Let’s begin by learning all about the Opening Hook, and we are going to do it with a powerful exercise. It will take 10-15 minutes of your time, so make sure you are sitting at home in front of the computer. I understand that most blogs don’t make you engage in homework, but I promise it will prove fascinating and insightful. Are you ready?

I am going to ask you to watch 7 videos – but only the 1st minute of each. Each video contains a speech that’s been published by a website called TED.COM. If you haven’t heard of it, TED is a major resource for inspirational, informative, persuasive and entertaining speeches. I will list the Youtube links for each video (because Youtube is slightly easier to navigate… no offense, Ted).

EXERCISE: I want you to watch the 1st minute of each speech below and as you do, pay attention to how engaging and interesting the speech is (and for the purposes of this exercise, please don’t watch any further than 60 seconds). Click away:

• Bill Gross: The single biggest reason why startups succeed
• Ricardo Semler: How to run a company with (almost) no rules
• Abe Davis: New video technology that reveal an objects hidden properties
• Roger Stein: A bold new way to fund drug research
• Chrystia Freeland: The rise of the new global super-rich
• Barry Schwartz: The way we think about work is broken
• Tony Wyss-Coray: How young blood might help reverse aging. Yes, really

At this point I ask you to rate each speaker for the following:

• Building a relationship with the audience (how much do you feel you got to know the speaker)
• Engagement (how interested are you in hearing more)
• How memorable they were (which speeches do you remember the most right now, after you have finished the exercise?)

Now ask yourself, why did the most memorable and engaging speakers succeed so well?

Let’s examine the components each speaker used to open their presentations:

• Bill Gross – A series of facts
• Ricardo Semler – A personal story
• Abe Davis – A series of facts
• Roger Stein – A personal story with a visual aid, and a joke
• Chrystia Freeland – A series of facts
• Barry Schwartz - A question
• Tony Wyss-Coray – A visual aid with facts

Is it clear yet what elements make up the most powerful openings? If not, then let me list them in order of impact:

• A Personal Story
• Any Story
• A Question that resonates with the audience
• Humour
• A Visual Aid

These are the most successful Opening Hooks. They introduce their topics in a relatively intriguing way. They also engage the audience in an emotional way. Let's examine each in detail:

Personal stories are the most powerful way to open any presentation because you immediately:

• Build a strong relationship with your audience
• Engage their emotions
• Engage their memories

Stories are hands down the most engaging and memorable method for relaying information. Storytelling is what human beings used to teach facts before we had pens, papers and schools. Storytelling is in our DNA. If you have young children and your job is to tuck them into bed at night, I guarantee you they don’t want to hear a bunch of facts before sleep-time. They want a damn good story. The right good story will buy you up to 10 minutes of listening time from any audience. In public speaking terms, 10 minutes of undivided attention is gold dust!

By the way, which of the 7 speeches do you remember details from… right now? How many facts can you recall? Be honest. Here’s an equation as solid as anything mathematical...

                                                              Story = Emotion = Memorable

How about questions, then? Opening your speech with a question works quite well because it directly engages the thought process of your audience. In my blog on Technical Speeches I mentioned the importance of engaging the thought process of your audience. In short, questions imply interaction. Interaction is a sure-fire way to build a relationship and stick in your audience’s memories. Just make sure your question is relevant to your topic, message and audience!

I’m sure you will agree Barry Schwartz’s opening - “Why do we work?” - is a provocative and relevant question. With a question like that, you can buy another 2-3 minutes of listening time from your audience.

Other techniques include using humour. Humour is best employed within the context of a story, question or visual aid. Depending on the situation, a humorous moment can buy you between 10 seconds and 2 minutes of listening time.

A visual aid, by the way, is most useful when it’s pictorial (not factual). The visual aid should also ideally serve to enhance a story, question or joke. Therefore, it’s not much use on its own (unless it evokes a strong positive emotion).

What about those speeches you watched above that began with bare facts?

