Sally Koering Zimney, a theater and event professional, explains how to nail a presentation when you're short on prep time. Focus on the Beginning, Ending, and Transitions (BET). Strong openings and closings build trust, and smooth transitions shape how the audience experiences your whole talk.
Chapters
We're talking about how to be memorable on stage, and part of what is underneath that intention is an acknowledgement that they can't possibly remember everything. And so really the question for us becomes, how can we set up the experience for them to remember the things we want them to remember? That's what we're talking about today. So, woo woo! I used to produce events for a nonprofit organization that I worked for. We used to go out and do retreats for kids. So that's how I learned to speak. I mean, I'd been trained as a public speaker before that, but going out and doing it in the everyday, like in the real world, that's how I learned, was talking to young people, which is a really incredible way to learn how to become a public speaker. And that's how I learned how to coach. I got thrown into coaching right away after giving some feedback to my boss. He'd asked me for feedback, I should point out. And at the end of that session, he said, I want you to work with everybody. By the end of that year, it was part of my job. Part of my job also became writing our events. They were fundraising events, helping work with our speakers at those events. And as a theater person, I just fell in love with events. They are such a special art form. It really felt like the coming together of my love for the stage, my love for theater, the lights down, the excitement, the music, the movement, the live audience, with speaking, the art form of speaking. And it is such a particular art form. So it just was where I first really found my purpose and the magic of what these moments can do. And I remember this one particular event, we were just in the throes of chaos. There was so much going on and we were feeling a little behind. It was really harried and, and running around. And Todd, our main event producer, who's just unbelievable, he's so talented, just kind of like stopping me as I was running around, like probably going from person to person trying to prep them. And he just said, Sally, just pause for a moment. He said, we just need to nail the beginning, the ending, and the transitions. Okay, let's just focus on that. And I was like, okay, he's the pro. Now, his theory, which I have seen played out and proven again and again and again and again, is that if you can nail those three moments, you your beginning, your ending, and your transition, audiences kind of forget about the rest. Okay, and, and here we're talking about how to be memorable on stage, and part of what is underneath that intention is an acknowledgment that they will not remember everything. They can't possibly remember everything. And so really the question for us becomes, how can we set up the experience for them to remember the things we want them to remember, to have the experience we want them to have, to create the feeling that we want them to have. And the BET really, really do that. Now, the BET is beginning, the ending, and the transitions. If we focus on everything, we may end up with a mushy experience for our audience rather than really focusing on the pieces that create the experience for our audiences. So we want to set up what is the most important elements of this. And focusing in on the beginning, the ending, and the transition helped me really let go of the rest. I mean, not totally, because I, you know, I wanted it to be excellent all the way through. But a strong beginning builds trust. A strong ending leaves an impression, right? So it's really, really important how you want them to leave that experience, what them— you want it— what you want them to take with you from that. And then the transitions are intention, holding their attention and intention in those moments when they might be likely to let go and step out of it. And in those moments, if we do not handle the transitions well, it creates distrust and people kind of go, "Zhoop," and they step, they step back out of it. Okay. So beginning, ending transitions build trust and it allows people to step in and be with us in that experience. How many beverages do you have on your desk? Okay, all right, so we're here.
