CHAPTER 15

Easy Openings You Can Imagine

There are three things to aim at in public speaking: first, to get into your subject, then to get your subject into yourself, and, lastly, to get your subject into the heart of your audience.

— ALEXANDER GREGG

Imagine the most beautiful place on the planet that you have ever visited, the most beautiful place in the whole world where you personally have ever been. Imagine you are there right now. What sounds do you hear around you? What are the smells? Take a deep breath. How does it feel to be there?

Remember the classic television shows Gilligan’s Island, The Brady Bunch, and Cheers? How did all those shows start? With a signature theme song. These songs were popular. Cheers was rated the the number one theme song of all time. Gilligan’s Island was rated number six, and The Brady Bunch was number ten.

Now think about the top television shows today. My wife, Maria’s, favorite shows are CSI and NCIS. How do these shows begin?

It doesn’t matter what the series or episode is. It starts with a dead body in a parking lot in Vegas. Then comes the theme song.

Why the switch? Why did the television industry change how it opens?

I did not know the answer—I am not that bright—but we were working with people in the industry. One at CBS joked, “We should call ourselves the crime channel and be done with it,” and I asked him, “Why the switch?” I assumed that it was about grabbing people’s attention quickly and drawing them into the program. That part was true, but the real reason for the change? Money! Go figure. An industry that wanted to make more money. Who would have guessed?!

Producers realized that even when viewers loved a show so much that they planned their whole week around it, they didn’t tune in during the theme song. When the theme song comes on, they could walk to the fridge to get a sandwich because they knew that they weren’t missing anything important. They could skip the commercial break that followed the theme song and be back in front of the television in time for the start of the show.

But if CSI is your favorite show, do you want to miss the first 30 seconds? No, because those 30 seconds are critical to the story. Running that 30-second scene before the opening credits, and then the theme song, ensures that viewers will already have their sandwich and be sitting there when the commercials come on. If more eyeballs are watching the commercials, then the network can charge advertisers more.

Okay, but what does this have to do with your presenting? I don’t know. I just think it’s interesting.

Oh wait, there is a point. When you are speaking before an audience, you want to give people the dead body, not the theme song. When you start your presentation with a predictable opening, such as, “Hi, my name is … ,” “Thank you so much for … ,” “We are here today to talk about … ,” you are giving your audience members your personal theme song. And where will they go mentally when you do this? Right, they’ll go get that sandwich.

The beginning of most presentations and meetings, unfortunately, follows this formulaic approach of the speaker introducing herself, thanking the host, and then telling the audience what she is going to talk about during her presentation. It sounds polite and reasonable, but openings of this type are also quite ineffective, and they unintentionally raise the audience’s filters. All audiences prejudge, and if the first 30 seconds offer nothing new, what will an audience think the rest of the session is going to be like?

However, if the first 30 seconds of your presentation offer something different or unusual, filters will go down. Opening with a story or a scene accomplishes this.

The shortest presidential inaugural speech was given by George Washington in 1789. It was 135 words long. William Henry Harrison gave the longest inaugural speech, with 8,445 words.

He died the next month of pneumonia from being exposed to the cold and wet during his speech.

Your primary task at the beginning of your presentation is to lower the audience’s filters and get people thinking about your topic. Everything hinges on those two components. We are attached to the boring, formulaic opening because we’ve seen it so many times. We think it is expected, but let it go. The people in your audience will tune you out. They will know it’s just an introduction and not important.

Consider this opening:

Hi, everyone, and thanks, Professor, for the introduction. I’m Miguel Sanchez and I am a student here at the university. I’m really glad to be here today to talk about our class project. It’s a topic we have a lot of passion for.…

This is a normal, standard opening, so let’s analyze it.

Most of us, when we are in front of a new audience, will feel a strong need to establish our credibility and our credentials. Much of this stems from natural and well-meaning tendencies. We are anticipating and answering the questions our audience may have about us. But part of this is also motivated by our insecurity, and because we are copying older habits of other people.

