TJ Walker explains how to open a speech: skip the bio and clichés, say something interesting about your audience instead of yourself, and speak directly rather than outlining. He shows an example with an audience member named Jane and notes that humor works better when it comes naturally later.
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So what's the best way to start a speech or presentation? Is it with a joke? Is it with something dramatic? Is it a flourish? No, it doesn't have to be any of those things. The only thing you really have to do is say something interesting to your audience and not about you. So many people struggle with their openings and they feel this need to. I have to establish my credibility. So let me tell people by academic credentials and I'm summa cum laude and go on and give a full bio. It's boring. Everyone is falling asleep. As you've heard me reference in earlier episodes. Nobody really cares about you. What they care about is themselves. So the sooner you can tell them something interesting and useful about them, the better. That's the problem with telling a joke. That's obviously a joke because it kind of comes across as, okay, I'm uncomfortable here. I want you to laugh. I'm begging you to laugh. You sort of have to laugh to make me feel comfortable. Nobody likes to be told to laugh. Now, it's fine to use humor in a presentation, but use it in a way that's organic. Use it in the middle or the end. People are expecting it at the start. There's no one perfect way of starting a speech, but there is a perfect way to bomb and be awful. And that is to do what most people do. Most people start a presentation. A presentation by saying, good morning, I'm happy to be here today. My name is this, my title is that today I'm going to talk to you about X, Y and Z. Before I start, let me tell you about the boring history of my company. You've heard speeches like that. You may be chuckling and saying, well, that's a caricature. Well, no, it actually happens. And the problem with that speech is, structurally, it's about me, me, me, me. Let me tell you about me, me, me. I'm happy to be here today at this stage of the relationship. Why do you care if I'm happy? If you don't even know who I am and I'm getting up to speak in front of you, why do you care? Don't waste time. Today I'm going to talk about is a phrase that speakers feel compelled to use. Well, we know it's today. We know it's you. We see your mouth moving. We know you're talking. So all you've done is waste time with empty cliches that are meaningless. So the problem most speakers have is they get up and it's the equivalent of Charlie Brown's Teacher or adults in the Peanuts cartoons that just go, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. You just hear noise. And for many people these days, that is practically someone begging them to pull out their cell phones and check their email. Because the speech hasn't really started. My advice Deliver value right out of the gate. When I start a speech on public speaking, public speaking training, the first thing out of my mouth is, why are we here? Jane, you mentioned that you're comfortable in front of large audiences, but sometimes with smaller audiences of your own colleagues, you get a little uncomfortable. I'm going to give you a technique to conquer those butterflies in your stomach. I'm talking about her. I'm telling first thing. It's not after I've said, good morning. That's not after I said, I'm happy to be here. That's literally the first set of words coming out of my mouth. Is it the way I often speak? Is it funny? No. Brilliant. No. But Jane's interested now. Other people I've talked to think, oh, maybe he'll mention me. So that's the biggest decision you have to make when it comes to starting your speech. Are you going to talk about yourself? Are you going to talk about something of interest to your audience? That's why I'm not a fan of ever talking about my speech. In my speech today, in the preparation of my. Don't ever talk about your speech, Just speak. It's also, I'm not a fan of outlining, outlining works. If you're a college professor and you can test your audience. If you're not a professor and you can't test them, don't outline, just speak. Be interesting and memorable. Now, don't tell me what you're going to say, just say it now and be interesting. That's the best way to start a speech, and that's the best way to continue speaking throughout. The.
