Sample Presentation: How to start and end a presentation in 2 minutes 37 seconds [VIDEO]

What is the ideal amount of time to give an effective presentation? If you’ve ever watched a Ted video, you’ll have seen that some of the presentations are very short. In fact, some of them are only about three minutes or less. However, those presentations are highly effective and often very memorable.

I’ve never given a presentation at Ted, but I have given a short presentation in the past. So this week, you’re going to see a sample presentation of me giving a real presentation that is only two minutes and 37 seconds long.

But to make this more helpful for you, I’m also going to include an analysis of what I said and the key expressions that I used.

UPDATE OCTOBER 2018: Do you want to finally overcome your fear and anxiety about giving presentations? If so, click the following link to learn more: https://skills.presentationexpressions.com/presentations

Here’s the presentation:

If YouTube is unavailable in your area, click the following link to view or download the video: How to start and end a presentation in 2 minutes & 37 seconds (Length 2:37!^^)

Here’s the analysis broken down into the beginning, the middle, and the end

(Dramatic voiceover) “In the beginning”

I start this presentation with a very direct overview of what the audience can expect. Nothing fancy, just to the point and fast.

“Today we’re going to be talking about how to analyze your presentation script.”

The next thing I tell the audience is the first purpose of my talk. Notice that I am telling them that I will help them to do something. This is something that you must always consider… How your information is going to do something for the audience. And here’s what I said:

“Now the purpose of this is to help you find the absolute core, the core message of your presentation.”

And in the middle

Starting at the 22 second mark, I tell them exactly what we are going to be doing to achieve the first purpose.

“So what we’re going to doâ€¦ I’m going to teach you guys to analyze your presentation so that you can find the keywords or key phrases in your presentation.”

After that, I move right into the second purpose.

“And what we are going to do today, too is we’re going to help you to figure out, “Okay, how do I get into the mind of my audience and understand the audience.”

From there, I go into explaining they need to do three things to achieve the two purposes. I just simply sayâ€¦

“The very first thing you’re going to needâ€¦”

“The second thing you needâ€¦”

“And the third thing you’re going to needâ€¦”

But it’s not the end

This presentation was about something I wanted people to do. I gave them an overview of what they had to do. To end my presentation, I tell them what they need to be careful of. I say to themâ€¦

“The important thing is that during this exercise you have to be very, very strict; otherwise, this entire thing does not work.”

Here’s how it all ends

Finally, I tell them what the big picture is, what the ultimate achievement for them will be.

“So what this is gonna do is help you to start thinking like the audience memberâ€¦”

And last but not least, I give them the first thing they must do. In other words, I give them a call-to-action.

“So that’s basically it. We’re going to take the next few steps that I’ve outlined in the handouts there. Okay? And we are going to get going with that.”

In summary

To do something like this, you must first be well prepared, organized, and know your stuff. But you also have to keep in mind the basic structure of a presentation: Beginning, middle, and end. In the sample presentation, the structure I’ve followed isâ€¦

The beginning to introduce
The middle to explain the details
The end to give a call-to-action

Question time

What do you think makes people the most nervous when giving a presentation?

Let me know what you think by writing your answer in the comments section below.

As always, let me know if you have any questions about presentations or this particular topic by leaving a comment below or using the contact page.

Thanks and see you again soon.

Carl

212 Comments

Newer Comments →

joryau on October 14, 2012 at 4:02 pm

sir,im going to give a presentation about samsung galaxy s3…can u help me….how to start?
Carl Kwan on October 14, 2012 at 10:24 pm

Thanks for your question… To help you, you’d have to provide many more details. Who is your audience? What do they know about your topic and why should they listen? Why are you giving the presentation? What is the purpose? How long do you have to speak? Once you know the answers to these questions, you can think about what will get your audience’s attention and that will be how to start 🙂

Carl
NIKHIL on October 18, 2012 at 4:38 am

Respected sir,
I am going to give a presentation on M.TECH dissertation (project)….i want to know how i can start my presentation infront of my all senionr teachers with an excellent introduction of self.
Carl Kwan on October 18, 2012 at 10:31 am

Thanks for your message!

