You have 30 seconds to draw in the audience at the start of your meeting, speech, or presentation.
Frankly, I don’t know if 30 seconds is always true. In my experience, it’s even less than that.
There are three strategies to make a large impact in a few seconds.
Tell a story. “In 1998 the British Olympic rowing team hired a new coach. This was absolutely necessary because the team was abysmal….”
Share an interesting statistic. “Over 70% of all strategic initiatives fail to achieve their goals. This is a shocking number: it means that your odds at winning at the roulette table by betting all your money on red, are bigger than the odds of being successful with your carefully constructed strategic plans.”
Ask a confronting question. “Who of you thinks that your team is the best team in your company?”
Now re-read the first sentence of this newsletter. See what I did there?