Be honest, can you remember any of the facts in the speeches that opened with bare facts? Maybe a few... just maybe... if you have a so-called photographic memory... or you really love the topic...

The problem with opening with facts is that you cannot be sure that your audience are ready to absorb and accept your facts as something important or even relevant to them. Facts needs to be sold, and they need to be memorable. And they need to be broken up throughout your speech, not machine gunned.

After 3 or more facts in a row the mind tends to switch off because it needs time to digest everything. The best way to break up your facts is with… drumroll… a story or question. This isn’t rocket science but 99.99999% of speakers don’t understand this… er, fact.

Before I finish I would like to make the point that I’m not saying facts are useless as openers. I’m also not suggesting that the speeches I listed above with fact-heavy openings are failures. After all, they score highly in viewer numbers. If the subject matter means a lot to you (i.e. you have an emotional connection to the topic) you will likely continue listening. But you have to be in the mood (i.e. be in a receptive emotional state). Otherwise the speech won’t engage you (hook you emotionally). And if you are forced to sit through it, the speech won’t be memorable (because our memories work strongest on an emotional level).

Did I mention how important emotions are?

To prove that I'm not bashing fact-heavy openings let me finish with a link to a speech that opens successfully with a series of facts…

                                         Marlene Zuk: What we learn from insects’ kinky sex lives

This speech works very well for several reasons:

• It’s funny (a positive emotional reaction)
• It’s quirky (an emotional reaction also)
• The subject matter of sex has a strong emotional reaction
• We get to know the personality of the speaker (she is a relatively open person)

Facts can work as openers, but they need to be surrounded by emotional hooks. And you need to be an open person – someone who doesn’t hide behind their speech. Make your facts hilarious, quirky and very much related to your audience’s base motivations (which are always emotional).

Did I mention how important emotions are?

Stay tuned for Part 3 where we learn all about the Road Map and the Big Promise...

Author: Eddie O'Hanlon

“Hi, my name is Eddie O’Hanlon…”

“Thank you for having me here today…”

“Hello there...”

Be honest, this is how most people open their speeches, right? This kind of opening is referred to as the Gratuity. There is nothing wrong with it. It’s perfectly friendly to begin by introducing yourself (if you haven’t already been introduced). It’s perfectly polite to thank people for allowing you to speak. Yes, this opening is perfectly friendly, perfectly polite… and perfectly ordinary… in other words, utterly forgettable.

You want to do better than that, don’t you?

Good. Welcome to the first part of a 3 part series on how to open your presentations with impact. In this part I want to lay the foundations for what we call the World Class opening. It can be adapted to any kind of presentation… AND… it’s so easy to learn.

By the way, why is the opening of a speech so important? The simple and stark answer is that your audience will form a decisive impression of you within 7 seconds! After that, depending on how those precious seconds pan out, you just might buy yourself more listening time… another 10 seconds… which may lead to another 30 seconds… and so on.

Let’s start by understanding what every opening should achieve:

• Build a relationship with your audience (i.e. build rapport and trust)
• Give your audience a clear understanding of what’s coming in the speech, and why it should matter to them (or at least tease them about what’s coming)
• Set the stage for a memorable experience (i.e. avoid being unoriginal and forgettable)

Here is the essential World Class Speech Opening Checklist that successfully achieves all of the above (listed in the order that they should be written and delivered):

• The Opening Hook – something that grabs your audience and hints at your overall purpose and/or message
• The Gratuity – the pleasantries and special instructions (if appropriate)
• The Road-Map – the agenda (what’s coming in the body of the speech)
• The Big Promise – a statement about what your audience will be able to think, feel or do after your speech

Did you notice how the Gratuity comes after the Opening Hook? Why? Let’s take an example where a presenter called Mary Jane wants to pitch her Internet Broadband Services to a group of business owners who are looking for a more reliable Internet service…

Opening 1: “Hi my name is Mary Jane, and I am here today to offer you fast and reliable broadband service for your business… Raise your hand if you are happy with your broadband speed...”

