{"id":4029,"date":"2018-05-21T16:52:19","date_gmt":"2018-05-21T16:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=4029"},"modified":"2024-05-09T21:50:39","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T21:50:39","slug":"starting-your-speech","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/chapter\/starting-your-speech\/","title":{"raw":"Starting Your Speech","rendered":"Starting Your Speech"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Discuss effective ways to begin your speech<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nYour opening comments, like the lead sentences of an article, can make or break a speech. As William Zinsser phrases it in <em>On Writing Well<\/em>, \u201cThe most important sentence in any article is the first one. If it doesn\u2019t induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence, your article is dead.\u201d[footnote]<a href=\"http:\/\/training.npr.org\/digital\/leads-are-hard-heres-how-to-write-a-good-one\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/training.npr.org\/digital\/leads-are-hard-heres-how-to-write-a-good-one\/<\/a>[\/footnote] In a chapter on speaking, <em>Management Communication<\/em> author James O\u2019Rourke tells the story of a plant controller who was asked to make a five-minute presentation about his value to the company. In an attempt to tap into the imagination of the audience of eighteen senior executives, the controller opened with a race car metaphor. After four sentences, he was cut off and asked to leave the room. In another instance, a speaker\u2019s opening joke, drawn from a book of speaking tips, fell flat. After the fact, the speaker reflected that a joke wasn\u2019t the best fit for a rather serious audience and noted that \u201cwhen you lose something in the first two minutes of a talk, you just can\u2019t get it back.\u201d\r\n\r\nWith this type of pressure, what\u2019s a speaker to do? Often, the best option is to forget the introduction until you know what it's introducing\u2014until you have completed a full draft of your whole speech. That is, don\u2019t force an introduction and don\u2019t become too invested in your first idea. Write a draft or \u201cworking\u201d opening and allow additional options to emerge as you work through the research (including audience research) and content development process. The dual objectives are to capture your audience\u2019s attention and to set the stage for your speech. That is, your opening should reflect your stated intent and be an accurate indication of what will follow\u2014the main substance of your speech.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ypo.org\/2015\/04\/7-memorable-ways-to-open-a-speech-or-presentation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">In an article for <em>YPO<\/em><\/a>, an association for chief executives under the age of 45, communication strategist Matt Eventoll summarizes effective ways to open a speech and throws in one classic\u2014and oddly common\u2014fail. First, the effective options:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Quote.<\/strong>\u00a0Use a relevant quote to set the tone for the speech.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u201cWhat if?\u201d <\/strong>or, similarly,<strong> \u201cImagine.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0Asking a \u201cwhat if\u201d or \u201cimagine\u201d question immediately engages your audience and invites them to be a part of the creative process.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Question.<\/strong>\u00a0Posing a question engages the brain and prompts an instinctive answer, whether internal or verbalized.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Silence.<\/strong>\u00a0A strategic silence of two to ten seconds creates an additional level of attention and expectation. The caveat:<em> you had better be able to deliver!<\/em><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Statistic.<\/strong>\u00a0A powerful, relevant statistic can convey a key idea with impact and evoke emotion.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Statement.<\/strong>\u00a0An emphatic phrase or statement can be used to create a sense of drama and anticipation.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nThe epic fail, generally followed by a collective disconnect on the part of the audience, is opening with some variation of \u201cthank you for inviting me\u201d or \"today I'm going to be talking about.\" If your audience isn't invested from the beginning, it's likely the point of your speech will never really be heard.\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/77351bd38ef34008849be503c9202428\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Discuss effective ways to begin your speech<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Your opening comments, like the lead sentences of an article, can make or break a speech. As William Zinsser phrases it in <em>On Writing Well<\/em>, \u201cThe most important sentence in any article is the first one. If it doesn\u2019t induce the reader to proceed to the second sentence, your article is dead.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"http:\/\/training.npr.org\/digital\/leads-are-hard-heres-how-to-write-a-good-one\/\" id=\"return-footnote-4029-1\" href=\"#footnote-4029-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a> In a chapter on speaking, <em>Management Communication<\/em> author James O\u2019Rourke tells the story of a plant controller who was asked to make a five-minute presentation about his value to the company. In an attempt to tap into the imagination of the audience of eighteen senior executives, the controller opened with a race car metaphor. After four sentences, he was cut off and asked to leave the room. In another instance, a speaker\u2019s opening joke, drawn from a book of speaking tips, fell flat. After the fact, the speaker reflected that a joke wasn\u2019t the best fit for a rather serious audience and noted that \u201cwhen you lose something in the first two minutes of a talk, you just can\u2019t get it back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With this type of pressure, what\u2019s a speaker to do? Often, the best option is to forget the introduction until you know what it&#8217;s introducing\u2014until you have completed a full draft of your whole speech. That is, don\u2019t force an introduction and don\u2019t become too invested in your first idea. Write a draft or \u201cworking\u201d opening and allow additional options to emerge as you work through the research (including audience research) and content development process. The dual objectives are to capture your audience\u2019s attention and to set the stage for your speech. That is, your opening should reflect your stated intent and be an accurate indication of what will follow\u2014the main substance of your speech.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ypo.org\/2015\/04\/7-memorable-ways-to-open-a-speech-or-presentation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">In an article for <em>YPO<\/em><\/a>, an association for chief executives under the age of 45, communication strategist Matt Eventoll summarizes effective ways to open a speech and throws in one classic\u2014and oddly common\u2014fail. First, the effective options:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Quote.<\/strong>\u00a0Use a relevant quote to set the tone for the speech.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u201cWhat if?\u201d <\/strong>or, similarly,<strong> \u201cImagine.\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0Asking a \u201cwhat if\u201d or \u201cimagine\u201d question immediately engages your audience and invites them to be a part of the creative process.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Question.<\/strong>\u00a0Posing a question engages the brain and prompts an instinctive answer, whether internal or verbalized.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Silence.<\/strong>\u00a0A strategic silence of two to ten seconds creates an additional level of attention and expectation. The caveat:<em> you had better be able to deliver!<\/em><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Statistic.<\/strong>\u00a0A powerful, relevant statistic can convey a key idea with impact and evoke emotion.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Statement.<\/strong>\u00a0An emphatic phrase or statement can be used to create a sense of drama and anticipation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The epic fail, generally followed by a collective disconnect on the part of the audience, is opening with some variation of \u201cthank you for inviting me\u201d or &#8220;today I&#8217;m going to be talking about.&#8221; If your audience isn&#8217;t invested from the beginning, it&#8217;s likely the point of your speech will never really be heard.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Practice Question<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_77351bd38ef34008849be503c9202428\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/77351bd38ef34008849be503c9202428?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_77351bd38ef34008849be503c9202428\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-4029\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Starting Your Speech. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Nina Burokas. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section><hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-4029-1\"><a href=\"http:\/\/training.npr.org\/digital\/leads-are-hard-heres-how-to-write-a-good-one\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/training.npr.org\/digital\/leads-are-hard-heres-how-to-write-a-good-one\/<\/a> <a href=\"#return-footnote-4029-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":62559,"menu_order":7,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Starting Your Speech\",\"author\":\"Nina Burokas\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"77351bd38ef34008849be503c9202428, d383fe8c2633416b811b7e05d04f034a","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-4029","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":3957,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/4029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62559"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/4029\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8192,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/4029\/revisions\/8192"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3957"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/4029\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=4029"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=4029"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-businesscommunicationmgrs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=4029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}