Trouble Getting Started?

When you've got a speech or presentation to give, are you like so many others--you get stuck on the first few words? You write or type false starts repeatedly. Nothing sounds right--too boring, too weird, missing the point, the words won't come.

Ask yourself one key question: where do you want to end up with this presentation? Yes, thinking about the end will help you with the beginning.

For example, you want to conclude a progress report to your team with a statement about what is the next step. Be clear about what the next step will be, and write that down. It might be-- continue doing the great work you're doing, or it might be, we've got to catch up to meet the schedule requqirements, or it might be, new people are joining us next week, so be prepared to integrate them into the team. You should be able to write down the end in one (concise) sentence.

Your opening is then related to the ending. You could start with a question. An example: "There's a lot to do between now and the scheduled end date of this project, and we've fallen behind. What do we need to do to be done, and when do we need to do it?"

This is said in a warm and enthusiastic tone--no sense being angry or melodramatic, because you'll just turn the listeners off. Notice, too, that I didn't suggest you start with the traditional and boring "Good morning, thank you all for being here, today we're going to review what we've done and talk about what we need to do next." Be creative--it really helps generate enthusiasm for the rest of the message and for the call-to-action.