Opening 2: “Raise your hand if you are happy with your broadband speed… Hi, my name is Mary Jane, and I am here today to offer you a fast and reliable broadband service for your business…”

To choose between Opening 1 and 2, I would go for 2 for the following reasons:

• Opening 2 immediately cuts to a highly relevant issue for your audience.
• Opening 2 is more immediately interactive and engaging.
• Opening 2 is more original and therefore more memorable.

Note that the Gratuity and/or Road Map can include special instructions for the audience (this is particularly important for longer speeches and seminars). For example, if you want to explain to your audience how long you will be speaking for, whether or not they can ask questions during the speech... even where the bathroom is... whatever they need to know... the middle of the opening (after your Opening Hook and before the Big Promise) is the place to do it.

So... what are the secrets that make a great Opening Hook?

In part 2 of this blog we are going to watch the openings of a small selection of real-life speeches, and we are going to use them to discover the answer to that very question. Yes, we are going to find out the most powerful first things you you can possibly say or do to grab a hold of your audience’s minds and hearts, to set the stage for a memorable experience.

Stay tuned!

Author: Eddie O'Hanlon

Wouldn’t it be nice to have an electronic presenter’s toolkit? Especially one that was mostly free of charge?

There are many useful, frequently free and occasionally innovative tools that every speaker can (and should) have in their pocket. Let’s categorise them and explain their uses. Note that some will be blindingly obvious but I think you will agree all are worth noting for the record…

Internet Resources for Brainstorming, Inspiration and Scripting:

Google – I told you some of the tools would be obvious, but really… Google is the speaker’s best friend. You name it, it’s online somewhere - newspapers, articles, white papers, videos, pictures, jokes and the perfect quote to end your speech with. Just make sure you never violate copyright by stealing images and videos without permission. And always quote your sources.

For videos of speeches, interviews, documentaries and so on, the best trio are:

• www.youtube.com
• www.vimeo.com
• www.ted.com

For writing and visual aid support, go to:

• www.dictionary.com – great for checking spellings on visual aids.
• www.thesaurus.com – if you want to avoid repeating the same words over and over.
• www.pixabay.com – the best free resource for royalty free images.
• www.wikipedia.org – great for digging up facts and figures, just make sure to verify anything you use elsewhere online, as Wikipedia’s information is populated by anyone and everyone.
• www.brainyquote.com – great for quotes.

Phone and Tablet Apps:

All the above mentioned websites have their own apps but here’s a few more for you:

Evernote (IOS, Android, Windows) – great for jotting down ideas.

Simplenote (IOS, Android) – another great one for jotting down ideas.

Way2Quotes (Android) – the best quote finder out there.

Famous Quotes (IOS) – one of the best iphone quote finder apps.

Dictomate (Android) – a seriously good voice recorder with bookmarking capabilities so you can record scripts, mark paragraphs or sentences, and review your scripts piece by piece for content and vocal techniques.

Dictaphone (IOS) – it has all the features of Dictomate, but for iphones.

Dropbox (IOS, Android, Windows) – in case you lose the printout of your script or your laptop won’t power on. Store all your scripts on Dropbox and use your smartphone to view documents.

Docs to Go (IOS, Android) – Free document viewer that allows you to view Word and PDF docs. Along with Dropbox this app means no more printouts of scripts.

ProPrompter (IOS) – cue card simulator and script prompter for €10.

Speeches (IOS) – a cheaper cue card simulator.

Cue Card Plus (IOS) – a free cue card simulator.

Pocket Cards (Android) – a free cue card simulator.

Simple Teleprompter (Android) – a free cue card and prompter system.

Office Remote (IOS, Android, Windows) – Allows you to remotely control your PowerPoint presentations.

Timely (IOS, Android) – A great stopwatch for timing speeches

Smartphones also make great video recording devices, so make sure you use them to record practice sessions. Yes, the smartphone might just be the speaker’s second best friend after Google.

