Most presentations open with an agenda slide and close with "any questions?" Both are missed opportunities, the opening is where you earn the room's attention, and the ending is where you decide what they'll actually walk away remembering.
An agenda slide tells the room what's coming, but it doesn't give them a reason to care yet. A stronger opening states the stakes or the headline immediately, what this presentation is going to help the room decide, or the one finding that makes the next fifteen minutes worth their attention. The agenda, if you need one at all, can come second, once the room already knows why it matters.
"Thanks everyone for joining. Today I'm going to walk through our Q3 results, then talk about some challenges, and end with next steps."
"Q3 revenue grew 8%, but churn also ticked up for the first time in a year, and I think today's meeting should end with a decision on whether that's a one-quarter blip or something we need to address now."
The strong version does the same job as an agenda, it tells the room what's coming, but it also gives them a reason to lean in, because it's already framed as something with a stake attached, not just a list of topics.
Nobody remembers a presentation's agenda slide. Everyone remembers the last clear thing you said.
Endings deserve the same deliberate treatment. "Any questions?" hands control of the closing moment to whoever happens to speak up, and the presentation often just trails off from there rather than landing anywhere. A stronger close restates the headline in one sentence and names exactly what you need from the room, a decision, a next step, a follow-up, before opening the floor.
"So: revenue's healthy, but churn needs attention. I'd like us to decide today whether we're running a churn investigation this month or waiting for Q4 data. Happy to take questions, but wanted that decision on the table first."
That closing does something a simple "any questions" doesn't: it makes sure the one thing you actually needed from the meeting doesn't get lost in whatever tangent the Q&A takes. Questions are still welcome, they just come after the room already knows what you're asking of them, not instead of it.