最吸引听众的7种开场
Capturing Your Audience Immediately
Don't make them think!
Seven Classic OpeningGambits（开场白）
1、The Question：
A question directed at the members of the audience.
One excellent way to open a presentation is with a question directed at the audience.
A wellchosen,relevant question evokes an immediate response, involves the audience, breaks down barriers, and gets the audience thinking about how your message applies to them.
The rhetorical question can be an excellentice-breaker, as long as it's both provocative and relevant to your audience.
2、The Factoid：
A striking statistic(惊人的数据)or little-knownfact(鲜为人知的事实).
An Opening Gambit Factoid is a simple, striking statistic or factual statement: a market growth figure, or a detail about an economic,demographic, or social trend with which youraudience may not be familiar.
This factoid must be closely related to the main themes of your presentation, and to your Point B.
The more unusual, striking, and surprising your factoid,the better.
3、The Retrospective/Prospective View：
A look backward or forward
Think of this approach as "That was then, this isnow."
A retrospective (backward) or prospective (forward) look allows you to grab your audience's attention by moving them in one direction or another, away from their present, immediate concerns: that urgent message on the handheld, the mercurial NASDAQ, or that fight with their spouse.
For example, you could refer to the way things used to be done, the way they are done now,the way you project them being done in the future.
The contrast can highlight the value of your company's product or service offerings,thereby framing an effective lead-in to your presentation's main themes and your Point B.
A technology company can quickly capture the evolving power of its solution by showing the speed and capabilities of its products five yearsago(a lifetime in the high-tech world),
thevastly improved speed and capabilities of today,
and the still greater speed and capabilities of the new line of products that will be going on sale in six months' time.
4、The Anecdote（趣闻轶事）：
A short human interest story
By an Opening Gambit Anecdote, I do not meana joke.
I like a good joke as much as anyone,but my professional advice to you, and to every single person I coach, is never to tell a joke in a presentation.
No one can predict its success or failure.
Even if it does get a laugh, in most cases, it will distract from rather than enhance your persuasive message.
What I mean by an anecdote is a very short story, usually one with a human interest angle.
Its effectiveness as an Opening Gambit lies in our natural tendency to be interested in and care about other people.
An anecdote creates immediate identity and empathy with your audience.
An anecdote is a simple and effective way to make an abstract or potentially boring subject come vividly to life.
Newspapers and magazines regularly use anecdotes to capture their readers' attention.
Just look at the front page of today's paper.
You're sure to find at least one example of an Opening Gambit Anecdote.
Every professional writer knows how well it works.
5、The Quotation（引用）:
An endorsement about your business from a respected source
Another option is the Opening Gambit Quotation.
I don't mean a quotation from William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill, John F.Kennedy, or even Tom Peters…unless one of them specifically said something about your company.
But if you can provide an endorsement or positive comment about you,your products, or your services from The Wall Street Journal or the industry press, then the quotation provides relevant value.
An endorsing quotation can capture your audience's interest and give you credibility at the outset of your presentation.
6、The Aphorism(格言；警句):
A familiar saying
An aphorism, or familiar saying, can make for an excellent Opening Gambit.
But be sure to select one that relates naturally and credibly to your main theme, and to your Point B.
In each case, the Opening Gambit Aphorism triggered the attention of the audience at the outset, allowing the presenter to move them into the heart of the presentation.
7、The Analogy：(类比；类推).
A comparison between two seemingly unrelated items that helps to illuminate a complex, arcane, or obscure topic.
The final option, the Opening Gambit Analogy,is my personal favorite.
An analogy is acomparison between two seemingly unrelated items.
In the introduction to this book, I drew an analogy between a massage therapist and an effective presenter.
I hope that got your attention.
A well-devised analogy is an excellent way of explaining anything that is arcane, obscure, orcomplicated.
If your business deals with products, services, or systems that are technologically complex or require specialized knowledge to understand, look for a simple analogy that can allow audiences to grasp the essence of the story.
The simpler and clearer the analogy, the better.