Visual Aid Software Applications and Services:

• Microsoft PowerPoint (Windows)
• Keynote (Apple Mac) or Keynote (Apple IOS)
• Prezzi

Prezzi offers a free option, but for the rest, you have to fork out. If you are a student, make sure you avail of discount pricing. Microsoft also offer cloud based subscription services such as Office 365.

Author: Eddie O'Hanlon

Before you begin developing any presentation there are 2 extremely important questions you must answer in order to ensure success. They are straightforward. They take seconds. But let me tell you… they will turn a muddled, confusing and utterly forgettable presentation and a focused, engaging and memorable experience.

Welcome to Speech Writing 101. Keep reading…

First, it is essential that you choose a purpose for your speech, because that defines what your audience will get out of sitting through it. Most speakers are content to choose a topic and build a speech around that topic. You might be content but your audience won’t be. It’s important to note that choosing a topic is not the same as choosing a clear purpose with that topic.

The purpose should be one or two sentences long (preferably one) and it should be written from the audience’s point of view. For example, "You will understand how to set up your own business in 6 easy steps."

However, that is just one of the questions you must answer. The second is equally important, because it will help you to structure your speech, as well as making sure that your purpose shines through. It can even help you to define your purpose. Are you ready?

You must choose what’s known as your Major Motive. Here is the most important point I will make in this article… You get to choose 1 Major Motive per speech! Yes, just 1. Don’t worry, I’ll explain why soon. There are 7 Major Motives to choose from. Here they are:

·       Informative
·       Entertaining
·       Inspirational
·       Persuasive
·       Honouring
·       Facilitating
·       The Seminar

I will explain each…

Informative speeches are presentations where you inform, teach, and/or demonstrate something. If you ever attended school you will be familiar with this mode of speaking. There is no message for the audience other than the knowledge. An example of an informative speech might be “How to navigate a Microsoft Windows-based laptop in 5 easy steps.”

Entertaining speeches do the same job as entertaining television – they provide escapism! They don’t have to be funny – they can be dramatic. They may even involve an element of performance or recital. There could be a running theme or moral (within a story, for example), or there may be nothing to bind the speech together other than moment-to-moment entertainment (e.g. most stand-up comedy routines).

Inspirational speeches are designed to inspire your audience towards a noble, spiritual or universal ideal. These speeches have a high-minded message and tend to be highly emotive. The message can also be plugged into many (if not all) areas of life. An example may involve a personal story about overcoming alcoholism, with the message “everyone can change”.

Persuasive presentations are designed to sell a specific message, idea, process, concept, product or service. The motivation here is to influence your audience into a specific call to action. One of the major differences between this and an inspirational speech is that there is a specific “how to” in a persuasive speech. It’s amazing how many sellers forget to give their audience’s the “how to” after they have successful convinced them of a concept.

Honouring speeches honour an occasion, event, organisation, individual, couple or group in some way. The primary emotions are celebration and gratitude. Typical examples include wedding speeches, funeral eulogies, toasts, roasts and business-related end-of-year glass-raisers.

Facilitating is a more applied type of public speaking where you take on the role of a host, interviewer or other type of “linker” for presentations or special occasions. Typical real-life examples include radio interviews, television announcements, narrations or commentaries. There is much more of an off-the-cuff or conversational style of speaking in these situations.

I will explain the Seminar later.

At this point I’m sure you are asking, “What if I want to persuade AND inform? … AND inspire, for that matter?”

Excellent questions. Can’t you have two or more Major Motives? After all, who wouldn’t want to inspire their audience regardless of whatever else they want to achieve.

The answer is that you can indeed combine two or more motives… You can have an informative presentation that persuades, or an entertaining speech that inspires, or indeed any combination you like. But there is one important caveat…

There must be one primary choice! One boss! One Major (hence the name) Motive that other motives may support but no more.

Why only one? Am I not restricting you? In this case I can assure you that restriction equals focus… restriction equals clarity… restriction equals success.

