Your Opening is Really Important! Avoid Doing This!

One of the most common, easiest-to-avoid mistakes that many speakers make is a boring opening statement.

Your opening is the most important part of your speech! If you lose people then, they’ll not likely pay attention to the rest of what you say! Getting their immediate attention, challenging the status quo, saying something interesting right off the bat, will motivate them to listen.

How often have you heard this? After speakers are introduced, they walk out on stage and reintroduce themselves —

“And now, please welcome Bob Smith!”
“Hi! I’m Bob Smith! – It’s an honor to be here! Thank you for having me!”

The audience is now checking their mobile phones because this beginning is the same as the openings of the other boring speakers they’ve just heard.

So, avoid reintroducing yourself! Let your body language express your appreciation. And begin by saying something interesting that will move the audience and have them lean towards you!

In this short video I offer you an example: