I talked to a life insurance salesman once who told me he had an interesting and effective way of opening his talks to prospective customers. He said, he steps to the front of the room, waits patiently until he has everyone’s attention and then the first words he says are, “YOU…….. are going to die.”
Needless to say, that knocks them back in their chairs.
We’re all used to a speaker mumbling and bumbling through a self-introduction, thanking the event sponsor and commenting on the weather before they even begin getting to the meat of the matter. It’s become so commonplace that it’s almost expected, but that’s not how an effective speaker begins.
If you need to introduce yourself and your credentials, put it in the program or have the event sponsor tell them before you come out. If you feel it is important to thank the sponsor for inviting or hiring you to speak, do it later. Who says that has to be the first thing out of your mouth? Presumably, they didn’t invite you to bore the audience at their behest.
Your first few words set the stage for everything that follows. Use them to grab the attention of your audience and prepare them for your message. Anything else is useless and distracting fluff.
Knock them back in their chairs. Give them no choice but to engage with you and your message.
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