Let me ask you a question… have you ever sat through a speech where the topic was clear, the speaker’s body language was polished, the vocals were excellent... but you weren’t sure if they were trying to teach you something, sell you something else, motivate you generally in some way, or just try to make you laugh? If you’ve ever experienced this kind of “schizophrenic” presentation… if you were left scratching your head as to why you were made to sit through the speech in the first place… the answer is usually because the Major Motive wasn't clearly chosen. The result was a mash-up of elements of two, three or four speeches cobbled together under the guise of a single speech.

The fact is that if you do try to fulfill more than one Major Motive per speech, you’ll end up presenting none of them in a truly stand-out way. They end up competing with each other. That’s the danger, and that’s why this is such an important question to get right before you write. The rule is, you are allowed one Major Motive per speech, possibly with others as cameos, helpers or influences. Otherwise you will reduce your impact. It’s as simple and essential as that.

To put this point another way, never try to deliver more than one speech per speech!

Or…

Hold a Seminar!

The Seminar a linear sequence of presentations (each with different Major Motives if you like). The seminar may involve a group of speakers, or a single presenter, but they typically last longer than 30-45 minutes because you cannot realistically fulfill two or more Major Motives in a shorter time.

If you do hold a seminar, I would encourage you to give the audience a short break in between Major Motives – it helps to transition between modes of thought. The break only needs to be 1-2 minutes, during which you could offer a group activity – for example, directing the audience members to say hello to the person next to them, or to engage in an exercise by brainstorming the answer to a question posed by you.

I understand this article was lengthy, and there were no stories to bind it together - not today. The Major Motive can be a subtle concept, or a blindingly obvious one, but trust me - clarity of purpose is essential for every speech and you cannot ensure this without putting one Motive in charge. The Major Motive is a major stepping stone on the route to successful speech-building:

· It helps you to distil the one major message and/or purpose behind your speech.
· It directly affects the elements that make up your speech (your structure).
· It helps your audience to understand the all-encompassing one thing you want your audience to think, do or feel after they listened to you.

Trust me, if you want to sell something to your audience it’s a good idea if they get the clear impression that you are selling something. If you want to teach, you should signal that you are in teaching mode. I will show you how signal your Motives (and purposes) in future blogs. I will take you through each Major Motive so you understand what makes them a success. Stay tuned for some insights and tips.

For now, just know this: Keep it simple!

One speech, one Major Motive, one purpose!

To quote author Ann Voskamp - “Simplicity is ultimately a matter of focus.”

Author: Eddie O'Hanlon

When I’m lost during a road trip, which happens more often than I’d like to admit, I’m not very good at stopping the car and asking for directions. Then again I am a man. My fiancée Iryna (also my business partner and coach in Speechcamp) has no problem asking and receiving. She’s the perfect co-pilot and navigator.

Recently, we travelled to Iryna’s home country of Belarus, where the spoken language is mostly Russian. We were looking for the correct route to an auto-repair garage (don’t ask, that’s another story), and so at Iryna’s request I pulled over so she could ask someone for help. An old man limped over to her window. As I waited for the inevitable onslaught of Russian I thought to myself, “I’m not going to understand any of this.” I was, of course, happily resigned to let Iryna assimilate the info.

Something unexpected happened, however. By the end of the old man’s monologue I had a good sense of where we needed to go. He spoke Russian for sure, and my Russian is not that good… yet. But somehow I just knew we had to take a right at the second traffic lights, then the next left, and the garage would be on the left hand side somewhere. Was I right? Drumroll…

Well, not exactly, but I was close. It was the third traffic lights, but everything else was spot on. Why? It instantly struck me how he managed to communicate to me. It was through his body language… specifically his hand gestures.

“Bloody hell”, I said, in perfect English.

I’d been immersed in the world of public speaking for nine years and it was only in that moment I understood the relative power of hand gesturing.

It’s time to face the elephant in the room – hand gesturing is a seriously under-appreciated sub-skill tucked within the frequently hyped arena of body language. We’re often telling our clients to stand up straight, dress well, smile, move with purpose… yes, those are great tips by the way… But what of these two hands, eh? They are so damn powerful.

