The greatest class reunion in history. How can you capture the attention of thousands of people?
Wednesday: Speak on the Shoulders of Giants
The need for great presentation skills applies everywhere. Being able to give a polished presentation will, without a doubt, give you an edge in any type of industry you’re in.
In my 30+ years as a consultant, I’ve attended a lot of presentations and seen some areas where a speaker needs improvement. Even if it’s just a few minor things or something more major such as the wrong approach to the presentation, each presenter has one chance to get it right and unfortunately many have been done incorrectly.
As an independent professional, it’s important that you take these tips to heart as these are necessary to improve your public speaking skill.
Convince people to your call-to-action and influence them to make the right decisions in their lives by delivering a great and memorable speech.
Keep reading to learn how a powerful power opener will get your audience hooked from the beginning and focused on what you have to say all throughout your presentation.
I hope you find this week’s topic insightful as you continually master the art of public speaking.
Miles Everson
CEO, MBO Partners
Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute
Speak on the Shoulders of Giants
At the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) event that had more than 600 attendees, President and CEO Professor Joel Litman’s power opener was about the greatest class reunion in history.
He showed a picture of that reunion, which was attended by several billionaires, including Ben Graham.
Speziale, Robin R., [Photograph of Buffett and Graham]. Retrieved from www.robinrspeziale.com/2017/09/08/warren-buffett-benjamin-graham-and-geico-growth-story/
This immediately caught everyone’s attention. People at the event wanted to know the story behind that photo and why all those billionaires were gathered in one place.
They wanted to know how all these billionaires and investing gurus ended up posing in one photo.
It turns out, they were all students of Ben Graham.
Warren Buffett, Charles Munger, Tom Knapp and Ed Anderson of Tweedy Browne, Walter Schloss, William Ruane, David Sanford “Sandy” Gottesman—ALL OF THEM were in that photo.
How had so many investing billionaires all been taught by the same teacher, and even showed up for a single reunion and class picture?
Because of this interesting opening to Professor Litman’s presentation at the CFA event, all the attendees’ eyes were on him. All of them were ready to listen to his discussion and what he had to say next.
This public speaking secret is called THE POWER OPENER.
James C. Humes’ book, “Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln” contains powerful secrets of the greatest speakers in history. One of those secrets is the Power Opener.
All of the most famous speeches by the most famous leaders had the power to capture their audience’s attention.
The first 10 seconds…
Can you make an immediate impact?
What good is speaking if no one is listening or at least interested in listening?
You need to open your speech, presentation, or conversation with a bang!
Not necessarily being loud or anything like that. Projecting your voice is important, of course, but what we mean is capturing your audience’s attention within the first few seconds.
“The prime time of any talk or presentation you give is during your opening words.”
Whoever you’re talking to, they are waiting to hear what you have to say and what you sound like. So, don’t start with anything boring like,
“Hi, my name is John. Thank you for inviting me to speak at this event.”
Meh. Not exciting at all.
Start with a dramatic statement or an ear-catching line, a personal anecdote (tug at your audience’s heartstrings or tickle their funny bone), or reveal a startling fact.
Start with something compelling, something unexpected.
Try considering a power opener for your next meeting or presentation! We’re sure it’ll make a positive impact and lasting impression.
Hope you’ve found this week’s public speaking tip interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Wednesday’s Speak on the Shoulders of Giants!
