When it comes to opening and closing a talk you don’t want to emulate the Month of March, you want to both come in and go out like a lion.
Audiences are usually attentive at the beginning of a talk and it’s a lot easier to keep their attention than it is to get it back. You simply cannot afford to lose their attention during your first few sentences.
It’s always an honour to be asked to address any audience, so let them know you recognize and appreciate this. If there’s a particular reason you’re pleased to speak to a group, tell them why. For example, if you’re giving a talk to a Rotary Club you could say how honoured you are to be associated, even in a small way, with an international organization that does such outstanding community work.
A very effective way to open a talk is to compliment the audience on something they’ll be surprised you know. If you’re speaking to the oldest Rotary Club in the city, congratulate them for that.
But some words of caution about openers are warranted.
Don’t mention that you’ve given the same talk before, even if it was two thousand miles away and two months ago. Audiences want to feel special, so don’t spoil the feeling for them. But if asked, never deny having given essentially the same talk before.
There are two compelling reasons to never start with a joke. First, the odds are that some (possibly all) of the audience will already have heard it. Secondly, no matter how benign a joke may seem, there’s always the chance it will offend someone in the audience, and you don’t want to do something at the start of your talk that might offend even one audience member. I’m not suggesting you never use humour; but it should be humour that’s relevant to your content and that comes to you spontaneously while preparing or delivering your talk.
Spend no more than a few moments identifying with the audience. You want them to be interested in hearing more of what you have to say rather than thinking they should have stayed home and watched Jeopardy!
Your closing is even more important than your opening because it will be the last impression the audience will have of you. A closing technique that never fails is to briefly summarize the main points of your presentation. But no matter how strong the temptation to editorialize or elaborate is, resist it and just summarize in point form.
If there’s something you want the audience to do or not do, tell them exactly what it is, and what the consequences of inaction will be.
Don’t be subtle when closing your talk; use a sledgehammer. For example, don’t just say, “This tax increase will have a negative effect on many people.” Say, “This outrageous money grab by the government could cause our mothers and fathers and aunts and uncles to lose their homes!”
Speakers can sometimes survive a soft middle in their talks, but a weak opening or closing is disastrous.