Think about it… if someone gives you directions to somewhere you need to go, and they use their hands to reach, point and make turning signals, it’s a hell of a lot more helpful and engaging than someone who holds their hands by their sides while they explain the directions using only words. If it works for the old man from Belarus, why wouldn’t you use hand gestures during your speeches to help your audience understand where you are taking them?

Let’s face it, much of the time when we speak we are afraid of what to do with our hands.

“What the hell do I do with these things”, I’ve heard more than one client ask me, as they lay out their palms before me, as if waiting for me to smack each one with a stick. It’s time to end the madness...

Let me offer you some powerful tips that will help you to get those hands moving with poise, purpose and most importantly… passion.

Hand gestures can generally be bunched into five categories…

1) Measurement
2) Emotional
3) Propping
4) Pointing
5) Painting

Measurements are easy. Everyone can do them. Frequently in my courses I ask my students to stand up, and with their hands convey the following (try them now):

1) The number four
2) Something massive
3) Something small in length
4) Something tiny
5) Something heavy

That was easy, right? Just be careful in how you convey the number two.

You can also count out lists using your hands to mark each item. You have up to ten digits to work with, so that’s more than enough. Note that sizes can be relative to the concepts you are showing the measurement of. For example, I could convey a large fish by holding my hands vertically two feet apart, palms facing each other. However I could also use exactly the same gesture to convey a narrow road. It’s all relative so trust your instincts and have fun.

Emotional gestures convey energy, passion and enthusiasm. They are a great way to channel nervous energy, as long as you don’t overdo it. Watch your average Italian or Spaniard when they speak. It’s not for everyone, sure, but I’m willing to bet a million euro when you are in the pub arguing with your friends about who won the X-Factor final the night before, your hands are expressing something. And I bet you're not self-conscious about them.

You can also convey more specific emotions with your hands. If I ask my students to show me anger, they clench their fists. If I ask them to show joy or happiness, or to convey friendliness or openness, I might get the outstretched palms-out Jesus-style gesture. You can also convey passionate emphasis, for example thumping a fist on a palm to hammer home a point.

Propping is where you convey imaginary objects (props, in effect) with your hands. If I ask you to show the universal symbol for being on the phone… well, you know the one – thumb and little pinky out-stretched, the middle fingers curled up, and hold vertically to the ear. You can paint a lot of props with your hands. Try the following:

1) Open a can of beer (or soda, if you don’t drink alcohol (or soft drink if you don’t like American terms))
2) Open a can of worms (and empty it on the floor)
3) Open an umbrella and put it over your head

Fun, isn’t it?

Pointing is what Mr. Belarus did. You basically convey directions. Try showing me:

1) The sky
2) Underneath the ground
3) Around a corner (to the right)

Top tip: Never point directly at your audience, or wag your finger at them. It makes them feel like they are back in school. Instead, point using your whole hand (with palm up and out).

Painting is the most powerful of all. This is where you can use your hands to portray entire locations and/or scenes. They are fantastic for enriching the audience’s imagination, especially during storytelling.

Two months ago I asked a corporate client to tell me a story about his favourite holiday destination. He wasn’t very expressive with his hands, so he proceeded to talk of “tall mountains”, “sandy beaches”, “tall buildings”, and so on. Then I asked him to re-tell the story but this time use his hands to paint the mountains (zig-zagging his hand across the stage in front of him), give us a sense of the beach (sweeping off to the left of the stage), tall buildings (reaching up high)… and many more. The second rendition of his story was a much more immersive and engaging experience. The penny dropped for him and our audience of students. Painting with your hands works wonders.

I recall another client who was developing a technical speech about production levels in a factory. To enhance the experience for his audience, I coached him to portray production rooms as locations on the stage (a few sweeping hand gestures worked nicely). He also portrayed conveyor belts and the outlines of machines. It gave the audience a sense of real places with real objects.

Hand gestures can make all the difference between average or potentially boring… and immersive and engaging. Next time you feel fear at the thought of using your hands, tell that fear to talk to the hand.

Author: Eddie O'Hanlon