Speaking/Writing
Tip:
"Burn at the First"
I grew up on seventies
rock. I remember the advice that one of the rock stars of that era gave about
writing a song: "Burn at the first." He meant (in his seventies
way) that the opening of a song must grab your attention immediately and
entice you to listen all the way through. Some of my favorite examples
from that time include Eric Clapton's "Layla," The Eagles'
"Life in the Fast Lane," and anything from Ted Nugent and
Aerosmith.
The same rule applies to public speaking and creative writing. Your
speech or story must grab the audience's attention at the first
sentence and not let go. Here are some elements of a successful
opening.
- It
starts with an attention-getting opening sentence: "Call
me Ishmael." "Four score and seven years ago." An
opening sentence that intrigues or engages your audience gets them
interested in your work immediately. One way to do this is with a
question, such as "Have you ever been to a restaurant where the
service was exceptionally good?" Such a first sentence gets
your audience thinking and wanting to listen to the next sentence.
- It
sets the mood: You can tell from the first chords of "Cat
Scratch Fever" that it is going to be a hard rocking tune.
Likewise, your speech or story has to set the mood at the beginning.
Is your speech funny? Start it off with a joke related to your topic.
Is your story about a serious subject? Make sure your establish its
seriousness at the beginning.
- It
creates expectation: Of course, the goal of a beginning is to
keep your audience listening or reading. For a speech, introduce the topic
of your talk at the very beginning. Consider Steve Scott's technique
of "salting" your presentation by asking questions that
raises the audience's interest and then holding off on giving the
answer until later on. For example, "If I could show you a
way to get better service at a restaurant, would you be
interested?"
With a story, introduce your main character and conflict at
the beginning. Give your character a dilemma to solve immediately and
set that person up for even greater problems later on.
By making your speech and story "burn at the first," you
will get your audience's attention and keeping them listening or
reading until you play your last chord.
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