How can you create a speech opening that boosts your confidence?

Interestingly, I would counter that step 1 is know your audience. I often see speakers so caught up in the point they wish to make that they forget who they're talking to! In fact I can guess that many of you have been in those rooms. Once you've decided you are giving a speech or have been asked to give a speech, the general topic and purpose is often determined. Before you figure out what your key points are, get as much information as you can about who the audience is - your message or thesis is only as important as how it is heard and understood. Pro-Tip: as you continue to hone other points 1-5 be prepared to pivot. Not only are you learning about the audience in advance but you're also watching the audience as you proceed along.

You really need to feel passionate about your message. Mean what you say. When your sure of your message confidence will be natural. Your first few sentences establish your credibility. Understand why you were chosen to speak. Know that you are qualified to give this speech.

Ask yourself this: if you were sitting in the audience, what are the first 10 words you want the speaker to say? What 10 words will hook you?

Some ways to get started: 1. Try as much as you can to have a general understanding of the category of people you'll be addressing. 2. Having this in mind helps you craft your words carefully. 3. Be passionate about your topic and do proper reading and research to boost your knowledge and ideas. 4. Use the best relatable examples to pass your knowledge across to your audience. 5. Be as simple as possible. ? ?

One thing I have found helpful is that story telling is timeless. In a TEDX talk I delivered earlier this year, I shared a story that caught on with the audience and that made the presentation much easier to connect with . Live an interesting life and use your life stories as your speech cues. It is always appropriate to remember the variability of audience and to adapt as required.

Story telling is powerful. The truth is you will never know how much of a responsive audience you do have until you share an experience be it imagined or real that they can relate to. The truth about public speaking is this, it is the best way to earn the trust of your audience and as the speaker you much create a desire to connect deeply with your audience. In doing so, your audience will connect deeply with you.

A great storytelling I recently learnt from Margaret Atwood is starting from the middle of an action or situation. Instead of starting with "I once had a friend who got 56 rejections...", you can start with "By the time my friend got his 30th rejection...". This method engages the audience in action or emotion, posing questions that provide you with the chance to maintain their attention. Use this skill wisely.

Hook is the most powerful as the attention span is really low , hook with a quote or anecdote also pause and silence Hook creates the attention

Crafting a killer speech opening comes down to nailing your hook. Pick something that's not just interesting but directly ties into your message. Make it a bit surprising, maybe even add a dash of humor if it fits. Practice delivering it until it feels like second nature. Your hook is like your grand entrance—it sets the tone. Just be yourself, let your personality shine, and watch your confidence soar as your audience gets hooked, ready for what's next in your speech.

The most successful hook I've used is to entitle my talk "Autism - Straight from the Horse's Mouth" (ie. talking about autism from lived experience), then walking onto the stage wearing a horse mask. Not only does it engage people immediately, but it gives a brilliant first impression!

Connecting with your audience as a speaker is key to make your topic more interesting. There are different approaches to connect with your audience while speaking: - Understanding your audience and crafting your message from the point of what audience would like to listen to and take away - Giving eyes contact with the audience - Using inclusive language based on the nature of the audience - Asking questions or asking audience to participate by raising their hands or doing quizz - Providing time for Q & A Audience will connect with the speaker not only during the event but also after the event if a speaker provides value to the audience from the topic.

You will automatically feel confident if you get instant audience engagement. You have only 30 seconds to do this though so it's of critical importance how you handle those first 30 seconds. I aim to have people laughing within 5 seconds and hooked on the topic by 30 seconds

Connecting with your audience is key! I have found that one of the best ways to do that is to find something that everyone has in common. Often, a bit of self-deprecation in the form of “let me tell you about what happened to me on the way over here”, or something to that effect. A little anecdote that shows how human we all are - it doesn’t even have to be a true story, as long as it is believable and is something that the members of your audience can relate to. A little comic relief is a great way to break the ice.

Bien conna?tre son public est important pour une véritable alliance lors d'un discours. Se connecter véritablement avec son public, c'est travailler et étudier en amont les points avancés dans le discours mais aussi pouvoir aborder les problématiques rencontrées par ce public, pouvoir anticiper leurs réactions mais aussi leurs éventuelles questions. Se connecter avec le public, c'est parfois aussi oser aller vers les participants et tendre le micro pour les faire participer autrement que par un hochement de tête ! Recueillir des avis, faire pourquoi pas un sondage à main levée, c'est aussi cela entrer en contact avec le public. Enfin le rire est toujours un moyen simple et efficace de créer une ambiance unique et propice à l'échange.

