Great openings for impactful storytelling

Quote of the week

“You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” Zig Ziglar 

Great openings can set your stories up for success

How often have you stopped watching a movie or show within the first few minutes? If you are like my wife and I, the answer is very often.

But when the shoe’s on the other foot, it doesn’t feel so good. We’ve all experienced that sinking feeling when our audience loses interest, even as we are talking.

So how can you keep your audience attentive and engaged? A great opening—how you begin your talk or tale—is critical. Designing the perfect opening can take a good deal of time and effort, but it well worth it.

Here are five techniques that you can employ to conceive an attention-grabbing start and keep your audience to engaged through your narration.

1. Ask a question The simplest way to engage your audience is to open with a question—even if it’s rhetorical. And you can even follow up your first question with another or two (while keeping them short.) A great example of this is Simon Sinek’s famous TEDx talk “Start with Why.” He begins with “How do you explain when things don't go as we assume?” He quickly follows up with “Or better, how do you explain when others are able to achieve things?” and then poses “Why is Apple so innovative? Year after year, year after year? Ideally the question sets the stage to lead into your primary topic.
   

2. Share a startling fact (or stat) “‘Five hundred and seventy-one million, two hundred and thirty thousand’ pounds of paper towels.” That’s how Joe Smith opens his talk “How to use one paper towel.” When you begin your talk with a fact—particularly a startling or unexpected one, it not only sets your audience thinking but they want to learn more. It can also establish the credibility of your premise. “In India, every hour a high-schooler dies by suicide.” An entrepreneur who’d founded a life-skilling startup began their pitch with this statistic. It sets off a slew of questions in the audience’s mind which then they seek answers for in the entrepreneur’s presentation.
   

3. Use a quote Echoing a piece of received wisdom or even one that sets a common belief on its head is another great way to grab your audience. Clint Smith opens his talk “The danger of silence” with “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in a 1968 speech where he reflects upon the Civil Rights Movement, states, "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.’" Notice how the quote feeds directly into the topic of his talk. Recently a student in our course, opened with “Steve Jobs once said, ‘Your time is limited. So don’t waste it living someone else’s life.’ Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living the results of other people’s thinking.” He then began to embarking on the tale of his own life.
   

4. Paint a picture The easiest way to do this is with a prop—a picture on a slide, an object in hand or even a costume you’d wear. Skilled speakers can do this with words, as Issa Rae does in her tribute to Denzel Washington. “I’m what they call thirsty. A thirst bucket if you will. I just love an attractive man and I can't hide it. I lust after them in a way where people wonder if I'm dehydrated." Creating a verbal or literal visualization draws your audience into your narrative usually by triggering their emotions, which in turn creates a connect.
   

5. Tell a story (you knew this was coming) Beginning with a story—especially a personal story, establishes trust right from the get go. Relatable experiences enable the audience to foster a connection with you, leading them to empathize and even derive inspiration. Professor of International Health, Hans Rosling, does this by opening his talk about life expectancy and GDP with an anecdote. With humor, he sets the stage for his core premise that assumptions we make about the developing world are often wrong.

Of course you can always mix and match these. For instance when brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor begins her talk “My stroke of insight,” she begins with a question (about making sense of her dreams), and her brother’s inability to do so, with his picture that she puts up on the screen (visualization). When Joe Smith holds up a lowly paper towel (prop), one we encounter each day and juxtaposes it 571,230,000 pounds (startling fact) he shows us how each of us can help save paper and the environment.

Video

There are as many opinions as there are speakers on how best to open a talk. We share with you two videos that recommend slightly different approaches to openings. (6 ways | 7 ways)