The first few seconds of your speech or presentation are setting the tone for the rest of what you’re going to say. Unfortunately, many speakers rush through the first few sentences, in a hurry to get to the main point of their talk.
The beginning of your speech is crucial time for the audience to form some impressions of who you are and what to expect. Make sure you carefully craft and practice those moments: it’s much harder to get an audience back after you’ve lost them in the first minute than to engage them from the moment you appear.
To that end, here are a few things to consider:
How do you feel about the first few sentences of your talk? Do you find them interesting? Captivating? Important? If not, throw those sentences away and replace them with content you are passionate about.
You’re most likely to have a lot of adrenaline at the beginning of your talk, and this will make you talk faster. When you practice, do the beginning slowly, slower than you think you should, so when the adrenaline kicks in you’re still speaking at a reasonable pace.
And always, think about what experience you are creating for your audience. Do you want them to feel inspired, valued, engaged? Then that needs to begin the moment they see you, not after you’ve been speaking for two or three minutes.
Nail your introduction and the rest of the speech will be easier.
