I’ve attended roughly a gazillion presentations that began with an executive summary, or a brief statement along the lines of, “Here’s what I’m going to tell you.” 

Don’t do it.  If you have, stop now.  Promise me you’ll never do it again. 

Why?  Because if you begin with your conclusion, you invite disagreement.  Without the benefit of the logic of your argument, you’re simply asking your audience to take issue with what you’re saying.  That move derails your talk at the very beginning and means that a goodly percentage of the audience is no longer listening to you with anything like an open mind. 

What should you do instead?  Give a high-level teaser, a statement of purpose, something like, “Today I’m going to show you why a small change in your thinking can yield big profits down the road.” 

Or start with a brief story, and then give the high-level framing statement. 

Then lead your audience on the decision-making journey that will lead inevitably to your amazing conclusion.  The only reason to give a speech is to change the world.  That means changing the minds of your audience.  To do that, you have to respect their need to go through the decision-making process.  You don’t allow them to do that if you start at the conclusion. 

Never start with an executive summary.  You’re just asking for trouble. 

Comments

[Brady]

Well, I was going to open with a brief summary of where this comment is going, but now I know better.

Good insight, Thanks for the advice.

[John Watkis]

Hi Nick,

Your suggestion applies in some situations, but not in others. Sometimes it's to the advantage of a speaker to begin with a summary.

Telling people how to start or how not to start a speech is putting the cart before the horse. There are two steps to be considered before you can decide on the best opening for any speech.

I've written a blog post about the 3-step process. Once you've read it, I would like to hear your comments.

http://tinyurl.com/3ac8qen

John Watkis, Speechwriter
Well Written, Well Said

[Nick Morgan]

Hi, John --

Thanks for your comment. I've read your blog, and of course I agree that the first thing to do is to research and understand your audience. I've blogged on that myself many times. The situation, context, setting, etc for the speech will affect how you begin. In your example of bad news, the best way to begin is with the bad news, as you suggest. But that's not a summary. I stand by the original comment that executive summaries are not helpful places to begin. But of course finding a useful place to begin depends on your audience, the message you want to deliver, and a host of other factors.