Here is an intro I heard a couple weeks ago.

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to be here. I am very happy to speak about something which I am very interested in. My story starting in high school. Bullies terrorized our school.

This intro is boring and does not grab the audience’s attention. You want to hook the audience. With every word of those first couple sentences, people’s attention is swimming away.

See what happens after you take an axe to it.

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to be here. I am very happy to speak about something which I am very interested in. My story starting in high school. Bullies terrorized our school.

Now, the speaker jumps right into the action.

Bullies terrorized our school.

What an attention grabber!

Immediately everyone is paying attention. You can continue to reel them in throughout the speech. If you did not use the axe, most of the people lost during the first sentences may never come back.

Do your intro’s need an axe?

Here are some tips for taking an Axe to your intro:

1. Jump right into the story.
2. Use a question to grab attention.
3. Thank the audience after you grab their attention.
4. Grab their attention before you say what you will be talking about.

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Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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Speaking Tip #20: Preview the Speech
 

Give the audience a brief overview of what you will be saying.

You will learn how to set goals in three simple steps.

You will learn why drunk driving is such a problem and what we can do to help.

Consider phrasing the overview in "You" terms. Not "I will share", but "You will learn."

Previewing the speech will help your audience remember it and keep their attention.
 

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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Delivery Tip #15: Deliver your opening line to a person on the back row. You'll instantly bring the back row into your speech. This will also bring in the rest  of the audience as our eye contact flies over their heads towards the back row. Then we jump into our Figure 8 eye contact pattern or whichever patter you want to use. Combine this public speaking tip with the Hook & Reel Intro and you'll have a powerful opening.

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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There are good ways to start a speech and poor ways. Here are a few openings that can hinder your presentation and possibly ruin the entire speech. Avoid them. There are many better speech openings.

1. I’m sorry but I did not have time to prepare like I wanted. (See more on starting with an apology)
   
2. Thank you for this opportunity and I would like to thank these forty people.
   
3. I am not an expert in what I am going to talk to you about.
4. Sorry about the power point snafu – Rob
   
5. Umm. Uh. I. Ah…
6. I’m going to talk about… - Melanie
   
7. I was up last night for half the night and could not sleep. Please bear with me.
8. I have allergies and a cold, but I’ll try to fight through the pain.
9. I heard a joke you may like. It has nothing to do with the presentation and you have all probably heard it but I’ll tell it again.
10. I’m so happy to be here.

What is wrong with most of these? They are “I” focused. The audience is concerned with themselves. What are you bringing to the speaking table.

Instead of these openings check out these articles:

• How to Write a Good Speech Intro
• 4 Ways to Start a Speech
• The Hook & Reel Intro

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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A great presentation is like a good airplane trip. You need a smooth takeoff, safe flight, and a smooth landing. Many speeches never get off the ground because of a weak intro. Here is a presentation line that can  drastically hurt your speech.

The Apology / Excuse

"Avoid starting your speech with an apology or excuse." Several mentors have given me this public speaking tip. Here are a few examples of how not to start a speech.

Sorry, I am not more prepared.

Last night John called me and asked if I could fill in for him.

It's been a busy week, but we'll try to manage and get through this.

My power point crashed so it will not look like I want it to.

These lines can deflate our speech and hinder take off. Why do we start with an apology? It may be because we want the audience to feel sorry for us and give us a pass if we don't do well.  However, we want the audience anticipating our message, and confidently trusting in us as a speaker–not feeling sorry for us.

You want them to have confidence in you that you are going to deliver a speech that brings value to them.

Take out the apology/excuse completely.

If you are unprepared, don't tell them. They'll figure it out–maybe. Many times if you do a good job with delivering they'll never know that you received a notice to speak 30 minutes ahead of time.

Replace apology with explanation–if you must. One time I had car trouble and was 10 minutes late to a speaking engagement. It was clear I was late and everyone was wondering why. I started off by sharing the car trouble story briefly.Then I apologized and launched into the presentation. If I had not explained this situation, everyone would have been wondering "why" throughout the entire presentation. My speech  may have never gotten off the ground.

There are many good ways to open a speech. An apology is usually not one of them.

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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In NASCAR the start of the race is critical. Starting with good momentum will help propel the driver to victory. A weak start is very difficult to overcome. Same applies to delivering a business presentation, motivational keynote, or other speech. Start your speech with momentum and you'll be able to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. A weak opening is difficult to overcome. Here are 4 ways to begin a speech or open a presentation. Watch as Patricia Fripp shares how to begin your speech with a bang. Learn more about Patricia Fripp (Aff Link)

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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What’s best? Rob Christeson has some great points on this.

