To spread ideas, first you have to get (and keep) your audience’s attention. Most people decide within the first minute of your communication attempt to them whether they are interested in what you have to share. That means your first six to twelve sentences are crucial to convincing others to receive your full message. It’s the “one minute hurdle”.
Otherwise you are talking, in effect, to an empty room. Even if the bodies remain, their minds are elsewhere. Unless you give them a compelling reason to stay focused on you, their thoughts inevitably will wander. They may be wondering what to have for lunch, who the cute person next to them is, how to deal with that irritating problem at work, or a thousand other concerns. They think about everything and anything but you.
So first things first. How do you clear that initial hurdle? There are many ways, but they all boil down to this underlying principle. You start with a statement of undeniable value to the listener that previews the rest of the message. That could mean telling them something important they did not know, engaging them in a thought process that explores their deepest wants and needs, or entertaining them in a novel way. In each case, you must pique their interest at the start. Let me talk first about the content and then the delivery of your opening.
As for content, just like the title of my blog, I believe the head and the heart together make for effective communications. If I have to choose, I suggest that the heart dominates for most people. That means that personal experience forms the core of your appeal. Therefore, opening with a personal story is the most consistently successful technique. It should be truly personal, conveying observations only you would know. It should be emotional, highly sensory, and, if possible, rich in dialogue.
Everyone suffers sometimes. Everyone struggles now and then. The most famous stories are about suffering, struggle, and overcoming daunting obstacles. Yet here’s a funny truism. Your stories of personal trials and tribulations can be really effective if you make others the heroes. For example, here is how New York Yankees great Lou Gehrig, who was forced to retire due to the crippling ALS disease that would kill him two years later, began his famous farewell to baseball on July 4, 1939:
“Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.”
On the other hand, the head can provide a powerful opening as well. A shocking statement of little known fact can be equally compelling. Here is how celebrity chef Jamie Oliver opened his anti-obesity TED talk in February, 2010, entitled “Teach Every Child About Food”:
“Sadly, in the next 18 minutes when I do our chat, four Americans that are alive will be dead from the food that they eat. “
Also in the realm of the head is a related technique, the powerful question. If you ask your audience “why” in an intriguing way, they will want to take the journey to the answers together with you. In a sense they are creating the talk as well, by mentally moving along with you in a shared thought process to discover profound truths. Here is another TED talk beginning, this one by Simon Sinek in his September 2009 talk, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action”:
“How do you explain when things don’t go as we assume? Or better, how do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions? For example: Why is Apple so innovative? … Why is it that they seem to have something different?”
Poignant story, shocking fact, powerful question. Each of these has been proven to hook the listener. Thus you have your content. But now, how to deliver it? And perhaps of primary importance, how do we overcome that most crippling of maladies, fear of public speaking? Being frozen on stage is no fun. I suspect we have all been there. The “one minute hurdle”, therefore is not just about what to say, but also how to say it. It is equally about overcoming your fear as well as overcoming audience resistance to your message.
Of course, I could go on and on about this pernicious fear. It is a broad topic that I will only touch on here. Nevertheless, regarding the effective opening, I do have one time tested tip to add. After you have determined your opening type, write down in a dozen or so clear descriptive sentences exactly what you have to say. Then memorize those. Emphasize simple declarative sentences, the kind with a basic subject and predicate. They are easier on the tongue and allow your breathing to be more regular. You will talk and breathe better.
I do not recommend fully memorized speeches. Unless you are an accomplished thespian, they come off too often as canned and dry. I prefer the spontaneity of working from an outline rather then a complete printed text of remarks. Here though, I’ll make an exception. You SHOULD memorize your opening. Why? To soar over the one minute hurdle of course!
By memorizing your opening, you are assured at least of getting though the first minute of your talk. Once you do that, you will have primed the talking pump so to speak. You will have a natural tendency to carry on. And most likely the audience by then will be supporting you with their rapt attention. It simply gets easier as you (and your audience) move into the body of your speech. Fear is forgotten. Your confidence soars. Try it. You’ll see!
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