Three speech opening mistakes that you probably thought were a good idea

I want your presentations to kick butt and take names. To do this you need to start right and score a first-round knockout. But often what seems like a good idea for a speech opening can end up hurting instead of helping you. So, in this article, I will share with you three common speech opening mistakes that seem like a good idea, but really are not.Once you know them, you won’t fall into the trap. I also share tips on how to get around them.Let us begin

Why your speech opening matters

Realize that from the second the audience sets their eyes on you, they are sizing you up. Not necessarily in a bad way, they just want to determine if you deserve their valuable (and increasingly scarce) attention resource. They want to be assured that this presentation is worth their time, that you are worth their time. They are looking at how you are dressed (appropriate or not); how you walk up to the stage (confident or not) and, especially, the first words out of your mouth (strong and engaging, enticing and inviting, provocative, funny… or not).

If you start strong, you will ride the crest of the wave for the rest of the presentation into honour glory, fame and immortality (or at least a good presentation). If not, then you will find yourself swimming against the currents – flapping about and making more noise than progress.

I hate to sound harsh, but it’s the truth. I have seen it happen so many times now that there is little room left for doubt as to the destructive power of a bad speech opening. Speaking of bad speech openings, let us now look at some especially effective ways to wreck your presentation at the outset. These are mistakes that seem like a good idea at first, but a closer look reveals they are actually awful.

The “I’m Sorry” speech opening

You have heard it and I have heard it. The “I’m sorry…” start. It goes,  “I’m sorry blah blah blah…” Blah blah blah could be“I’m sorry I was late coming in, but my car broke down” (doesn’t matter – you are here now, so get into it -  get our attention and deliver value!)or“I’m sorry but I didn’t know this room would not have a screen so there will be no PowerPoint…” (Only a poor workman blames his tools – if you must reference a tech failure, put a positive spin on it – say how much fun we will have because we won’t be staring up at a screen like a bunch of meerkats). I’m sorry this, I’m sorry that, sorry sorry sorry…. GAAAHHH!!! Starting your speech with “I’m sorry…”  makes the audience feel sorry they are spending their time listening to you.

I playfully refer to this as the Canadian Opening :) It may sound like a good idea – after all, you are getting the guilt off your chest and being “authentic”. But really what you are doing is squandering an important opportunity to create a connection, create interest and deliver value early.This is your chance to win the audience over, to get us interested and excited about what you are about to say. By apologizing at the start, you are leaking away valuable credibility.Don’t weaken your stance by starting with an apology.

If you must

Don’t get me wrong, I am not suggesting that you never apologize, to anyone, ever. That would make you kind of a jerk. In fact, in her paper, The Psychology of Offering an Apology, Dr Karina Schumann of the University of Pittsburgh argues for how the ability to apologize effectively can be a powerful skill in developing our personal (and even professional) relationships. So please, develop this skill and use it when needed in your relationships - just try not to do it with an audience. And especially not at the beginning of a presentation. Audience-speaker dynamics are very different from one-on-one dynamics.If you absolutely must apologize to the audience (which is rare), don’t start or end with it because, thanks to a little thing called the peak-end rule, your apology will be what the audience remembers instead of all your great content. Now for the next bad speech opening.

The “I’m so grateful” speech opening

This is the “I would like to thank blah blah blah…” opening. Blah blah blah could be the audience, the event organizer, the head honcho of the company or your late relative who always believed in you.

A lot of people will disagree with me here, but I am sticking to my guns on this. No disrespect intended to any of these people – this is just about how this kind of opening negatively affects your effectiveness. And starting a speech with effusive thanks like this may sound like a good idea. After all, you think, it shows you are modest and thankful and appreciate the opportunity. At worst, it sure seems harmless enough. But to show how this impacts your presentation, let us do some role-play.

Switch places for a second

Imagine you were in the audience instead of on stage. Once a speaker starts with the gratitude platitudes, like “I would like to thank blah blah blah…”, what do you do?

Do you temporarily switch off and come back when they (finally) get into the presentation?

Do you think to yourself the speaker is a suck up?

Or do you start thinking about who they are thanking and perhaps why they are thanking them and so on and so on…?

In any of these cases, one thing is constant - you are not at your most engaged or even your most impressed.

Role-play done! Now switch back to being the speaker. The question becomes, what will you do differently? And how, if you must show gratitude, can you do it without losing your efficacy?

If you must

Showing gratitude is often appropriate. Here, again, it becomes a question of location. In other words, Where should you locate your words of thanks?

