Chris Davidson

In a hurry? Want to quickly find out what's going on in the world? Scan the newspaper headlines and move on. Got some time to spare? Scan the headlines, select an article that looks interesting and settle down to read it. We all do it; it's an established way for us to process information.

You should structure your presentations in the exactly the same way.

The power of headlines

Invest some time in studying newspaper headlines. They're written in a different style to the main body of the articles - and so they ought to be, for they serve a different purpose. The headline is there to:

• Capture our attention, and
• Briefly encapsulate the main thrust of the article

The British press seem to be particularly adept at producing acerbic headlines and for me, one of the most memorable was around December 1988, when Edwina Currie (a Junior Health Minister) got herself into some hot water by suggesting that much of the UK's egg production was infected. The headline?

Currie in an egg pickle

I can't recall whether it was actually spelt "Curry" (as in food) or "Currie" (as in her family name). Either way, it was exactly on-target. It caught the reader's attention and gave him or her a brief idea as to what the story was about.

What's this got to do with presenting?

I've mentioning in previous broadcasts the desirability of having an "awakening interest" statement, designed specifically to get the audience 'hooked' and interested in what you have to say. Such a statement should be no more than 200-220 words and should take you no more than about 90s to deliver. So far, so good. Having successfully engaged the audience, I've witnessed several speakers dive into the detail of the first point they want to make, without really giving the audience an appreciation as to the entirety of what's to come.

For example, watch the TV news. The first thing you get is the headlines, giving you an appreciation of everything that's going to be covered. After this, the news readers address the detail of the stories in sequence.

I recommend you adopt the same approach. Win the audience over with an awakening interest statement and then follow this up with the headlines of what the presentation's going to cover - resisting the temptation to dive into detail too early. The audience almost certainly doesn't know your subject to the same level of detail as you do, so drawn them in gently, giving them a clear roadmap through all the material you're going to present. You'll be rewarded with an attentive, engaged and appreciative audience.

That's it folks for this week - as usual, your comments welcomed and appreciated, particularly with reference as to what you'd like to hear about. I do get quite a few e-mails by the way, and I read them all, so please don't feel shy about getting in contact.

Best wishes for the coming week.

Chris Davidson
Editor, Professional Speakers Journal
editor@professionalspeakersjournal.com