Why Saying Thank You is Not Enough During a Presentation

While parents, teachers and even Barney the dinosaur tells us that saying 'please' and 'thank you' are magic words that can really create wonders in relationships, expert speakers and authorities in public speaking and presentations tells us to drop it for a more effective and powerful delivery.

Majority of speakers are guilty of over-using the word Thank You during a presentation.  Usually after an introduction, in an opening statement and mostly as a conclusion.  Well, it's understandable since the use of thank you is not only a nice way to acknowledge the importance of each individual in the crowd but is also a short polite statement that speakers often used as fillers or as a default statement to open or to end a speech or presentation. 

However, there's a much better way.

Instead of saying Thank You as an opening statement, why not start with a story, a short anecdote, a nice fun factoid or some mind boggling trivia or activity to get the attention of your audience.

There's absolutely no need to thank the person who gave you an introduction in front of the audience, you may thank the person personally and immediately after the introduction and shake his or her hands.  The gestures are enough.

Concluding a presentation or a speech should be equally strong or even stronger than your opening statement.  Aside from the opening statement, the closing is always the part of the presentation that audiences brings home with them after.  Make it a close worth remembering and plainly saying Thank You is not really a knock-out ending.  Your closing must contain the core message of the whole speech or presentation and make it quick, concise and creatively powerful.