Instead of focusing on yourself, start your presentation by focusing on what would get your senior teachers’ attention. They already know who you are, so if you want to start your presentation strongly, think about grabbing their attention first. What do they want to hear?

You can introduce yourself after. There are videos here about introducing yourself.

Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.

All the best,

Carl
NIKHIL on October 19, 2012 at 4:03 am

Thank You So much Sir……..!!!
hanane on November 24, 2012 at 9:08 pm

hi sir i’m gonna talk about how to reduce exam stress it’s a sort of some tips that help to aviod exam stress please show what i begin with
hanane on November 24, 2012 at 9:08 pm

hi sir i’m gonna talk about how to reduce exam stress it’s a sort of some tips that help to aviod exam stress please show me what i begin with
Carl Kwan on November 24, 2012 at 11:08 pm

Hi,

Thanks for your question! You could ask/tell the audience about the kinds of exam stress they feel and the consequences of doing poorly on their exams. But don’t wait for an answer. Just ask the questions and keep talking. For example…

“I’m sure you have all felt some exam stress. Maybe you felt nervous and your hands were shaking. Maybe you were worried that if you got a bad grade you won’t pass the course. Maybe you were so stressed your mind went blank once the exam started. I know you’ve all felt some kind of exam stress, so I’m going to share some tips for avoiding exam stress.”

Good luck!
hanane on November 25, 2012 at 12:52 am

thanks alot sir 🙂
hanane on November 25, 2012 at 4:19 am

hi sir could u help me in some grammar cources??
simon on December 11, 2012 at 11:04 pm

Hi sir,
I really need Your help! Tomorrow I am going to give a presentation for an oral exam in English about Human Rights. The whole last week I was searching for Information. It’s such a shame that I found Your great videos only now..
We have the task to do research on the following eight rights and be prepared to explain them in our oral exam:
1)privacy
2)vote
3)believe in an practise religion
4)equality of males and females
5)free speech/demonstrate peacefully
6)safety from violence
7)express sexual orientation
8)education

Only one topic is going to be tested, and I haven’t got so much time to prepare myself for it. Please give me some advice!
Carl Kwan on December 13, 2012 at 7:06 am

Hi Simon,

Thanks for your message. Yes, it’s a little to get help with your exam, but hopefully it went well.

The best thing you can do for your situation is to use the situation, challenge, consequence, solution pattern. First you briefly describe the situation or background. Second, talk about the major challenge(s) facing that situation. Third, you explain the consequences of not resolving that situation. And fourth, you describe a solution to resolve the situation.

You can use the same pattern to talk about pretty much anything. Hope that helps.

Carl
Tehreem on December 14, 2012 at 2:20 am

im not good in english at all…..would u help me?and would u tell me the opening and ending of a presentation what ever the topic is?
simon on December 14, 2012 at 11:31 pm

Thank You Carl!
Yes, it went well. Just a (B+) but I’m happy 🙂
Carl Kwan on December 18, 2012 at 2:02 pm

Hello Tehreem,

Thanks for your message. Please search for starting a presentation or ending a presentation here on the site. There are many examples for you.

Good luck 🙂

Carl
Carl Kwan on December 18, 2012 at 2:02 pm

That’s great! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
sandeep on December 19, 2012 at 7:50 pm

hi sir,
am going to give an interview in infosys company so i want tips how to get them (self introduction)……………………………………plz reply
Carl Kwan on December 23, 2012 at 11:48 pm

Hi Sandeep,

Good luck with your Infosys interview. Great company! How long do you have to speak? What kind of job? Is it the final interview or first? Please have a look at other posts on the site about introducing yourself. They should help.

