有人在聽你說話嗎？

The beginning moments of a presentation are the most difficult moments both to create and to deliver. Audiences tend to make up their minds about speakers within the first minute or two----------so the pressure is very definitely on. You need to start with something clever enough to catch everyone’s attention, but you’re at your most nervous, and thus it’s hard to shine like you want to.

So how do you get started?

You might want to take the advice of James Wagstaffe, a successful trial attorney, in his book on public speaking, Romancing the Room. In it, Wagstaffe offers no fewer than eight ways to get started.

Try the Grabber. That’s where you say something surprising or do something shocking to grab everyone’s attention right at the outset.

Wagstaffe says, I knew of a criminal defense lawyer who employed the Grabber technique at the beginning of his summation to the jury. He started by handing out airsickness bags to each member of the jury. He announced, ’I know you’ll need these after what you have just heard from the prosecution!’ The jury certainly wanted to know what came next.

Or try the Curiosity Arousal. If you start with an unusual thought or image, one that piques the curiosity of the audience, you’ll have them from the start.

Wagstaffe offers this example, A student in my class started off her speech the following way: ’Lines. There are lines all around us. As the wall meets the ceiling, that forms a line. As the door meets its edge, that forms a line. And there are lines in your hand.’ The speaker then went on with a fascinating description of the meaning of lines in the hand and how one reads palms.

The problem to solve. The idea here is to present the audience with a problem that you then solve together. You have to convince the audience that the problem is sufficiently intriguing or important such that it is worth solving.

For example, instead of merely announcing to your internal sales force that numbers are down for the year, and then exhorting them to go out and work harder, ask them right from the start to help you solve the problem. Get their suggestions and creative input first, before you exhort them to go out and work harder.

The Hey, yeah. The Hey, yeah opening means telling audiences something they haven’t thought of before but that they recognize as the truth once it’s pointed out to them.

This one is easier to create than it might first seem. There is a deluge of bad news in the media----------bad news sells----------so look for something good. A trend, perhaps, that others haven’t spotted. Or a development that we all take for granted. There’s lots of good news out there----------find a bit of it, and tell your audience.

Presuming audience involvement. Here, the speaker starts right in the middle of a story and lets the audience do the work of filling in the beginning from the clues that you give them as the speech goes on. Audiences put in this situation work hard to fill in the picture, and that work means that they stay involved in your presentation.

The room reference. The goal with the room reference is to personalize your talk in a real, authentic way by relating your topic to something that is directly relevant to the audience in front of you. Do you know some members of the audience personally? Do you know something about the history of the space you’re in or the company you’re talking to? Do you know something about the professions of the people in the audience? All efforts at personalization richly pay off in audience interest.

The movie preview. Finally, you can pique your audience’s interest in what’s to come by promising them something that they will get out of the talk----------a bit later on. Will they learn how to do something valuable? Will you give them some insight that will help them run their business better? Will they know how to see the world in a new way once you’re done? If you have something exciting to share, don’t share it fully at the beginning. Rather, tease the audience with a hint at what’s to come.

If you lose your audience at the top of your speech, it’s very hard to get them back. So use one of these openers to engage your listeners from the start and keep them with you till the end.

 有人在聽你說話嗎？

簡報時，最困難的莫過於該如何開頭。通常在開始的一兩分鐘內，台下聽眾對演講者的印象就已經定型了。因此對演講者來說，壓力之大自然不在話下。開頭的內容必須夠精采，才能吸引所有人的注意；可是這時候，正是你最緊張的時刻，表現往往不如預期。

到底，該如何開始？

或許你可以採納知名的訴訟律師詹姆斯‧華格史戴夫的建議，他曾寫過一本關於如何公開演講的書，書名為《讓聽眾愛上你》。在書中他提出了8種方法。

其中一種方式為「抓住聽眾注意力」，也就是一開始的內容必須讓人意想不到或是覺得不可思議，才能立即吸引所有人的注意。

華格史戴夫說道：「我認識一位刑事辯護律師，當他面對陪審團進行最後辯論時，便是採用這種技巧。他當場取出暈機嘔吐袋，分送給每一位陪審員。然後大聲的說：『我相信，當你們聽完起訴內容之後，一定會用到它。』」這些陪審團當然會想要知道接下來他會說些什麼。

另一種方式則是「刺激聽眾的好奇心」。如果你能運用有創意、足以引發聽眾好奇心的影像或是想法，同樣可以在一開始的時候就吸引他們的注意。

華格史戴夫提到了另一個例子：「我班上有一位學生，報告一開始她是這麼說的：『線。我們四周有各式各樣的線。牆壁與天花板交界之處，會形成一道線。門的邊緣會形成一道線。每個人的手上也有許多條線。』之後這位學生非常生動的描述了線的意義，並告訴聽眾如何正確的看掌紋。」