How to Start a Speech That Makes People Whisper ‘Damn, that’s good.’

Hello everybody.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm Michelle's husband.

Barack Obama does something really smart here.

Now, most presenters lose the room in the first 10 seconds. Not because

they're bad, but because they play it safe. They start with their name, role

safe. They start with their name, role in a bunch of boring context. Obama

doesn't. He starts with surprise, something unexpected, and you can do the same. In this video, I'll show you five

same. In this video, I'll show you five powerful ways to start your next speech.

Let's start with the first one. Check

out these two openings and see if you can spot what they have in common.

What's the scariest thing you've ever done?

Or another way to say it is, what's the most dangerous thing that you've ever done?

How do you explain when things don't go as we assume? or better, how do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions?

They both start with a question. And

questions are powerful because the moment you ask one, your audience engages. Even if they don't answer it

engages. Even if they don't answer it out loud, their brain instantly starts searching for an answer. And in that moment, you have their full attention.

All right, onto the second one. This is

the one that I use the most in my corporate career. Sadly,

corporate career. Sadly, in the next 18 minutes when I do our chat, four Americans that are alive will be dead through the food that they eat.

Okay, now I don't want to alarm anybody in this room.

But it's just come to my attention that the person to your right is a liar.

They both open with a surprising statement. It can be a statistic, a

statement. It can be a statistic, a fact, or a bold claim that challenges what people believe. something that

makes your audience go, "Wait, isn't that true?" And that moment of doubt,

that true?" And that moment of doubt, well, that's attention. Here's how you do it. Well, first, say the statement

do it. Well, first, say the statement slowly and own it. For example, 400.

Then you pause.

The average office desk has 400 times more bacteria than the average toilet seat. And then you pause again. Let the

seat. And then you pause again. Let the

surprise land before you move on. All

right, let's go to the third one. This

one is simple but insanely powerful. I'm

going to show you two of the most viewed TED talks of all time. And I want you to spot what they have in common.

So, I'll start with this. A couple years ago, an event planner called me because I was going to do a speaking event. And

she called and she said, "I'm really struggling with how to write about you on the little flyer." And I thought, "Well, what's the struggle?" and she said, "Well, I saw you speak and I I I I'm going to call you a researcher, I

think, but I'm afraid if I call you a researcher, no one will come because they'll think you're boring and irrelevant." It's funny the things you

irrelevant." It's funny the things you forget.

I uh I went to see my mother the other day and uh she told me this story that I I'd completely forgotten about how when we were driving together, she would pull the car over and by the time she had got

out the car and gone around the car to let me out the car, I would have already got out the car and pretended to have died.

They both start with a story. And

stories are powerful because they turn your talk into a movie. The moment a story begins, people stop analyzing and they start experiencing. If you want

instant attention, open with the story.

But here's the key. Skip the long background and start right into the moment. Where and when does the story

moment. Where and when does the story take place? What are you doing? What is

take place? What are you doing? What is

going wrong? Drop your audience straight into the scene. That's how powerful storytelling looks like. All right,

let's go to the next one. Number four.

At the start of your talk, your audience has one question. What's in it for me?

And the next speaker answers that perfectly.

And what I want to suggest to you is that many of you are one well- constructed, one well-d delivered talk away from

absolute explosion of what it is that you want to do. He starts with a big promise. A big promise tells your

promise. A big promise tells your audience what they will get by listening to you. Not what you will talk about,

to you. Not what you will talk about, but what they will gain. For example,

instead of saying, "Today, I will talk about body language," say, "By the end of this talk," you'll know how to appear confident in any high pressure situation.

Now, that's a promise worth listening.

But let's now go to the fifth one. This

one is, I would say, a little bit more advanced, but when you do it well, it's magical. Watch how these two public

magical. Watch how these two public speaking world champions start their speeches.

What?

They both start with a visual action hook. Meaning they don't just say

hook. Meaning they don't just say something interesting, they do something interesting, something unexpected, something that looks slightly odd on stage. Not slightly, actually very odd

stage. Not slightly, actually very odd on stage. And that instantly wakes

on stage. And that instantly wakes people up. Now, the examples you just

people up. Now, the examples you just saw are powerful. And yes, they are big.

But you don't have to go that far. A

visual action hook can be much simpler.

For example, it could be you walking on stage and saying nothing for 5 seconds or you holding up an object without explaining it or I don't know, you

writing a word on a flip chart before speaking. Same principle. You do

speaking. Same principle. You do

something unexpected that makes people curious. That's it. Hooks are super

curious. That's it. Hooks are super important, but they are only the beginning. What really matters is

beginning. What really matters is whether people understand your ideas. In

the next video, I'll show you how to explain your thinking clearly so people can actually follow and remember it. See

you there.