How to start a speech

Starting a speech can be extremely intimidating for many speakers, even the most experienced.

However, if you can establish an emotional connection with your audience from the beginning, you will have an advantage in communicating your message clearly and convincingly.

Whether you seek to entertain, persuade or inform, use this advantage to your advantage by using the 30-second rule to your advantage. Find out what it is and explore other alternatives to start your speech in the best way.

Mystery: By presenting an enigma in your speech and revealing the information little by little, you can arouse curiosity and expectation in your audience. This can help you make your speech more interesting and keep the audience's attention while you use your creativity to solve the mystery.

In addition to generating intrigue in your speech, there are other elements you can use to make it more engaging. The use of visual elements is a powerful tool to arouse emotions in your audience. Objects, eye-catching colors, videos or images enhance their overall experience.

Story: Telling a story or anecdote can keep your audience engaged. They will wonder: How will this story relate to the objective of the speech? This excitement and intrigue makes it easier for them to pay attention to you and enjoy listening to you. An effective way to achieve this is by using Storytelling to ensure success, considering the following points:

• Express your vulnerabilities and the goal you are aiming for.

• Promise a change or improvement in a specific aspect according to your capabilities.

• Demonstrate the transformation or evolution in social networks to increase the audience's trust in you.

Benefit: Including benefits in your speech is essential to enhance the emotions you want to convey. What benefits does listening to you bring to those people? A speech that does not include benefits and emotions can be unattractive and uninteresting. People must remember what you have told them and be clear about how to apply that information in their lives.

A message that provides benefit has:

• Brevity: Short sentences and the meaning of what you want to say well summarized.
• Impact: Personal or other people's statements that show personal development and evolution.

Power of public speaking: An example of how public speaking can be powerful is Oprah Winfrey's speech when receiving the Cecil B. deMille Honorary Award during the 2018 Golden Globes ceremony.

She used short, cleverly arranged sentences to communicate her message concisely and with effect. In a time span of less than 10 minutes, Oprah spoke about her life and explained how women's equality and empowerment can benefit the entire world.

She used detailed and enriching language that captivated in every way. This demonstrates how a message that provides benefit can be brief and leave a lasting impact on viewers.

A good communicator. At the outset, a good communicator must meet certain expectations:

• Get straight to the point and not stray from the main topic.

• Speak clearly and concisely about the topic at hand.

• Do not argue unnecessary elements that in no way develop the objective you are pursuing.

• Possess a wide vocabulary.

• Know how to control your emotions in order to transmit positive emotions.

• Act with serenity in the face of interventions that are not to their liking.

It is necessary to reinforce expectations from the beginning of the speech. We must avoid at all costs to show signs of nervousness, such as:

• Stuttering or slurred speech.

• Constantly looking down.

• Slouching or adopting a closed posture.

• Showing anxiety, shortness of breath or rapid and loud breathing.

• Trembling hands.

The 30-second rule: To avoid showing nervousness and to quickly capture the listeners' interest, it is important to get informed and research the topic you are going to present. In addition, it is recommended that you feel that what you are going to say can change the lives of others.

In just 30 seconds, you should explain what you are going to talk about and, in addition, try to sell your speech as if it were an irresistible product that everyone should listen to without fail.

You can imagine that you have a timed time, similar to a TV commercial. The goal is that listeners listen to you until the end, without zapping, and learn everything you have to tell them.