The last time you spoke to a group, what was the first thing you said?  If you are a typical presenter, you uttered something brilliant like:  “Hello, my name is ________ and I’m here to bore you right from the start.”  You might not have admitted it in so many words, but that was the net effect. 

             Why is it that most speakers don’t get it?  Why don’t they understand their first obligation as an effective speaker is to grab and hold our attention?  Why do they prefer to start out by stating the obvious?  (We know who you are already!)  Why do they prefer to slide into their topic by saying something imaginative like: “I’m here to talk about _______.”  (You still haven’t told us anything we don’t already know!) 

            Then to top off their spell-binding opening remarks they find something to apologize for like how nervous they get in front of an audience or how difficult the slides are to read or how they wish they’d had more time to prepare.  Nothing like lowering our expectations right up front!

             When it comes to speaking, and especially when it comes to starting a speech, you have a lot you need to accomplish.  But the overriding responsibility is to get us interested in what you have to say.

             How do you do that effectively?  Get to know us first.  A little knowledge can go a long way toward figuring out how best to start.

            Then take a chance.  Risk applying a little imagination and creativity.  Launch by saying something unexpected yet relevant.  Ask a challenging question.  Tell us a brief story.

            But regardless of the your choice, prove to us this stuff matters to you.

            Remember, you didn’t have me at “Hello.”