How to Start a Presentation [9 Opening Ideas]
- Ink Narrates | The Presentation Design Agency
- Mar 2, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 5
Jeff, one of our clients, asked us a deceptively simple question while we were working on his product launch deck:
“What’s the best way to start a presentation so people actually care?”
Our Creative Director answered without skipping a beat:
“Make them feel something in the first 30 seconds.”
As a presentation design agency, we work on many opening sections of presentations throughout the year, and in the process, we’ve observed one common challenge — people either start too slow or too safe.
And when you start slow or safe, you lose your audience before your main idea even makes it to the first slide.
So in this blog, we’ll talk about how to start a presentation in a way that actually grabs attention and makes people want to stick around.
In case you didn't know, we specialize in only one thing: making presentations. We can help you by designing your slides and writing your content too.
Why the Presentation Opening is a Make or Break Situation
We’ve seen it happen too many times. A presenter walks up, clears their throat, clicks to a bland “Agenda” slide, and starts mumbling something about how they’re excited to be here. By the time they get to the actual point, half the room is checking their phones and the other half is zoning out.
Here’s the truth: most people decide within the first 30 to 60 seconds whether they’re going to pay attention to you. That’s not a dramatic opinion. That’s just how the human brain works when bombarded with content all day.
Your opening isn’t just your “hello” — it’s the moment that decides if your message lives or dies.
Think about it. When you walk into a room full of people and ask them for their attention, you’re competing with their inbox, their deadlines, their social media feed, and whatever fire they’re putting out at work today. You’ve got one shot to earn their focus. Miss that moment, and it doesn’t matter how great your slides look or how brilliant your idea is. They’re gone.
We once worked on a strategy presentation for a global retail brand. The numbers were strong, the logic was solid, but the first draft started with background context — five slides deep. Their team said people always looked bored during this deck. Of course they did. The audience had no emotional or intellectual reason to care yet. So we flipped the script, rewrote the opening as a bold market insight with a provocative question, and suddenly people were leaning in.
It’s not magic. It’s basic human psychology. People respond to relevance, emotion, tension, or surprise. And if your opening doesn’t deliver at least one of those, you’re just background noise.
That’s why how you start a presentation is a make or break situation. It’s the doorway. If you don’t open it well, nobody walks in.
How to Start a Presentation [9 Opening Ideas]
Let’s get to it. You’re not here for generic tips — you’re here because you want to start strong and stay memorable.
So here are 9 battle-tested ways we’ve used (and seen used) to start a presentation that actually grabs attention. Use the one that fits your context, your audience, and your message. These aren’t theoretical ideas. These are tactics that work.
1. Start with a Short, True Story
Nothing disarms an audience like a good story — especially one that feels personal or real. And no, it doesn’t have to be about surviving a plane crash or climbing a mountain. We’ve seen CEOs start with something as simple as a conversation they overheard in a hallway.
The key is this: make it short, make it human, and make it relevant.
If your presentation is about a new policy, share a real-life moment where the absence of that policy caused chaos. If it’s about sales strategy, tell a story about losing a client because your current system failed.
A well-told story makes people stop looking at their phones. It builds emotional engagement before you hit Slide 2.
2. Drop a Surprising Statistic
This one works like a charm — if the stat is genuinely surprising. Not “63% of people check email daily” kind of stat. That’s noise.
You need something that makes people sit up.
Example:We once helped a sustainability consultant open with,“Last year, 91% of corporate sustainability initiatives failed to meet their own KPIs.”
That’s not just a number. That’s tension. And it sets up the presentation perfectly: Why is this happening? And what can we do about it?
The stat should raise a question that your presentation will answer.
3. Ask a Bold, Thought-Provoking Question
The right question can immediately shift the room’s energy.
We’re not talking about the classic “How’s everyone doing today?” That’s filler. We’re talking about something that challenges assumptions or frames the conversation in a sharp way.
For example:
“What’s the cost of making the wrong hire for a leadership role?”
“If we doubled our pricing tomorrow, who would still buy?”
“What happens to our market share if we keep doing what we’ve always done?”
