7 Seconds or you’re history
Making a great opening has always been important but how important has been highlighted by some research by Vanessa van Edwards and Brandon Vaughn in a well-structured experiment with Ted talks.
Their research found that people will make up their mind about you in the first 7 seconds and after that, it’s hard to change them. Importantly in the research, they tested 2 groups…one saw only the first 7 seconds of a talk only, the other saw the entire Ted talk. The ratings from the groups were basically the same. In other words, whether people saw the entire presentation or not, their judgments were the same.
Importantly, it didn’t matter whether the viewer could hear the speaker or not! In other words, this judgment was entirely out of non-verbal signals.
Some other insights from the research showed:
So, in summary, things to proactive for your next presentation:
Good luck with your next presentation!