Can Presenting Last Give You the Edge?

Are you gearing up to give a presentation? If it's a presentation involving multiple presenters, then you might want to go last.


see more Memebase and check out our Troll Face lols!

Australian researchers analyzed 1,522 American Idol "performances" on the Australian, British, Canadian and American versions of the show and found American Idol contestants who sing last have a much higher chance of advancing to the next round, especially if they have the middling talent level of, say, a Jennifer Lopez. Studies of the Eurovision singing contests have shown the same thing.

Could presenting last serve you well on the job? Speaking first can give you a go-getter's aura, but if you're one of five people giving a PowerPoint presentation to an audience full of bored, texting people, deciding to go last might just give you a few advantages. First, going last lets you size up the competition and adjust accordingly. Second, it allows you to gauge what interests the audience, other than the prospect of leaving. Third, audience members might silently attribute a more positive vibe to the last speaker simply because they're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Fourth, audience members might be more likely to remember what the last speaker says -- and to be less skeptical because now they're more tired, they're itching to check their messages (if they're not doing it already), they're needing to pee, and they're wanting a snack. Okay, buddy, I get it. Sure, yeah, let's just do what you said. Sounds great! Seacrest, out.



Should I draw a connection between a random Australian study of a fading talent show and the average workplace? Well, drawing random, weird, largely unsupportable connections is the stock and trade of the time-pressed, humanities-majoring journalist, isn't it? But you might test this theory the next time you're slated to be one of multiple presenters, or your group is going head-to-head against the competition. Sure, no one ever writes "LAST!" on Internet message boards, but this workplace race to the bottom of the speaking list is a race you might just win, especially if you suck at giving PowerPoint presentations. Let me know if it works.