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Speaking Tips – Should You Thank the Audience?

Yes.

I love easy questions.

The real question, though, is how should you thank your audience?

First, the two times you should avoid thanking them: the first 30 seconds and the last 30 seconds of your presentation.

Why not start that way? Because the first 30 seconds is when you need to make that connection. Although this touches on another topic,  remember that if you open your speech with pleasantries, including variations of “thanks for having me”  will get your presentation off to a weak start.

Okay, but why not wrap up with “Thank You”? I know…you have seen famous people do it, so it must be okay, right? Wrong. Those last 30 seconds (or even minutes) are the last thing your audience will remember. Make it powerful. Make it memorable. Make it something you would listen to.

Now that you know how not to do it, what about the right way to do it? Glad you asked. You are probably thinking that any type of thank you placed in the dead center of your speech will be…well…dead, or at least out of place, right? That is true. The two times to thank your hosts and/or audience are soon after your opening, or…you guessed it: Right before your closing.

For instance:

“Before I close, I would like to thank Rotary 123 for asking me to speak today…(clap…clap…clap)…the importance of good dental hygiene cannot be overstated…” into your closing. No, I do not speak about flossing techniques. I just wanted to give an example of transitioning into your closing. The point is to treat a “thank you” like you would Q&A: wrap it up before you give your closing statement.

I would like to thank you for reading my post today, you have been a wonderful audience.

Remember the two parts to “Should I thank the audience?”
1. Yes.
2. After the opening or before the conclusion.

If you open your speech with power and close it with conviction, you will have time to express gratitude with grace.
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Rob Christeson is an IT Project Manager, freelance writer and speaker based in Wichita, Kansas. His Talk to the Human™ blog is based on the premise that while on-line social networking, e-mail and text can be very useful for building contacts and staying in touch, nothing beats real live human communication when you need to get stuff done.

See Rob’s Latest Article

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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Public Speaking Tip #21: Share compelling reasons to listen.

If you are a big name celebrity or have accomplished something newsworthy, people will readily listen to you. However, for the rest of us, we need to give the audience compelling reasons to listen. Here are a couple ways.

Promise

When you leave here today, you will know a five minute method for setting goals which will propel you up the ladder of success.

Give a couple promises up front. Don't forget to follow through on them.

Benefits

What is the difference between benefits & features?

Features describe the car.

Benefits are the improvements in your life because you bought the car.

Feature: You will learn a goal setting method.

Benefit: After today, You'll be able to reach your goals fast.

Proof

The university of _______________ studied 50 people and found that individuals using this goal setting method, attained 85% of their goals.

I shared this system with my friend Sam. He was able to stop smoking in three weeks.

You can use social proof, authority proof like a quote, or research proof. Do what it takes to give reasons for them to listen.

You can write a good speech intro. Just remember to grab attention, preview the speech, and share compelling reasons for them to listen.

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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During these essential few minutes, you want to do three things:

- Grab Attention

- Preview the speech

- Share compelling reasons why the audience should listen to you.

Over the next couple days, we'll be tackle each one of these.

Good Speech Intro Tip #19: Grab their attention with a question, a story, or a startling statement.

Any one of these will get the audience involved and ready to pay attention.

Starting with a Question

Do you remember a time when your were very discouraged or disappointed?

Would this question grab the audience's attention? Definitely, I've used it several times with great success. Three points to remember when asking questions.

First, ask it to one person. Look at one person and ask the question. Second, phrase the question so it is "you" focused. Third, pause after the question to let people reflect on it. One of the World Champions of Public Speaking said, "If they reflect, you will connect."

Starting your speech with a Story

Two years ago, I was…

Stories are an excellent way to grab attention. Just jump right in. No need for clutter phrases like "Here is something interesting that happened to me" or "Now, I will tell you a story." Dive into the story and let the story grab the audience's attention.

Starting with Startling Statement

Last year 11,773 People were killed by drunk drivers. That's like two 747 Jumbo Jets crashing every month.

Did this grab your attention? Think of true, but startling statements to open your speech.

Take some extra time to create a good speech intro with this speaking tip.

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

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But how can we hook the audience and reel them into our speech?

Tip #4: Use the Hook and Reel Intro

The Hook and Reel Intro is a powerful intro formula which grabs the audiences  attention and reels them right into our speech. Get a free report on the Hook and Reel Intro.

Arlen Busenitz

Arlen Busenitz is an experienced speaker with over 650 presentations. He is Author of several books, CD's,and creator of Become a Better Speaker in One Evening™

More Posts - Website