There’s a pretty good chance your career can skyrocket IF you can speak effectively in public.  I’m not talking about talking, or BS-ing, many people can do that. I’m saying speaking in public, in a persuasive way, in front of an audience or a group can propel your career higher than you think. It doesn’t matter what the topic, venue or audience is, make no mistake about it, if you can speak well in a group setting, you will rise above many people, and I mean quickly.

First, there are only two types of speeches: informative and persuasive. Let me state this very clearly, the only people that should give any type of informative speeches are teachers. I would add, they do give informative speeches, but most of the time they should be giving persuasive speeches. As for every other speech in the free world, everyone should be giving only persuasive speeches … period.

In a speech, the two most important statements you should concern yourself with are your opening, or first statement, and your closing statement. Today I want to focus on your opening statement. There are two ways most people start a speech and, by the way, these are the worse ways to start any speech…

First example of a bad opening…

“Umm, hello my name is John Rovi and today, umm, I’m going to give a speech about how to give a bad speech…”

This is a bad way to start a speech because, nine times out of ten, this information has already been communicated to the audience in one form or another. And you’ve given them no reason to care who you are. In about 2.5 seconds, they have realized this is going to be another boring speech. And, if they don’t know who you are, if you give a great speech, they will do their homework to find out who you are. There’s no reason anyone should start a speech this way!

Second example of a bad opening…

“…Can everyone hear me ok, is the mic on, does this clicker work, when should I start, how much time do I have….”

What you’re telling the audience here is, I’ve got nothing, I’m really nervous and this speech is not going to be any better than my 11-year-old telling a story about his summer vacation. I would bet; the vacation speech would be better than a speech that starts like that.

So, let’s talk about what you should do to give a great speech! There are ONLY THREE ways to start a great speech, any great speech. I’ll start in reverse order. Let me note, you walk up and the very first out of your mouth is one of these…

3. Ask an interesting question that relates to or matters to the audience;
4. State a shocking or interesting fact that relates to or matters to the audience; or
5. Tell a, “Once upon a time story.” Figure out a way to tell a story in a grown-up way that relates to or matters to the audience.

Your first objective is to grab your audience’s attention as soon as you open your mouth. Once you have their attention, then you can go into the meat of the subject. And, of course, it must be compelling.

If you want to be a great public speaker, you’ll need to develop your story-telling skills. Think about it, if you were going to teach a 12-year-old something, the best way to relate to them is through a story. Don’t be confused with being a great BS-er.

To be an effective public speaker one of the best things you can do is to work on being a great story teller.

Next time I’ll dig a little deeper into these three opening lines.