TJ Walker says skip the bio. Start your talk by saying something interesting instead of greeting the audience and listing your credentials. Ask what people care about, name their problems, and build rapport before promoting yourself.
Chapters
So what's the best way to start off your presentation, talk or speech? People ask me all the time, TJ what's the best way to start? Should I start with a joke? Should I start with something dramatic? The main thing to focus on? Just say something interesting to your audience. That's all you have to do. And instantly you stand out as different from all the other boring speech. Here's how 99% of speakers start their speech. Good morning. I'm happy to be here today. As you know, my name is TJ Walker. I'm president of Media Training Worldwide. Today, I'm going to talk about all sorts of things that blah, blah, blah, blah. Before I start, let me tell you about the boring history of my company that you don't care about. And then let me tell you about all the cities my company is in that you don't care about because you're here. Do you want to listen to that? I don't. And yet that is the structure of how most people start presentations. It's me, me, me, me. Let me tell you about me. Let me tell you about my name, rank, serial number. Guess what? Your audience doesn't care. If they really thought you were so insignificant, they would have figured out a way to not be in the room or the person who introduced you said these basics, or it's on the agenda. They can see who you are and your title in your organization. Just say something interesting. The problem most people have with their speeches is the first minute or two is just. It's like seeing the ads at a movie. Before the movie starts, you tune out. What do you do at the movies when the ads are running, you're checking out your email. You don't want to give your audience an opportunity to tune out because what if you're never able to reel them back in? What if they stumble across an email that's so interesting they now forget to come back to your speech? So don't worry about being funny unless you're a comedian. Instead, focus on saying something about interest to your audience. Do that and you won't ever lose them. So, for example, when I'm doing a presentation on presentation training, before I start, I'll ask each person in the room, or at least a handful, what are the issues that affect them? Where are they least comfortable speaking? And typically, it's the same handful of issues. I'm uncomfortable speaking to large crowds. I'm uncomfortable starting. So here's how I start my presentation. So why are we here? Jim, you mentioned you're comfortable speaking to small groups, but when you have to stand up and speak in front of a large group of a thousand people, that makes you uncomfortable, nervous. Right. Well, we're going to go over some tips to help you with that. And Sally, So I'll go around the room and mention four or five people, what they said and give them some tips and answer it and address it right away. Now, it's basically the same thing in every speech, but I'm able to personalize it because these people actually said it. So when I mention that person's name, you better believe they are paying attention and it's personalized to them. It's not just a canned speech. So it feels real, it feels personalized. Meanwhile, everyone else is paying close attention because they realize, oh, he talked to me, he might mention me. And no one's bored because it's about them, not me. So whatever you do with your presentation, when you start, don't let people off the hook. Keep them engaged right from the first second you speak by saying something interesting to them, give them real value. Then in the middle of the speech or the end of the speech, you want to talk more about yourself, fine. At that point, you've built a relationship. But don't start off with the whole mini bio in the first minute. It's boring.
