Keep it tense – especially during webinars.

Think like a screenwriter.

Ever seen a movie that starts with the ending? Sure, they exist. But most stories, especially crime thrillers, build tension. They start with a problem, raise questions and pull you toward the climax.
Do the same in your presentation. Make your audience curious.

Even when you start with the outcome, you are simply shifting the question.
The Usual Suspects opens with an explosion. But then you want to know: who did it? What is the real story? That, too, is building suspense.

Don’t give it all away at once. The trick is to slow down.

Start by painting the situation: what’s the issue? Where’s the tension? Make the conflict tangible, whether it’s personal or professional. Never jump straight to the solution.
Your audience should be thinking: how are they going to solve this? Pause. Ask a question. Let the silence work for you. And when the answer comes. Boom, it sticks. 

Steve Jobs was a master at this. He always framed the problem first. Only then came the famous “one more thing.”

Speak real, not perfect.
You’re stronger when you present from your own experience. When you show how the content connects to what you’ve lived through.
Not when you rattle off theory, but when you reveal what you struggled with. That’s when people listen. Not to perfection, but to what’s real.

As Pearl S. Buck put it: “Truth is always exciting. Speak it, then. Life is dull without it.”

Make your presentation a story that needs to be told.
Tension works. Give them something to look forward to. Do not explain everything. Keep them curious. Leave them hungry for more.