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Tip for live events – begin before you start!
Suppose you’re about to start a speaking event in a few minutes – in person or online.
Often, attendees arrive in dribs and drabs. Don’t make them just kill time…
Instead, give them something concrete and worthwhile to do.
That makes a far better first impression. Plus, it sets the tone of your session as being full of value!
So here’s 2 options you can try:
Beforehand, write a few thought-provoking questions in the chat (or on the whiteboard). That way, early-birds can prep their answers while they wait. For instance, you might write these 3 questions:
What would you like this group to know about you?
What word best sums up your attitude to today’s topic?
What are you most keen to take away from this session?
I love this option because it lets you make your talk conversational – before you even say a word! It comes from a great post by Kerri Price on LinkedIn.
Show a self-running, looping slideshow – which you don’t speak over. (In the next section, you’ll find some examples of what you can put on your slides.) I got this idea from Patricia Fripp, who proposed using looping slideshows for virtual sessions. Lately, I’ve also been using them before in-person events – and they rock there too!
What can you put on your looping slides?
If you show a looping slideshow, try using slide content from the “4Q framework” (as I like to call it):
Slide content | Description | |
|---|---|---|
1 | Show a pithy quote to inspire or engage people. | |
2 | Put up a thought-provoking question about your topic. | |
3 | Share a scannable link. (It could go to your website, a pre-session survey, or another relevant resource.) | |
4 | (or other very | Show a diagram that neatly sums up a |
I also recommend you use builds, to display each slide bit-by-bit (as in the example below). That way – because people have time to absorb your content – you bring your audience along on a mental journey.
That mental journey is the driving force behind storytelling, which is one of the best ways to engage and move people.
Check out this example of looping slides
This animation shows what a looping slideshow might look like:
How to make a self-running, looping slideshow
In PowerPoint desktop (not PowerPoint online), you can use these 5 steps to set up a self-running, looping slideshow:
Click the Slide Show tab.
Click the Set Up Slide Show button.
In the dialog box, choose the option to make the show loop continuously, then click OK.
With all slides selected, click the Transitions tab.
In the After box, type a number of seconds, like 10.
That’s it! Your slideshow will now auto-advance every 10 seconds. And when the last slide ends, the show restarts, repeating until you press Escape.
Your turn
What techniques do you use (or have you seen) to engage people before a talk begins? Or do you have any clarifying questions? in the comments.
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