Many presentations start with the about slide. It is useful to give the audience some background about who you are, where you are from, when you were founded, and what your company does (more or less), that your company is financially stable and not about to go bankrupt. But don’t overdo it:
- There is no need to tell the entire story at the about page, tell it again in the presentation body, and summarize it again on the conclusion page
- The audience needs to warm up before it is ready to receive your message (see my post from a few days ago)
- The presentation should be about something that is interesting for the audience, and listening to you talking about yourself is probably not the best use of their time
3 comments
1. Tell them what you are going to tell them
2. Tell them
3. Tell them what you've told them
Even Toastmaster International, a fine organization, is too strict on this. Maybe it works in academic lectures, but I don't think it's gospel. Otherwise, every Disney movie would start with a little intro by Walt Disney. Instead, like Steven says, attention grabbing or mood setting often take precedence.
On a tangent, I often pull up the movie analogy when some marketing department wants to require the company logo on every single slide. Somehow, Pirates of the Caribbean just wouldn't be the same with a little Tinkerbell flitting around throughout the film.
I prefer to start off with a bang, get people's attention and focus. It's not always easy, but when it fits the circumstances, it works better than an introduction, which is either hype or low-key or both. I can weave the salient facts about my background into the first ten minutes of my talks.