Tip for Public Speaking: Start Off with a Bang!

"Well begun is half done." Although Benjamin Franklin's words are a few hundred years old, they're still fitting for the public speaker. Just as first impressions are crucial in social settings, your first impressions as a speaker are the most vital. It is here that you "grab" or "lose" your audience. Improve your chances of making a great first impression by using the following techniques:

• Set the stage for your presentation by telling a story based on a real life experience, or one tailored from a source like The Public Speaker's Treasure Chest.

• Use a rhetorical or audience involvement question to focus your group. "How many of you are parents?"

• Give statistics that will shock, challenge or intrigue your audience. For example, The book "In One Day" states that each day in the United States 100,000 Americans stand up to give a speech. If you were to line them up at the same soapbox, it would create a line 28 miles long.

• Quote a current headline that will impact your audience. For a change of pace try the "National Enquirer" and hold the newspaper up for effect.

• A quotation that ties into the group, event or topic can be a useful technique. The Best Things Ever Said By...is a good reference book.

• Visualizing a situation can create interest. "Picture this..." or "Imagine...".

• Begin with a startling sentence which makes your audience sit up and take notice. America was outer space to Christopher Columbus.

• An off-beat lead-in such as singing, unusual dress, or flipping the lights off can create the right atmosphere for your presentation.

• A straightforward challenge can entice your audience to become involved in your speech. "I'm here tonight for one reason - to challenge you to help us in our struggle to fight the tragic increase in the incidence of drunk driving fatalities," declares a speaker for Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

Remember that the beginning of your speech is crucial. Grabbing your audience's attention at the start will help ensure that they hear everything you have to say.