Shortcut: 4 Ways to Start a Speech
A great speech can inspire a following, change the world, and set you on the road to success. But public speaking can be terrifying—and the most terrifying part is often the first 60 seconds. Get your opening right, and the rest falls into place. Get it wrong, and your audience tunes out. In this article, we’ll look at advice from four experts on how to use that pivotal first minute.
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The Crucial First 60 Seconds
When giving a speech or making a presentation, you have only about 60 seconds to grab your audience’s attention. This is the window of time that the average person spends listening closely before they start to get distracted. You can use this time effectively by opening with a concise, clear message. In this article, four experts explain how.
1: State Your Speech’s Purpose
In Simply Said, Jay Sullivan advises clearly stating your presentation’s purpose—what you want your audience to take away. For example, if you’re presenting sales data, be clear on whether you want your team to celebrate an improvement, reflect on poor performance, or brainstorm for the future.
To do this, deliver your conclusion first. When you reveal your ultimate recommendation up front, you give your audience a roadmap to your speech, making it easier for them to follow the rest of the presentation. Without this roadmap, they’ll burn mental energy trying to figure out where you’re leading them, and they may become frustrated, irritated, and less open to your message.
When framing your recommendation, focus on answering the question, “What’s in it for them?” Identify three to five benefits they’ll gain from your proposal, geared toward the universal motivators of time, feelings, and money. For example, you may note that switching to remote work will increase productivity, allow for more flexible hours, and save on office expenses.
2. Contexualize Your Message
In Amplify Your Influence, René Rodriguez agrees that you should clearly and succinctly explain your presentation’s purpose, but she argues that before you do, you should contextualize it—explain its background so your audience views your ideas as you want them to, rather than through their personal contexts (their experiences, memories, and preconceptions). Putting your ideas in context guides your audience’s emotional reactions and increases the likelihood that they’ll act on your recommendations.
To create effective context, Rodriguez recommends that you address your audience members’ fears and concerns. Telling a story can help you do this—so, for example, if you’re facilitating a workshop about meditation for a group of businesspeople, you could address their concerns that meditation is difficult by assuring them that no experience is necessary and it’s normal to not see effects at first. Then, tell a story about how meditation helped you overcome difficulties.
3: Use Humor
In TED Talks, Chris Anderson writes that humor can be a great way to connect to your audience. We naturally like people who make us laugh because when we’re in on the same joke, we feel like we’re on the same team. If humor is one of your strengths, use it—even if your speech is about a serious topic, you can use humor in the beginning to connect with your audience before transitioning into the serious stuff.
Anderson cautions that while funny stories and anecdotes work well, you should avoid scripted jokes, puns, sarcasm, or jokes at the expense of another person. And, if humor isn’t your strength, skip this strategy—a failed attempt at humor is worse than no humor at all.
4. Things to Avoid
In Public Speaking for Success, Dale Carnegie errs on the side of avoiding humor, arguing that most speakers can’t pull off jokes and so you’re better off not trying to, lest you make your audience cringe and pull away emotionally. He also cautions that you shouldn’t open with an apology—though it’s sometimes used to appear humble, it makes speakers look incompetent and unprepared, and it can annoy audiences. Finally, he writes that you shouldn’t open in a way that seems overly scripted and clearly rehearsed, as this can put off audiences.
Instead, Carnegie says you should speak conversationally as if you’re chatting with a close friend. Keep your opening message succinct, refining it to a sharp, powerful sentence or two before charging ahead into your speech. Appeal to peoples’ curiosity with a shocking statement, novel information, or captivating question, and find common ground—speak to shared experiences, values, or points of reference between you and the audience. This gives others a positive first impression of you and ensures they’ll listen to what you have to say.
The Bottom Line
Of course, your speech truly starts well before you take the stage, with your research and preparation. Carnegie notes that part of preparation is adopting the right mindset. Get a good night’s sleep the night before and dress well the day of to boost your confidence. Right before you begin, pump yourself up by jumping around and shaking your fists in the air—feel your convictions and allow them to energize you. Then, take the stage with poise and presence, reminding yourself that you’re well-prepared, invested in your ideas, and here to educate an audience that came to learn from you.
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What’s your go-to method for starting a speech? What have you found grabs your audience’s attention most effectively? Share your comments!