How to Start a Speech
Link to 3 Great Ways to Start a Speech:
• 3 Great Ways to Start a Speech
Pitch Example Video:
• How to Give a Great Presentation (Example)
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Now that we have some good ideas on how to start presentations, what’s my personal style I use for most of the presentations I gave in my life? Find out in this week’s episode of MasterTalk.
If you haven’t watched my other video on introductions, check that one out first because it’ll help you get started before you deep dive into this one – link’s in the description.
Obviously, as you probably guessed, there’s no cookie cutter way to start every kind of presentation since an introduction that applies in 1 context won’t necessarily apply in another, so take my framework as inspiration and feel free to comment below if you’re looking for specific ideas for intros.
My introduction generally has 3 main parts, then I’ll give an example at the end to demonstrate how these 5 components come together.
1. Powerful specific example that reels in my audience (0:47).
As I said in the last video, this is where I evoke a specific example of the company/audience that I think will hit home. In my pitch example video, I did this by introducing a character named Michael and said how great he was as an employee and how loyal he is to the company (will put that in the description too). I remember in another presentation I gave, the CEO loved bringing cupcakes to his employees to get feedback on how they were being treated so I referenced that in my introduction.
2. Impact of that Example vs. The Present (2:12).
Here, I would talk about how great the company has become because of this example and the company/audience. The impact could be monetary, social, really anything that personally speaks to you about the audience you’re addressing to. In my MasterTalk keynotes, I tell a story about the struggles I went through trying to become a great public speaker to relate to my audience and how it's transformed me to the person I am today.
3. Current Situation + Why I'm the Solution (2:32).
Depending on what the nature of the presentation, I explain it here in a short summary, something like public speaking isn’t something you’re born with, it’s something you learn and that’s why is this presentation, I’m going to help you master your talk or How can we help WestJet achieve the next stage of its growth?
I ask the big questions, the reason why I'm presenting, and paint a picture of myself and my team as the solution to the key decision makers' problems.
After that you just intro regularly, in most business presentations, I just say the following.
Good afternoon (Mr. X) and to the board of directors of Y, my name is Brenden from Flow Consulting Group and today we’re here to help you achieve this mission or objective.
Watch the video to see how I use these learnings to do an introduction for you at the end of the episode.
As always, if you enjoyed this week’s episode of MasterTalk, be sure to SMASH that LIKE button and SUBSCRIBE to the channel as well.
If you know one person that still starts their presentations with Hello, my name is insert your name here, be sure to send them this video so that they’ll be one step closer to mastering their talk!
Until next week!