Don’t rush to answer the question. Let it hang for a beat. Let the room feel the weight of it. Then move into your argument.
4. Use a Visual That Says More Than Words
This works best when you can find or create an image that speaks volumes. It could be a photo, a graph, a slide with just one powerful word on it. But here’s the catch — you can’t slap a stock image on a slide and expect results.
The image has to carry meaning.
We once opened a pitch deck with a single photo: a packed, chaotic street market in Jakarta. No title, no logo, no bullet points. Just the image. Then the presenter said,“This is what opportunity looks like. And this is where we’re launching next.”
That was the hook. It worked because it created curiosity before giving context.
People remember what they see, especially if they don’t immediately understand it.
5. Say the One Thing Everyone’s Thinking (But No One Says)
This is a bold move, and it requires confidence — but when used well, it cuts through the noise instantly.
Let’s say you’re presenting to a skeptical leadership team. Instead of pretending everything’s fine, start with honesty:“I know you’re probably thinking, ‘We’ve heard this before.’ And you’re right — we’ve had five versions of this plan in two years. Here’s why this one’s different.”
You’ve just taken the elephant in the room and put it on the table. Now you have their respect.
This tactic builds trust fast. And trust gets attention.
6. Use Silence (Yes, Really)
Most people rush to fill the silence at the beginning of a presentation because they’re nervous. But silence, when used with intention, can be powerful.
Here’s how you use it: Walk up. Look at the audience. Say nothing for two to three seconds. Let them settle. Let them look back at you. Then say your opening line — something short, sharp, and clear.
This technique does two things:
It centers the room.
It shows you’re in control.
It’s subtle, but it changes how people listen to you from the very start.
7. Make a Bold Claim (and Then Back It Up)
This is the “go big or go home” opener. You come out swinging with a strong, definitive statement that grabs attention.
Example: “We’re going to be irrelevant in five years if we don’t rethink our growth strategy today.”
That’s not a warm welcome. That’s a wake-up call. And it works, especially in boardrooms where urgency is often buried under politeness.
If you go this route, make sure your next few slides start delivering proof. Otherwise, it just sounds dramatic.
8. Use Humor — But Make It Smart
Humor is risky, but when done right, it wins the room. The key? Don’t try too hard. No canned jokes. No awkward memes unless they genuinely relate to your topic.
Instead, go for light observational humor about the situation.
Example:
“Let’s be honest — half of you are here because this meeting was mandatory. I respect that.”
“I’ll keep this short. Mostly because the coffee hasn’t kicked in yet.”
Humor makes you human. It lowers defenses. Just don’t force it. And please, please test it beforehand if you’re unsure.
9. Use Contrast to Create Curiosity
This is a slightly more advanced move, but it works incredibly well for strategic presentations.
You set up a contrast between two ideas — what is vs. what could be, or what’s expected vs. what’s true.
Example: Show a slide with a current performance stat. Then show the same metric under a different scenario (with context coming later). “This is what we’re doing now. This is what our competitor did in the same market last quarter.”
That visual contrast makes people curious. It sets up your narrative. It creates a gap they want you to close.
A Few Quick Don’ts
We’ve covered the openers that work. But just to keep you safe, here are three openers that almost always fall flat:
The “Thank You” Slide: Thank your audience later. They’re not doing you a favor — you’re there to deliver value. Start with something worth their attention.
The “Agenda” Dump: No one needs a roadmap slide in the first minute unless you’re running a legal briefing. If you must include one, do it after the hook.
The “About Us” Monologue: Especially in sales presentations, resist the urge to start with a company history. Lead with the customer’s problem. You can introduce your team later.
Why Hire Us to Build your Presentation?
If you're reading this, you're probably working on a presentation right now. You could do it all yourself. But the reality is - that’s not going to give you the high-impact presentation you need. It’s a lot of guesswork, a lot of trial and error. And at the end of the day, you’ll be left with a presentation that’s “good enough,” not one that gets results. On the other hand, we’ve spent years crafting thousands of presentations, mastering both storytelling and design. Let us handle this for you, so you can focus on what you do best.