I think your presentation will be better served if you start strong by diving into the content for a few minutes and then work your gratitude into the presentation at some point. This approach is better for a few reasons:

• The audience is already engaged and so the slight digression will have less of a jarring or distracting impact,

• The audience has gotten to know you a little and you have delivered some value so you are less likely to appear like you are sucking up or “schmoozing”,

• Working the gratitude into the presentation at an opportune moment can actually enhance the presentation and make for a better flow. This creates a better feel than starting with the thanks in a do-it-and-get-it-out-of-the-way sort of way.

And now for the last, most common and most seemingly harmless speech opening.

The “Hello, my name is…” speech opening

Ahh, the common intro opening. The speaker starts their presentation with their name often followed by a litany of “qualifications”.“Hello my name is…, I have a blah blah blah and I am the blah blah blah…”Blah blah blah could be a Masters degree, a PhD or a published book. Blah blah blah could also be a position such as being the CEO of Nobody Cares Inc. or the founder of Get To The Point Enterprises.

A speech opening like this may sound like a good idea. After all, you want the audience to know who you are and why they should listen to you right?

Not so fast... You see, a speech opening like this can often come off as an overt attempt to demand credibility through your list of accolades instead of earning credibility through value you deliver and the connection you build with the audience in your presentation. Even if all you start with is your name and nothing else, it is still ineffective.

If you doubt that, ask yourself how often, as an audience member, you remember a speaker’s name just because they mentioned it at the start. I’ll bet not very often. I’m guessing you have to refer to the printed program or ask your neighbour... and they probably don’t remember it either.

My theory on the intro opening

I think this phenomenon of forgetting happens because names and the entire introduction phrasing protocol is so commonplace that our brains unconsciously disregard it. Unless you put in a lot of effort, you are likely to instantly forget the words that come after “My name is…” Just like you barely acknowledge or remember a phrase like “You have reached the voicemail of…”

Your motivation for attending the presentation (or making the phone call) was to learn something or be entertained (or speak with the manager of the bank) and not to make a new connection necessarily. So you forget. But that’s just my theory…

If you must

It is almost always better to have someone else introduce you and talk about all the great stuff about you (including your name). This is because praise is perceived very differently and more favourably when it comes from someone else versus when it comes from you.

Whenever you can, get someone else to introduce you and, as much as possible, ensure that the content of that introduction sets you up for success by highlighting all the relevant positive bits of information that will build your credibility and personability.

That said, sometimes you don’t have this luxury – especially in an office setting. You will likely get a funny look if you were to hand your boss an A4 sheet with your introduction to read out ahead of your project update. In such cases, similar to the “I’m so grateful…” opening, start with your content and then, a few lines in, introduce yourself. In other words, start by giving.

For example, below is an adapted version of a speech opening I worked on with a client. The presentation was to a large audience of tech start-up CEOs. The client’s name and specifics have been changed to protect their privacy.

Before: “Hello, my name is Holly Molly and I am the founder of Entrepreneurs Arise. I have been an entrepreneur for 15 years and built and sold many successful businesses. Today, I would like to share with you a few key ideas to help you make a success of your entrepreneurial endeavours”

After: “What are the factors that lead to business success? And why do so many businesses fail within a few years? The answer, it turns out, lies in a few business principles that so many entrepreneurs are either ignorant of or choose to ignore. My name is Holly Molly and in my over 15 years of building, growing and selling businesses, I have found these three principles to be at the heart of success. They are…”

If you were in the audience, which one would you prefer? As an aside, the revised version uses a powerful question-opening technique. You can read my article on that here.

The point?

The audience knowing who you are and why they would benefit from listening to you is a good idea. But how you do it is important. When you can, get someone else to do it. And if you must do it yourself, then try not to start with it – work it in along the way seamlessly after you have secured the audience’s attention.

The bottom line on speech opening

How you start determines how you well you do in a presentation. Any words or actions that do not advance your purpose, are distractions. And when these appear at the start of your presentation, they can be especially damaging.

Any words or actions that do not advance your purpose are distractions. And when these appear at the start of your presentation, they can be especially damaging.

Understand that many practices that feel intuitive and sound like a good idea often break down in a public speaking context. Innocent mistakes are still mistakes and so will bear consequences. Start strong! Engage from the get-go and give to the audience from the very first second. The audience will reward you for it with their attention. And maybe, just maybe, you will make a difference in their lives.

Until the next article, speak with skill.