Kadri Leadership Academy: The Art of Opening

Transcript

You never get a second chance to make a first impression, said Will Rogers. Whenever we made a stranger for the first time. We got a lot of intuitive impressions. The way he talks, his facial expressions, his voice tone, the way he stressed, for whatever reasons, we get our own perceptions and impressions. Would stay for a long time even if we meet this person again and again over again. Person is a phenomenal person, completely different from the impression you got from the first time. It's difficult for us to remove this impression similarly on stage. When a speaker walks in, he creates an impression. Which is extremely difficult for it to go away, even though the speaker is phenomenally good, the contents and authentic. So why does this happen? And what do we do about it? In this video, we're going to examine two things the importance of a good opening. And what are the blunders which speakers make which we shouldn't do? Why is an opening very important? The opening in a speech has got three good reasons. The first reason is to grab the attention of the audience. Physically, the audience are present in the room. Mentally, they're walking down Brigade Rd. somewhere, so that's the reason you didn't take the attention. The second reason is to build a rapport and inspire the audience to listen to you. The third is the reason of your topic, a preamble or an introduction to the topic. So that's the way we go about it. So what happens when you first come on stage? What do you do when you come on stage first? I think first thing is to smile. Show that you're a friendly person. Spend a few minutes in silence, looking around left and right around the audience members. And then? Start. But why is the silence important? The silence tells the audience that. You are ready to present, and you're waiting for them to listen to you. It always sends a message that you're in control. Mastering this art of standing in front of the audience, smiling for a few seconds, looking around without getting nervous, but with confidence. Is the art and science of a great speaker. But this does not always happen. We end up sometimes. Making openings, which ruins the entire speech. Let me give you examples of some openings which should avoid In the next few minutes I'm going to tell you about the openings which should be avoided the first blunder. Speakers make. Is giving an apologetic statement. An apologetic statement is usually done by a nervous speaker of beginning speaker who I have not prepared hope I do a good job. The moment you make such statements you are drawing unnecessary attention to yourself and sending a message to the audience that you're self-conscious and you are not a confident speaker. Why will the audience want to listen to speaker who is not confident and is nervous? So apology statement is no no no. The second thing is a joke or a story which is not related to your core message or indirectly related. The Joker story may be fantastic. Initially, the audience may laugh. But as you go along, within the first few minutes, they will realize that story or joke has no connection to your core message, and from that point onwards you will lose your audience. The third blunder in opening speeches is a trivial statement or a question making a trivial unnecessary statement like please close the door, how is the weather? The Indians are always late. Puts off the audience, at least some of them, and they will not like to listen to you. The 4th one is a long, boring statement. Even if you have the best thesis in the world, the best quote in the world, a quote or a poem or a story which is too long and complicated. Will make the audience disinterested in your speech and you lose them right in the beginning. And the 5th blunder speaker should not commit is to have a very serious or a smug face when you're delivering a speech. It's advisable to have a smile and be pleasant on stage. Only if you are delivering a speech at a funeral or eulogy. You can be a little serious. Even on such occasions, you can have a subtle soft smile. Which shows that you are with them and the audience and the people around you will appreciate you and you can build a beautiful rapper. So most probably. Unless there are some exceptional situations, please smile on stage. The world is a beautiful place. Keep it happy.