- Dress up a little for the occasion.
- Get there early and survey your surroundings. Stand at the front and practise your opening.
- Make sure you equipment works. Be ready for plan B when it doesn’t work.
- Say to yourself ‘ I deserve to do well today. I have done the work’.
- Just be you.
I recently worked at an organisation and was warned about the person at reception. Strange that they felt they needed to warn me. The person was rude and impatient. This is the person in charge of first impressions for the entire organisation. You are in charge of first impressions when you to speak to a group or audience. Make sure your first impression is so good that you could make mistakes later and they don’t care.
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