Let go of the need to establish your credibility up front. If it is necessary, slip some in early but not first. If you focus on the people in your audience first—on engaging them, involving them, and establishing a strong connection with them—your credibility will establish itself.

Easy Openings

You may be thinking, “Okay, Bill, I can’t open with my usual ‘theme song.’ So, how do I open?” Can you think of any technique we’ve learned so far in this book that might work as an opening?

Imagine: Setting a Scene

Let’s say, for example, that you are standing before an audience, about to give a presentation about a charity for which you are trying to raise support—an organization that helps poor women and children in an impoverished third-world country. You could say, “Hi, my name is ____, and I am the executive director of ABC. I am here today to raise money to provide sanitary medical care for women and their babies in XYZ. …”

Or, the first words out of your mouth could be:

Imagine that you are a young mother who is about to give birth. You live in a hut with a dirt floor and no running water, electricity, or indoor plumbing. You are feeling contractions, and you know that the hospital is a two-day walk away. You thought the baby wasn’t coming for two more weeks, but now you know it will only be a few hours. Imagine the dust and heat and humidity, the flies and mosquitoes. Imagine the physical pain as you deliver your baby on that dirt floor, the pain in your heart as you worry about your baby’s survival. …”

Okay, that was a very dramatic example of using the word imagine to set a scene, but you got the picture.

Now it’s your turn. Imagine that you are the sales representative for a vacation resort. A tropical island, a family amusement park, a Rocky Mountain ski lodge—it’s your choice. Now, using the word imagine to start your pitch—and you can repeat the word imagine as many times as you need to throughout the presentation—set the scene for your potential customers. Use strong and vivid language to transport them onto your tropical island, or to send them swooshing down the slopes.

But first, get out your video camera and prepare to record yourself.

Ready? You have one minute to set your scene. Record yourself, then play back, then delete.

BEGIN.

There are many approaches for using the imagine technique.

Time

Past (Imagine you are 5 years old about to go off to school for the first time.)

Present (Imagine the competition is on the other side of town meeting and talking about us right now. What are they saying?)

Future (Imagine you retired 10 years ago and you are sitting at your kitchen table, looking at your bank statements.)

Asking your audience to recall or imagine a place in time then gives you the opportunity to ask a few people to share the scene they’ve conjured up. This allows you not only to involve the audience members and keep their filters lowered, but to get to know them and how they think and feel.

Outliers/Extremes

Ask the audience:

What was the best … ?

What was the worst … ?

Why?

With this opening, you can either go around the room or ask a few members of the audience to share their best or worst memory or experience on the subject. As in the time example, this will allow you to involve the audience members and get to know them. Their best and worst experiences or memories of a topic related to your presentation provide you with very valuable and useful information.

Get your video camera ready and prepare an imagine opening using the time or the outlier approach. Record, play back, and delete.

Ready?

BEGIN.

Tell a Story

What if, using the same set of facts, instead of setting just a scene, we told a story? If you’re doing sales for a vacation resort, you’ve probably spent some wonderful times there yourself. Maybe you helped a couple plan their perfect anniversary getaway. Or, if we were to return to the example of our third-world charity, we might start with:

Mary was a young woman living in XYZ who was expecting her first child. She lived in a dirt-floor hut that was a two-day walk from the nearest hospital…

Again, you get the picture.

Now, set up your video camera again and record yourself making a one-minute pitch, but this time, open with a story. Remember, record, play back, then delete.

Ready?

BEGIN.

Setting scenes and telling stories are extremely powerful tools for public speaking and giving presentations, but for your purposes as a speaker, they are especially powerful in the opening. Stories and scenes pull your audience right into your presentation and establish an immediate connection. You will have evoked the emotion you want to evoke right from the start.