Carl
simon on December 24, 2012 at 7:45 am

Hi again!
Well, I have a question about the service of Your great homepage.
Not so long ago I left behind a comment and I unintentionally ticked off the box
‘Notify me of followup comments via e-mail’. Now I get lots of emails and this is really annoying. What can I do?
Kindly excuse the oversight.
Carl Kwan on December 24, 2012 at 1:33 pm

Not sure what to do. I’ll try and figure it out. Sorry about that.
Craig Hadden - Remote Possibilities on December 24, 2012 at 6:00 pm

Hi Simon & Carl, you could try going to this URL (with your own email address in place of the sample one below). It works for me:
https://subscribe.wordpress.com/?email=yourname@example.com&option=comments
Vickie on January 8, 2013 at 3:44 pm

Hi Carl! I am having my presentation about experience gained of industrial training. how should i start
Carl Kwan on January 10, 2013 at 11:14 pm

Hi Vickie,

Thanks for your question.

My usual question is: Who is your audience?
Second: What do they want to hear?
Third: What is the goal/purpose of the presentation?

However, if I were to give you an idea… Start in the middle of a situation you were involved in, then tell how your training helped you overcome the problem/challenge you faced. For example, you could say, “So there I was looking down at (a problem/challenge). My instincts told me ____. But there was a little voice telling me ____. If I didn’t ____, it would’ve meant ____. So I had to act. But what was I to do?”

This will immediately capture the audience’s attention because they will be curious about what you’re talking about, especially if you include the consequences of not acting, as in my example. One thing though… Do not reveal the outcome until later. If you do this, they’ll be anticipating the answer. But it better not be something predictable; otherwise, they won’t care.

Good luck.

Carl
Fatima on January 11, 2013 at 11:34 am

Hello Sir..I am first time in here, iÂ´v found very useful information and advices about presentation.
Near these days i have my presentation on the theme of Â¨debate in the classroomÂ¨.
i have enough information, but the problem is how to make a speech to the audience. i have no enough experience on this field, can you give me some advices how to begin my presentation..how to stand front of public..how to remember my speech…how can i loose my fair on the stage..
thank you in advance.
Carl Kwan on January 12, 2013 at 12:09 am

Hi Fatima,

Thanks for your message and question. Gaining experience as a presenter and overcoming the fear is not easy at first. The big thing is being very well prepared. Do you know your audience and what they want to hear? Do you have examples to back up your points?

When starting your presentation, try to start with a challenge or problem related to your audience and topic. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you practice over and over. As far as standing in front of others, use a video camera to give yourself feedback and to get used to seeing yourself. Make sure you make good eye contact with the audience and remember to smile.

Remembering your speech comes from practice, but also in how you structure your presentation. You could divide your presentation into three acts, like in a play. Act I is the background and introduction of any problems or challenges. Act II is showing how bad the problem is, how you or others struggle to find a solution. Then Act III is your resolution. If you can keep a simple structure like that, it will make it easier to remember what to say.

Also, make sure you do put everything onto a PowerPoint slide and read from it. That’s a guaranteed way to bore your audience and give a bad presentation.

Let me know if this helps and if you have any other questions.

Good luck.

Carl
cini on January 23, 2013 at 8:04 pm

Hello sir….I am doing my B.E 2nd yrin civil engineering….I am going to give my first presentation on “Rehabilitation and restoration of a structre”…though I have enough information ,I dont have any idea how to start and end the presentation..It is one of the competition in our civil department…Also please give some advice how to perform well infront of all my seniors and staff…..
Carl Kwan on January 24, 2013 at 5:22 am

Hi cini,

Thanks for visiting. Please do a search for how to start a presentation or presentation introduction. There are several videos that can help you. One in particular is “Presentation Lessons From A 37 Year Old Fish Movie” (http://presentationexpressions.com/presentation-lessons-from-a-37-year-old-fish-movie-video).

You can also visit my YouTube Channel. There are two presentations playlists that will help you.

As for how to perform well in front of your seniors and staff… The best advice is to prepare your content to match what they want to hear, to be very well prepared, and to practice A LOT.

Good luck.

