PRESENTATION SKILLS
Welcome to Telling it Straight – the newsletter dedicated to presentation skills. In this edition we look at five reasons why the opening to your speech matters.
We also have our regular Speakers Corner, Quotation Marks and Art of Presentation Gallery sections.
FIVE REASONS WHY THE OPENING TO YOUR SPEECH MATTERS
The opening to your speech matters. A good speech has a good opening. It's true that an excellent start to your speech doesn't guarantee success but a bad opening comes close to guaranteeing a bad speech. You have some 90 seconds at the beginning of your speech when you have the full attention of your audience.
After a minute and a half you need to earn their attention. Earn their respect.
So your choice of opening and how you actually do so is vital. It's vital because your opening remarks have to achieve one, several or all the following:
1) Use your "grace period." Take advantage of the time when you have your audience's full attention. This is not long. Seize their attention and then keep it for the rest of your speech.
2) Set common ground. Use your opening to set out the shared connections, associations and interests that bind you to your audience. This is important when you need their support and engagement later.
3) Set the tone. Your speech opening should set the tone for everything that follows. If you want a relaxed, informal presentation then your opening comments should be informal and, perhaps, humorous.
4) Highlight your qualities. Aim to use your speech opening to highlight why it's you who is speaking today. Show your expertise or unique status on the subject. But take care not to sound egotistical or self-obsessed.
5) Build interest. Your speech opening should generate interest and anticipation for more details and observations from the rest of your speech.
Your opening remarks need to achieve at least one of these objectives. And you should, ideally, aim to achieve several in the 90 seconds of "grace period" that you have available. When you achieve these you have the best possible opportunity to retain your audience's attention for the rest of your speech. Read more.
IN THIS ISSUE
- Five Reasons Why The Opening To Your Speech Matters
- Speaker's Corner
- Quotation Marks
- Art of Presentation Gallery
- Training Calendar
"It's your country. The president is our flag-bearer. He stands out in front of our people, and the flag is falling. Catch the falling flag as we keep our appointment with history."
The speaker was Henry Hyde, Judiciary Committee Chairman in the US House of Representatives on December 18 1998 when impeachment was looming for President Bill Clinton.
"I'm living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart."
One of the key figures in this year's film blockbuster, The Duchess, is Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey played by Dominic Cooper. Born into a wealthy Northumbrian family, Grey was soon despatched to Eton College and later to Cambridge where he excelled in classical studies and declamation. These declamation skills quickly propelled him into politics and he became a Member of Parliament at the age of 22 – not unheard of in those days.
His oratory skills were noted and he became a leading light in the Whig movement of Charles James Fox where he espoused the causes of parliamentary reform and Catholic emancipation. Undoubtedly his affair with Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire and the birth of their illegitimate daughter, Eliza Courtney, helped him further up the political ladder – Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister.
But rhetorical flourishes and matrimonial betrayal aside it's Earl Grey tea that carries the legacy of Charles Grey today. A case of tea being more powerful than the spoken word, perhaps.
Our PresentPerfect training course contains many tips and techniques to boost yourt public speaking powers.
The schedule for PresentPerfect training courses in October is now available.