Connect with your audience by first getting their attention with a strong opening. Make a statement. Ask a question. Keep it brief and make it bold. When you open with this direct and confident energy, you implicitly express your respect for audience members' intelligence as well as your appreciation for their time and attention. Remember that the audience has chosen to actively listen to you rather than passively scrolling their phones. It is not the information they're entirely interested in, it's your unique interpretation of it.

When I was preparing for my TEDx talk, I learnt a great tip I will share here. Write out your talk in different colour cards based on the content - is it a story (red) is it a statistic (green) for example. And learn it in chunks rather than memorising pages and pages of text. It works!

Practice to the point to where you know your material, but do not focus on repeating it word for word. Be ready for the fact that you will say something different when you are in front of the audience, and that is OK. If you expect to memorize it, then when you deviate, it may cause an internal alarm... go with the flow, always. Practice so you don't need to devote 100% of your attention to the presentation and you can be looking to the audience for clues of connection, and be ready to pivot. If they didn't laugh at your first joke, perhaps skip the next one. If a key attendee perked up at a particular point, you may need to revisit that topic. Practice so that you are comfortable, not more rigid by memorization.

Your rehearsal could begin as a work in progress and can happen together as you write a piece of content. While you read what you've written or content given to you, you begin to move into 'performance' mode - hand movements, head, pauses etc. You will begin to feel the content like an actor. Keep performing it several times. While you are at it, you will instinctively get a feel of flow - you may want to use a different word, an expression, replace a line or realise quickly that the content needs to change altogether. Write a paragraph, start performing it. Do the above and it will switch your motor on into writing further cohesively. Keep doing this with larger chunks and with your final speech. Write, perform, repeat!

In my experience, when I practice using my body and non verbal language BEFORE the speech, I find it loosens the nerves and the stress to perform perfectly. 55%*of what we communicate is non verbal language versus 7%* of actual words (Dr. Albert Merahbian) Rehearsing what you will do with your body on D-Day is one of the biggest confidence boosters and allies in delivering a message.

Remember to practice your whole entrance not just the opening words. Where are you entering the stage from? Are there stairs? How are you walking (in what you're wearing)? Where do you stop? How long do you pause before starting? These critical moments before the opening words can make or break the speech.

Whatever your topic is, your speech should tie back to your own experience. You are the expert on your story and you know it like the back of your hand, so make your personal story the backbone of your speeches. If you do that, it won’t matter if you forget to mention a statistic or a quote you meant to. Your talks will also seem more intimate, authentic, and natural if you share how you learned what you know instead of just telling the audience what you know.

Do not start by introducing yourself and what you do, instead tell your story in a way that resonates with people due to its authenticity. Share what is hard. Share what is real. Once people care about the story, they will care about who you are.

For everyone that dreads public speaking and/or presenting, you must do it until you feel comfortable or you can pay others to do it for you. Anyone that has natural abilities in speaking, developed those abilities and skills over time and through practice and repetition, paying attention to the audience, relating to current events, telling a good story, having a sense of humor, and understanding that if you try to be a speaker that you would want to listen to, then that's at least a few more people out there that will be interested in listening to you, too. Don't underestimate yourself, and there's no such thing as being too prepared.

Be yourself. There is so much advice on how to speak but the best speeches I’ve done have been when I completely broken the rules and showed up as my authentic disabled neurodivergent self. Last year I spoke at a conference where every speaker stood behind a lecturn and use a (death by) PowerPoint presentation. When I spoke, I pulled a chair into the middle of the stage and had a conversation with the thousands of humans sitting in front of me. After I spoke, there was a line the entire length of the auditorium of people queuing up to talk to me, ask me questions and share how much my speech impacted them. Break the rules, be yourself.

The presentation you make does not have to be feared! Some just don't like to speak in public, and that is fine! But it's something you can learn over time, and I promise it won't be painful. Craft some words, add a hook, look and act the way you need to and get it done! I remember being asked to lecture in China. I'm from the South, and folks above the Mason Dixon Line don't think we speak English, much less Chinese! Thank God for interpreters, and I found that even in China, a smile means the same there. Modulation on my voice was effective. Just go and do, and soon you'll lose that fear!