Public Speaking Tips - Opening Your Speech

By: Paul Rigney

"You have 10 seconds to grab the audience's attention. If you don't get their attention in the first 10 seconds, it's very hard to recover."

That is was how I started a speech on how to open speeches. Get the audience's attention at the beginning and they will listen to the rest of your speech more intently.

A great way to write a good opening is to ask yourself this question: "What is the best thing I can say at the beginning to make the audience listen to me?"

Here are 3 things you can include in your speeches opening:

1) Introduction of the Topic - This is similar to the way a books has a contents section. You tell the audience what your going to say in the speech. This will give your speech good structure and make the audience listen to you.

2) A startling question - "What would you say if I told you how to make $100,000 in 90 days?" A question like this will grab your audience's attention right away. They will ask the questions to themselves and then want to hear your answer.

3) An historical quote - "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" - John F Kennedy. If you grab the audiences emotions you can grab their attention. When the audience hears something that once made them feel emotional hearing it again will be bring them back to that emotion.

A speech opening is a lot like a newspaper headline. Just as reader will read the headline of a newspaper to see if an article is worth reading. Your audience will listen to your opening to see if your speech is worth hearing. Just because they are in the room doesn't mean they are listening.

Article Source: http://www.yesparenting.com/articles

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