For lots more ideas, also see 20+ more opening lines from Patricia Fripp in a PDF
By giving you 5 specific examples of great opening lines, this post helps you cure three of your biggest presentation headaches. Namely, how to:
- Rivet people’s attention as soon as you speak.
- Make your message memorable, so it forms a lasting impression.
- And most of all, actually motivate people,
so your talk makes a difference!
You can do all those things, and more, through stories.
You’ve probably heard about using stories in presentations. But like many people, you might wonder what “storytelling” really means – and you might well doubt that it applies to you and your work at all!
No matter what your topics are and who you present to, you can use stories to great effect Tweet this
Well, no matter what your topics are and who you present to, you can use stories to great effect. And with the help of Patricia Fripp, former president of the National Speakers Association in the US, I can show you how.
In this 1-minute excerpt, Patricia gives 5 examples of great opening lines.
(Initially, it’s set up to start at the 4:52 mark of a 7-minute video. After you start playing it though, you can click on the video’s timeline, outside the white brackets. That way, you can play any part of the entire video, in which she explains in practical terms what stories really are.)
Over to you
- To what extent could Patricia’s ideas be applied to presentations in your workplace?
- If you use stories or specific opening lines already, what tips can you share?
- Find out today’s most popular posts, and the latest comments on this site
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- Awesome opening lines: 20+ more examples from Patricia Fripp
- How to open a high-stakes presentation instantly – for a key client, top management, or other VIPs
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Remote Possibilities 
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Thanks for finding this, Craig. I’m not sure I think much about opening lines to stories, so it was intriguing. I think I just start! Nice blog.
Connie
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Thanks for your comment, Connie. This is one of the most popular topics on my blog, and I’ve been focusing on choosing good openings for my own recent talks. When speaking, it can make such a difference to involve people (mentally) straight away.
You could say a talk needs to resonate in the audience’s minds, not just in their ears. (With your own focus being elearning, I always say meaningful elearning interactions happen with people’s minds far more than with their mice!)
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