How NOT to Start Your Speech

How do you feel when a presenter says, "Before we begin, let me tell you a bit about myself" or a virtual host starts a meeting with, "I'll start by sharing the bios of all our speakers."

Does it make you want to run from the virtual or in-person room?

Join the club. There are a number of reasons that can be frustrating.

1. It’s rarely a little. It’s often a listicle of credentials that quickly becomes INFObesity. It indicates the speaker thinks s/he is the most important person in the room.

2.  It assumes we want to know more about the speaker(s). Chances are, we've already read their bio's in the program, marketing material or meeting announcement.

3.  It presumes credentials are what gives authority and motivates us to listen.

Actually, delivering intriguing, immediately useful insights is what motivates us to listen.

Want more effective ways to start a talk? Try these:

1. Start on time: Do not wait for stragglers. That rewards late-comers and penalizes on-timers. That's the opposite of what we ought to do.

2. Give a warm welcome. Many hosts start with, "Put yourself on MUTE." Yikes. You wouldn't welcome guests into your home and the first words out of your mouth are "Stay silent!" Why do that online? Instead, smile and use gracious words phrases, i.e. "I'm so glad you're here. Thank you for joining us. We appreciate you showing up, and look forward to hearing your updates."

3. Pleasantly surprise people. The goal is to get people's eyebrows up (a sure sign of intrigue) in the first two minutes with something that adds value. You might want to share an inspiring quote and then hook and hinge it back to the purpose of the meeting.

4. Keep it brief or they'll give you grief. Do all the above in 2 minutes. Studies show that people have Zoom Fatigue these days from being online all day. If you don't pleasantly surprise them with tangible value. they're already wishing they were somewhere else.

Want some examples of 60 second openings that have people at hello?

You want might want to quote Arthur Rubenstein, “I have found if you love life; life will love you back." Then, segue into, “I love this topic. To help you love it back, I promise NOT to waste your valuable time and mind on ivory tower theories that aren’t relevant to your world. Instead we’ll focus on real-life ideas you can use immediately to improve your effectiveness on and off the job. Sound good? Let’s go."

Or cite Richard Branson who said, ‘Time is the new money.’ I think time is the new TRUST. You’ve carved time out of your busy schedule to be here. So you can TRUST this will be a good use of your time, here is our agenda. I promise to stick to it and end on time.”

Or perhaps you could share Carrie Fisher’s quote, “Instant gratification takes too long” and then say, “You may be wondering how this program will be an ROI for you. Well, here are three ways it can benefit you THIS WEEK. The first way is …”

Or use this quote from Jeff Bezos, "The only danger is not to evolve." Then, segue into "In these unprecedented times, we need to evolve the way we do business. Our goal is to strategize how we can do that so we can all keep our jobs."

If you're speaking to skeptics and worry they won't listen unless they know your background, you can say “You may be thinking, ‘Why are you an authority on this?' Good question. Here’s a 60 second background with my credentials that are relevant to you and this talk so you can trust the best practices I’ll be sharing today are based on proven, real-world experience you can apply immediately.”

That intro will make it clear your priority is delivering bottom-line value to them.

So, what’s a presentation you're preparing or a virtual meeting you'll be hosting? 

How will you jump in with an opening that causes everyone to think, “If THIS is an example of how you roll, I’m in.”

Or if it’s a tough crowd, at least they’ll think, “This isn’t as boring as I thought it would be. I’m giving you a chance.”

Either way, you'll have earned everyone's attention, and isn't that what we all want?

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Find more ways to earn people's attention, trust, respect in Sam's book Got Your Attention?