How to Deliver a Great TED Talk: Presentation Secrets of the World's Best Speakers (How to Give a TED Talk) Read Online Free
from the beginning.
But first, let’s discover the three opening mistakes that you should avoid:
1. BORING “ME-FOCUSED” OPENING
Unfortunately, too many speakers begin with boring “me-focused” openings that put their audiences to sleep.
Have you ever heard a speaker begin a presentation with an opening that sounds similar to this?
“Good morning. Thank you very much for having me. My name is ABC and I am from Company XYZ. My company has been in existence for 150 years. We focus on providing out-of-the-box, customer-centered strategies that leverage our client’s strengths and empower them to achieve organic growth in this new economy.”
How excited do you think audiences will be to learn the history, mission and values of your organization? Not very.
The key to giving great presentations is to make them not about the speaker but about the audience! Presentations are about the audience … not the speaker.
Therefore, your opening should be You-focused. It should let audience members know exactly what problems you can solve for them and what benefits you can give them!
2. OPENING WITH INSINCERE GRATITUDE
A fellow public speaking coach started his seminar in this manner. When he walked into the room, he began with:
“Hi, thank you very much for having me today. I’m very pleased to be here, and I’d like to thank Mr. X for having invited me to conduct this workshop.”
At this point, the coach looked us in the eye and said:
“Okay, so how many of you expected me to say exactly what I just said … almost word for word?”
People began to laugh and everyone in the room raised their hands.
The point is simple: Almost everyone begins their speeches and presentations with a “thank you,” using almost the same exact words.
If you’re one of these presenters, then you’re losing out on a great opportunity to differentiate yourself from everyone else. You’re losing out on an opportunity to make a great first impression!
Even worse, many of your audience members might unconsciously label you as boring and uncreative, like every other speaker they’ve seen, and they’ll mentally tune out of your presentation. Trying to bring these people back will be a challenge, and you’ll be left with an uncomfortable room full of strangers who aren’t really listening to what you’re saying.
As you’re about to discover, there are several techniques that you can use to capture your audience’s attention and imagination straight away. However, before you come to those, let’s first address a common objection that most people raise during my public speaking workshops: “Why shouldn’t I thank people at the beginning? It’s the polite thing to do!”
Most speakers, despite knowing the dangers of using a standard “thank you for having me here” opening, continue using it because they are under the false assumption that thanking people must be done at the beginning of their presentation.
There is nothing wrong with thanking your hosts and your audience members for having you, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be done at the beginning. In fact, not only might you lose your audience with a canned “thank-you” opening, your gratitude may also be perceived as insincere. The fact is, because most speakers say “thank you” during their opening few lines, your “thank you” will sound no different … it will be considered as an opening formality rather than a sincere expression of gratitude.
So, when is the best time to thank your audience and your hosts?
The best time to show your gratitude – both to your hosts and your audience – would be sometime after your first minute on stage, after you’ve established rapport with the audience.
For example, a fellow speaker who was given the opportunity to present a training seminar on leadership thanked his audience during the middle of his speech, when he said: “And by the way, talking about leadership, we can all agree that Jim ( the CEO) has
But first, let’s discover the three opening mistakes that you should avoid:
1. BORING “ME-FOCUSED” OPENING
Unfortunately, too many speakers begin with boring “me-focused” openings that put their audiences to sleep.
Have you ever heard a speaker begin a presentation with an opening that sounds similar to this?
“Good morning. Thank you very much for having me. My name is ABC and I am from Company XYZ. My company has been in existence for 150 years. We focus on providing out-of-the-box, customer-centered strategies that leverage our client’s strengths and empower them to achieve organic growth in this new economy.”
How excited do you think audiences will be to learn the history, mission and values of your organization? Not very.
The key to giving great presentations is to make them not about the speaker but about the audience! Presentations are about the audience … not the speaker.
Therefore, your opening should be You-focused. It should let audience members know exactly what problems you can solve for them and what benefits you can give them!
2. OPENING WITH INSINCERE GRATITUDE
A fellow public speaking coach started his seminar in this manner. When he walked into the room, he began with:
“Hi, thank you very much for having me today. I’m very pleased to be here, and I’d like to thank Mr. X for having invited me to conduct this workshop.”
At this point, the coach looked us in the eye and said:
“Okay, so how many of you expected me to say exactly what I just said … almost word for word?”
People began to laugh and everyone in the room raised their hands.
The point is simple: Almost everyone begins their speeches and presentations with a “thank you,” using almost the same exact words.
If you’re one of these presenters, then you’re losing out on a great opportunity to differentiate yourself from everyone else. You’re losing out on an opportunity to make a great first impression!
Even worse, many of your audience members might unconsciously label you as boring and uncreative, like every other speaker they’ve seen, and they’ll mentally tune out of your presentation. Trying to bring these people back will be a challenge, and you’ll be left with an uncomfortable room full of strangers who aren’t really listening to what you’re saying.
As you’re about to discover, there are several techniques that you can use to capture your audience’s attention and imagination straight away. However, before you come to those, let’s first address a common objection that most people raise during my public speaking workshops: “Why shouldn’t I thank people at the beginning? It’s the polite thing to do!”
Most speakers, despite knowing the dangers of using a standard “thank you for having me here” opening, continue using it because they are under the false assumption that thanking people must be done at the beginning of their presentation.
There is nothing wrong with thanking your hosts and your audience members for having you, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be done at the beginning. In fact, not only might you lose your audience with a canned “thank-you” opening, your gratitude may also be perceived as insincere. The fact is, because most speakers say “thank you” during their opening few lines, your “thank you” will sound no different … it will be considered as an opening formality rather than a sincere expression of gratitude.
So, when is the best time to thank your audience and your hosts?
The best time to show your gratitude – both to your hosts and your audience – would be sometime after your first minute on stage, after you’ve established rapport with the audience.
For example, a fellow speaker who was given the opportunity to present a training seminar on leadership thanked his audience during the middle of his speech, when he said: “And by the way, talking about leadership, we can all agree that Jim ( the CEO) has
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