Carl
Sumon on January 25, 2013 at 5:05 am

How can i start the beginning of a presentation in a school?
Sumon on January 25, 2013 at 5:09 am

What should be the opening addressing to the junior audience?
Carl Kwan on January 28, 2013 at 1:54 am

Thanks for your question, Sumon. I’m not sure I understand your question. Are you asking how to start a presentation for students? If so, it depends on your audience, your presentation topic, many things. Please provide more details about your audience and presentation.

Carl
Monojeet Roy on January 30, 2013 at 3:32 pm

Respected Sir,

Is it necessary for us to maintain the time frame while presenting our topic.It may happen that we go beyond the time limit.So, how to manage at that time?
Carl Kwan on January 30, 2013 at 4:55 pm

Hi Monojeet,

Thanks for your question. It is absolutely necessary to keep the time limit. Absolutely essential. Going over time is an indication of poor preparation and not knowing what you’re doing or talking about. It reeks of unprofessionalism and disrespect for the audience’s time. There is no managing it at that time. The presenter must be prepared and know exactly how long his/her presentation will be.

Good luck.

Carl
Damon on January 30, 2013 at 10:32 pm

Hey Carl I’m a student of B.B.A and I have been asked to make a presentation on defining MANAGEMENT and this is my First time to make a presentation and I don’t know anything about it. Its after 5 days and I have to speak atleast 5 min so please kindy help me. Waiting for your reply. Thank you
Carl Kwan on February 1, 2013 at 4:46 pm

Hi Damon,

Thanks for your message and question. Who is your audience? Once you answer that, ask yourself why they would want or need to know the definition of management. Then think of examples from real life situations you could use. The worst thing you could do is make it sound like a Wikipedia copy and paste. Here’s one suggestion…

Get management quotes from famous business people and explain how to apply what the person is teaching in their quote. You probably only need one really good one for a 5 minute presentation.

One more thing… Next time, start preparing earlier 🙂

Good luck. Let me know how it goes.

Carl
http://www.carlkwan.com
DAMON on February 1, 2013 at 7:46 pm

Hey Carl

My audience will be the students of my class, some juniors and teachers who gonna give me marks.
And how should I start means by giving my introduction ? Or direct start the topic introduction ?
Jeffrey Goh on February 5, 2013 at 11:55 pm

Hello Carl. I’m a student of a high school, and I wish for your assistance.

So, I’m not sure if ‘elocution’ is going to be as same as ‘presentation’. If not, what are the differences? Because I’m going for an elocution competition a few months later, and I’m writing a script about “Manglish- Malaysian English” right now. Is kinda hard to give out a head start on how to introduce my topic, and harder to explain the main points in both breiefly and detailed.

I’m very appreciated if you do help solve my problem within this moment of time.
Carl Kwan on February 8, 2013 at 5:50 pm

Hi Jeffrey,

Sorry for the late reply. Iâ€™ve been travelling and couldnâ€™t get to my messages soonerâ€¦ Having too much fun 🙂

If you look up elocution in the dictionary, it’s basically the same thing as a presentation.

As for your script… Great to hear you’re starting your preparation early! Make your introduction fun and your topics fun, too. Who is your audience? If they are familiar with the topic, then start by showing some funny or unusual ways Manglish is used. As for your topics, you could talk about the pros and cons of Manglish and then give ideas on how to fix any problems encountered with Manglish.

It’s funny, every Asian country seems to have some kind of English mixed with the local language. In Korea, it’s Konglish and in Singapore, they have Singlish. It’s great! 🙂

Good luck.

Carl
Adil Yacoob on February 8, 2013 at 10:07 pm

Hi Carl,

Need your help for a presentation I need to do for a new Developer company regarding real estate, and have to give them a presentation about the importance of sales as a basic foundation and how to help the company grow if i was given a prosition of sales manager for a new company.
So could you give me a few tips and point how o make the presentation and make it something short and sweet but effective.

Thank you.

Waiting for your reply.
Carl Kwan on February 12, 2013 at 10:47 pm

Hi Adil,

Sorry for the late response. I’m on vacation at the moment so I’m a little slow in checking/replying to messages.

