How to Start a Product Presentation [Open strong]

Our client, Emily, asked us an interesting question while we were working on her product presentation:

“How do you grab attention right from the first slide?”

Our Creative Director answered without missing a beat:

“You open with what matters most to your audience, not to you.”

As a presentation design agency, we work on many product presentations throughout the year. And in the process, we’ve observed one common challenge: teams often think the audience cares about every little detail they care about.

So, in this blog, we’ll talk about how to start a product presentation in a way that immediately pulls your audience in and sets you up to deliver a strong, memorable pitch.

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 Most Product Presentations Fall Flat

Let’s be blunt here: most product presentations start weak.

You’ve probably seen it yourself. A presenter walks up, clears their throat, and launches into slides about the company’s history, the team’s background, or a long mission statement nobody asked for. Within two minutes, the audience is already mentally checking out.

Why does this happen?

It’s simple. When you’re inside the company, you’re too close to the product. You’ve poured months or years into development, so you care deeply about the timeline, the small wins, the challenges, the backstory. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: your audience doesn’t.

Your audience, whether it’s investors, clients, partners, or even internal teams, cares about one thing: what this product does for them.

This is where most teams miss the mark. They assume they need to walk the audience through every step of the journey to build credibility or set the stage. But that’s not how attention works. Attention doesn’t wait patiently. Attention demands that you prove, right away, that what you’re about to say matters.

We’ve worked with dozens of companies, from scrappy startups to big global brands, and we’ve seen this mistake play out again and again. Good intentions. Weak openings. And once you lose your audience at the start, it’s an uphill battle to win them back.

So, if you’re wondering how to start a product presentation the right way, it’s time to flip your thinking.

How to Start a Product Presentation [Open Strong]

If you want to start a product presentation and actually hold your audience’s attention, you have to start with something that matters to them. Not to you, not your company, and certainly not your product specs.

This sounds obvious but is shockingly rare in real life.

We see so many presentations that start with a slide titled “About Us” or “Our Journey,” as if the audience showed up to listen to your company’s autobiography. Spoiler alert: they didn’t.

The first few seconds of your presentation are your only chance to grab attention. You want your audience to lean in, not check their phones or start thinking about lunch.

Here’s the secret to starting strong:

Lead with a clear, compelling problem or opportunity that your product addresses.

1. Start With The Problem They Actually Care About

You know your product inside out. But what about your audience? What keeps them up at night? What pain point do they desperately want solved?

If you don’t start here, you’re already behind.

For example, if your product is a new project management tool, don’t start with a feature list or your company’s credentials. Start with a relatable problem:

“Imagine spending hours every week chasing updates, sending endless emails, and still feeling like your team is out of sync.”

That sentence is better than any mission statement. It taps directly into a feeling your audience knows well. It says, I get your pain. And in presentations, empathy is everything.

We always recommend writing your opening statement as a single sentence that identifies the problem clearly and emotionally.

2. Make It About Them, Not You

Starting with the problem means you focus on the audience’s world, not your company’s.

This is key because presentations are not a monologue; they’re a conversation. The moment you show you understand their challenges, you create a connection. And once you have their attention, you can move on to your solution—the product.

For example, if your audience is investors, focus on the market gap or the unmet need your product solves. If it’s a sales team, highlight how your product will make their lives easier or help them close deals faster.

3. Use A Powerful Opening Statement Or Question

Questions are attention magnets. They get the audience to mentally participate immediately.

For instance, start with something like:

“How many of you have struggled to get your team on the same page during a critical project?”

Or if you want a bolder opening:

“What if you could cut project delays by half without adding any extra meetings?”

Questions like these do two things: they spark curiosity and get people thinking about their own experience. That’s a much stronger hook than “Welcome to our product presentation.”

4. Tell A Quick Story Or Share A Bold Statistic

Stories are human. They stick. People remember stories far better than bullet points.

If you can open with a very brief story that illustrates the problem, you’re setting the scene in a way that sticks with your audience.

For example:

“Last year, one of our clients was losing $10,000 every month because their teams were out of sync on deadlines. After switching to our tool, they cut that loss to zero in three months.”

If you prefer facts, open with a bold statistic that highlights the problem’s scale or urgency:

“70% of teams report that poor communication causes project delays. That’s exactly what we set out to fix.”

5. Be Crystal Clear And Avoid Jargon

Right from the start, your language must be simple and direct. Don’t confuse your audience with jargon or technical terms that only insiders understand.

Remember, you’re trying to communicate, not impress.

This means if your product is technical, you need to translate it into plain English. Use words your audience uses every day. This is often the hardest part for teams who live and breathe the product daily, but it’s critical for success.

6. Use Visuals That Support Your Opening

Words alone aren’t enough. Visuals are a crucial part of a strong start.

A simple, clean slide with a powerful image or a bold statement can work wonders. For example, if you start with a problem statement, show a relatable image or a data visualization that underlines the problem’s impact.

Avoid clutter. The opening slide should have one clear message. No bullet points. No dense text. Just one thing the audience can digest instantly.

7. Connect Emotionally But Keep It Professional

You want your opening to connect emotionally with your audience, but you also want to stay professional and credible.

This balance comes from choosing words that evoke feelings without sounding dramatic or salesy.

For example, instead of saying:

“Our product will totally change your life,”

Try:

“Our product frees up your time so you can focus on what really matters.”

This kind of statement respects the audience’s intelligence and focuses on practical benefit.

8. Preview What’s Coming Without Giving It All Away

After your strong opening, it’s okay to give a quick preview of what your audience can expect.

This helps set expectations and keeps their attention by signaling the presentation’s value.

For example:

“Today, I’m going to show you how our product solves this problem, what makes it different, and how it can impact your bottom line.”

This preview slide should be brief and clear.

9. Practice Your Opening Until It Feels Natural

How you say your opening is as important as what you say.

If you stumble or sound like you’re reading, you lose the connection you just built. Practice your opening until it feels natural and confident.

We often coach clients to record themselves delivering the first minute, then review and refine until it sounds like a conversation, not a script.

10. Avoid Starting With “Thank You” Or Apologies

One more tip that may sound small but matters: don’t start with “Thank you for being here” or “Sorry for the technical issues.”

These phrases can kill momentum before you even start. Save your thanks for the end and fix any technical issues beforehand.

Putting It All Together: What a Strong Start Looks Like

Imagine this as your opening:

“Imagine losing $10,000 every month because your teams aren’t aligned. How much would that cost your business?”

You say this clearly and confidently, then follow up with:

“Today, I’m going to show you exactly how we helped one client eliminate that loss in three months using a simple, intuitive tool.”

Right away, you have the audience’s attention. You’ve shown you understand their problem. You’ve created curiosity. And you’ve promised a solution.

From here, your product presentation is off to a strong start.

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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.

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