Of course, if you are going to open with a story, you want it to be a good story, and you want to tell it well. First and foremost, the story you choose to tell or the scene you decide to set should relate directly to the topic of your presentation and evoke the emotion that you want your audience to feel. You also want it to be brief and to the point.

Remember, this is just the opening of your presentation, a technique to lower filters, connect with those in your audience, and signal to them that you are going to be an interesting and dynamic speaker. You still have to get through your content.

Can we think of some other techniques for easy openings?

Open with a Statistic

“Did you know that 10,000 mothers and babies die in childbirth each year in the country of XYZ?”

Open with a Body Poll

“Show me with your …” I start probably half of my real-life speeches with a body poll. It instantly involves the audience members, gets the cell phones put away, and lets me direct them in a line of thinking that fits the topic.

Open with a Question

“How many women and babies do you think die during childbirth each year in the country of XYZ?”

Statistics, body polls, and questions are all powerful opening techniques that will enable you to engage your audience, establish a connection, and evoke an emotional response.

Okay, you know the drill. Get your camera rolling, and record yourself opening first with a statistic (you can make one up for the purpose of practicing), then with a body poll, and then with a question. Record, play back, and delete.

Ready?

BEGIN.

Don’t Be Afraid to Be Different

Despite the power and effectiveness of these opening techniques, many executives I have trained are particularly resistant to abandoning the old standard—and ineffective—opening format. One of the strongest areas of resistance I get from students during this aspect of training concerns thanking the host. Is it important to thank your host? Absolutely. It is absolutely important. Let’s take a moment, however, to tap into our creativity and think of different ways we can thank our host without reverting to the same old theme song.

Could we give our host a compliment that highlights a standout accomplishment or skill?

Could we tell a brief story about our host that makes him look good?

Could we present her with a little gift or tribute?

If you can find different and unusual ways to thank your host, you will accomplish two goals at the same time: you will make your host feel special while also lowering your audience members’ filters.

I once worked with a famous football coach, now on the speaking circuit, to devise a thank you to the host that was perfect for him. Here is what we created:

Early in his speech, he would take a new football out of the box. He would talk about the power of teams as he held up the football, tossing it back and forth with members of the audience. This interaction created energy in the room and kept the audience members engaged and their filters low, because they didn’t know if the football would be tossed to them next. Toward the end, he would pull out a special marker and ask everyone in the audience to sign the football as he tossed it around the room.

At the end of his speech, he would call the host who was responsible for inviting him (and, let’s not forget, paying him) to the stage and say, “There is a tradition that all champions practice. They present a game ball to the MVP. Let’s all thank our MVP, who made today possible.”

Then he’d hand the host the signed football.

The football coach realized that thanking the host at the beginning of his speech would have been nice, but quickly forgotten. Thanking the host at the end of the presentation by giving him or her the “game ball” on stage—usually with a fantastic photo op—became a priceless memory for the host. You can bet that the ball was placed prominently on an office shelf or in a display case afterward, triggering stories and conversations going forward.

SUMMARY

Let go of the need to introduce yourself and establish your credibility up front. If you focus on engaging, involving, and establishing a strong connection with your audience, your credibility will establish itself.

You have two jobs as a presenter: to lower your audience members’ filters and to orient them in the direction you want them to go. The success of your presentation depends on achieving those two objectives.

Forget the “theme song” and open with a scene: a story, statistic, quote, or question that pulls your audience into the middle of the scene.

Practice

Find a coworker, colleague, family member, or friend to be your partner. Set a timer for 60 seconds. Choose a scene to set for your partner: perhaps your favorite vacation spot or a crisis at work. Each sentence must begin with the word imagine. Continue doing this until time runs out.

Now, ask your partner to rate, on a scale from one to ten, how well you evoked the scene.

Try it again. This time, instead of using the word imagine, set the scene using words, but no sentences—for example, “lake … summer … girl …”

Try this exercise as a group activity with your staff. Pair up people and have them take turns setting scenes for each other in 60-second intervals, using the word imagine to start each new sentence.