8 sure ways to unseat your audience

" You have 30 seconds to get me interested" This may be  the silent conversation going on  in most audience's head. Regardless whether it is 30 seconds, a minute or even more, audience are an impatient lot as they are better informed and have shorter attention span because of the pace we are living in life.

This reminds me of my favourite show in HBO series which is the CSI series. It always open with a crime scene in progress. In the next few seconds , my mind is filled with question. What's the crime all about? Who is the victim? My engaging mind get me hooked to the screen and POW.... the crime investigators will be all over the crime scene with their forensic tools followed by a one liner comment. This is how a opening of every speech should be, fill with exciting preview.

A speech opening is so critical because it will either lead the audience to you or away from you. Craft the opening well so that the audience will be curious enough to find out the rest of your speech. The 8 ways to open your speech are:-

1.) Make a provocative or bold statement. 

Can you imagine the reaction you get if you tell the audience in the   room that 1/3 of of the audience will die of cancer before reaching 60 years old. That will get everyone to sit up and take note why you just made such a statement. If there is silence in the air, you have certainly have made your point across. Of course statement like this must be substantiated by facts and figures from a reliable source.  

2.) Begin by asking a rhetorical question.

A rhetorical question encourages the listener to reflect on  what the implied answer to the question must be. It does not require a response from the listeners. "How much longer must the people be terrorize by the rampant crimes in this city?" may be one way you can open a speech on  ways of crime prevention. The question posed must relate to the central message of the speech.

3.) Begin with a quote.

Opening with an quote such a " What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve" is not captivating enough. If the audience can complete your sentence before you end it, it is a cliche which often not captivating enough. However if you could a twist on it such as " What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can make it a reality" Put a twist to the cliche and see your audience  response.

4.) Do a demonstration

Demonstration with a probe or role playing needs to be conducted in a smooth manner. Ensure that you do not spend time in the set up as an ill prepared demonstration often kills the audience's attention.

5.)  Show an interesting  picture

I once attended a presentation where the speaker opened with a weird looking picture on his power point and asked us about what we though it was. It is actually a close up shot of a human skin surface. Sometimes it can be a form of a quiz to get everyone to participate.  

6.) Give a verbal instruction that require a physical response

Can i have everyone stand as I am about to demonstrate to you ........ This form  of opening is especially effective after lunch session when the audience tend to be drowsy. This is a good way to get the energy back into the room.

7.) Tell a joke

Unless you are a humour Master, do not attempt on this. It takes years of refine and polish speaker to pull a humour off with the timely punch line. However if the audience did not respond to the way you intended, move on briskly and never tell them that was a joke.

8.) Tell a story

Since young I like to listen to the stories my mum tells me before going to bed. She is a very good story teller.Story has it's appealing effect on the listener and it is a good way to insert the lessons in the story as it will be easily recalled. Telling your personal story is more refreshing and also establish credibility. If possible avoid using stories from the chicken soup series or other stories collection even though it is real.  The audience prefer to listen to your stories and how you relate to it. Keep it real.

I hope that you will try on some of the methods above in your next speech presentation. On a final note, it is said that Tiger Woods is a master golfer because of the countless  practices he take to get the swing right. Like wise, you will only improve by the number of times  you go up on stage and deliver your speech.