For your presentation, is the topic you mention, the importance of sales as a basic foundation, fixed? The reason is that I believe a developer would already know that sales was important and that your purpose would be to show what they could achieve by hiring you. Show them what life is like without you (current market situation, challenges, consequences) and what your plans would be to help them make money (their most important goal, I’m guessing).

Could you tell me more about the audience (position, status, knowledge of the topic) and why they are looking for a new sales manager?

Hope that helps!

Carl
sandile on February 13, 2013 at 5:35 am

Hi mr I’m a 15 year old boy who is in grade 11 tomorrow I have a very important presentation the given topic is Corruption is the order of the day in nowadays honestly speaking I’m clueless I saw u mentioned the importance of a succesful presentation is al about who are you addressing and what they want to hear I’m new in grade 11 most of my class mates are relatively older than me I think the maximum oldest people in my class are 21 so I’m clueless on what that kind of group might be interested to hear please help me regards sandile
saurabh on February 14, 2013 at 1:19 am

respected sir,
Tomorrow is my presentation on storage tech. so can u give me some tips to get attention of audience(students) and impress my teachers as they already know about the topic. and how to not get nervous at the presentation time.
please help me.
Carl Kwan on February 14, 2013 at 2:04 am

Hi sandile,

Thanks for your message. I appreciate you taking the time to ask for help. However, if your presentation is tomorrow, you should have started preparing much sooner. You say that it’s a very important presentation? Well, a very important lesson in giving presentations is preparation.

Your topic is on corruption, but what is the purpose of the presentation? The easiest structure for a presentation is background, challenges and solutions. Other than that, there’s nothing else I can help you with.

Good luck.

Carl
Carl Kwan on February 14, 2013 at 2:06 am

Hi saurabh,

Thanks for your message, it’s much appreciated. However, if your presentation is tomorrow, then you are far too late in preparing. I have videos about getting the audience’s attention. Please search for those here or on YouTube.

Good luck.

Carl
sandile on February 14, 2013 at 6:49 am

Thank you very much sir to my advantage it was prosponed to friday I will work hard to ace it and hopefully I shall give u constructive feed back again thanx I’ll do my homework again thank u
ronit on February 20, 2013 at 12:01 am

Hi Carl,

i m having a presentation round in front of my big bosses in my office.

i need to give a presentation on digitization.

so how can i start, and what are the main points which i include in my presentation.

and very important that how to finish the same.
Quah on February 21, 2013 at 2:57 pm

Hi Carl,
I plan to have a prsentation with a few freight forwarder to tell them the region we are going to and the requirement we need.
I also choose top five of forwarder to give them certificate, how should I do? Thank you.
Carl Kwan on February 24, 2013 at 10:05 pm

Hi ronit,

Thanks for your question. I’d like to help, but I know nothing about your topic, why you’re giving the presentation, and most importantly, who your bosses are and what they want.

My apologies for being blunt, but…Since it is for your job, I’m surprised you are asking for help in regard to the main points to include.

There are multiple videos on the site and on YouTube from me about starting and ending presentations. Please refer to those, or get back to me with more information.

Good luck.

Carl
Carl Kwan on February 24, 2013 at 10:08 pm

Hello Quah,

Thanks for your message. I need more clarification from you before I can advise you… What industry/business are you in? Why are you giving a presentation to explain regions and requirements? Is this for a sales or marketing presentation?

Carl
sumer on March 15, 2013 at 7:13 pm

Hi Carl
I need your help for a presentation I need to do about Enactus ,it’s my first and I need your help to get an effictive script ,how to start ? and how to end my presentation??
thank you
Carl Kwan on March 17, 2013 at 6:42 am

Hi sumer,

Should be a great thing to talk about!

Before you begin…

You need to clearly identify who your audience is and what they want to hear.

As for how to start and end, that will depend again on who the presentation is for. You can also check out the other videos here about starting a presentation. Search for how to start a presentation or starting a presentation.

The ending is usually best when you summarize what you said. If you have a message you would like your audience to remember or some kind of call-to-action, you can end with either of those.

Let me know if you have any other questions after identifying your audience and checking out the other videos.

Thanks.

Carl