Do us all a favor….start with something snappy rather than saying “hello” and expecting the audience to chime in with a hearty “hello” back to you. Start off with an observation, a poignant question, a quotation, a startling statistic, an anecdote, a piece of humor….
Anything BUT “Hello” (pause….waiting for a thunderous response, only to be disappointed with the audience). “I can’t hear you” or “You can do better than that!”. Not only are you telling the audience they don’t measure up to your expectations from the get-go, but you are asking for feedback because YOU need their energy! This whole intro is about YOU….and for a presentation to be engaging, your speech has got to be about THEM.
