The starting point
A presentation opens with the organisation’s history, its team and its tools. The person receiving it is still looking for what it might change for them.
The move
Open with a situation your recipient recognises, then explain your proposal, its limits, and the reasons to trust it.
Why it works
A precise situation helps people work out who a proposal is for. It gives the conversation a starting point: is that really the problem you meet, under those conditions, with that consequence? “Every evening you retype the orders that came in by message into a spreadsheet” describes a use more concretely than “optimise your operations”. But that sentence only works if you have observed or checked the situation with the people you are aiming at. Do not invent their day to manufacture a flash of recognition.
Precision does not replace evidence. Knowing a problem does not show you can solve it. Then show a verified result, a demonstration, or a trial they could run. Present what has not yet been observed as expected, not as done.
Depending on the recipient, the team, the references or the technical detail may be necessary to establish trust. Give them the room their decision calls for, without cutting them on principle. An invitation to a workshop may also have to say who is running it and under what conditions.
The level of detail has to stay shareable. A sentence that makes someone uncomfortable may reveal private information rather than good understanding. Use an authorised example, or a clearly constructed one, without assuming that removing a name is enough to make it publishable.
Try this
Choose a page, an invitation or a presentation. Rewrite its opening with a situation, a proposal and a limit. You do not have to publish: a draft shown in private is enough to start.
Ask someone affected what they understand, who they think it is for, and what they are missing in order to decide. Do not go looking only for their approval.
After the feedback, correct one misunderstanding. If the presentation gets used, watch whether the questions that follow are about the right need; a wording test does not on its own prove the service is worth anything.
From where you sit
- Engineering: open the documentation with the use, then give the detail needed.
- Design: check what the reader understands, beyond whether they like the look.
- Sales: separate evidence you have from a benefit still expected.
- Recruiting: describe the work, the conditions and the expectations of the role.
To discuss
Which situation does our opening describe, and what are we relying on to present it that way?