How To Start A Speech Without Saying “Hi,My Name Is..|SPEAK WITH POWER & CONFIDENCE #publicspeaking — Transcript

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1. 0:00Hi everyone, my name is Ritu. Stop doing
2. 0:03this. Stop. Stop starting your speeches
3. 0:07with "Hi, my name is this." or "Hi, I
4. 0:10am." Now, before you think I'm saying
5. 0:12introductions are wrong, no. There is
6. 0:14absolutely nothing wrong with
7. 0:16introducing yourself. I do it myself.
8. 0:18I've done it multiple times and even
9. 0:20today I do it whenever the context
10. 0:21requires it. If I'm meeting someone for
11. 0:23the first time, if I'm in a formal
12. 0:25setting, if the audience genuinely
13. 0:27doesn't know who I am, an introduction
14. 0:29in the beginning may make sense. But
15. 0:31when you're standing on a stage, when
16. 0:33you're speaking to an audience, when
17. 0:35you're trying to create an impact,
18. 0:37starting with "Hi, my name is" usually
19. 0:40not the strongest opening. Because most
20. 0:43of the time, think about it, you have
21. 0:45already been introduced. Your name is
22. 0:47already on the event posters. Your
23. 0:49profile has already been shared. People
24. 0:53know who's coming on the stage. And even
25. 0:55if they don't know you, the first thing
26. 0:58they are looking for is not your name.
27. 1:00They're looking for a reason to listen.
28. 1:03So today we're going to talk about how
29. 1:05you can start your speeches differently,
30. 1:07how you can grab the attention of the
31. 1:09audience, and how you can make your
32. 1:11audience think, "Okay, I want to hear
33. 1:13what this person has to say." I remember
34. 1:16when I started speaking publicly, like
35. 1:18most people I followed the usual
36. 1:19pattern. I would walk on the stage, I
37. 1:21would take the microphone, I used to
38. 1:23smile, and I used to say, "Good morning,
39. 1:26everyone. My name is Ritu, and today I'm
40. 1:28here to talk about the topic."
41. 1:31And there was nothing wrong with that.
42. 1:33It was safe. It was very comfortable to
43. 1:36go and say the introduction as the first
44. 1:38thing. Also, back then it was considered
45. 1:41to be very professional. But over time I
46. 1:43realized something. A speech is not just
47. 1:46about giving information. A speech is
48. 1:49about creating a connection. And the
49. 1:52first few seconds decide whether people
50. 1:55will emotionally connect with you or
51. 1:57whether they're just waiting for you to
52. 1:59finish. So, when someone comes and says,
53. 2:01"Good morning, everyone. My name is
54. 2:03this, and today I will be talking about
55. 2:05leadership." The audience understands
56. 2:07the information, that's okay. The topic
57. 2:10is leadership, the speaker is this
58. 2:11person, but there is no emotional
59. 2:14connection. Now, imagine someone starts
60. 2:16like this.
61. 2:1710 years ago, I thought leadership was
62. 2:19about having authority, having a
63. 2:21designation, having people follow your
64. 2:23introduction. But, one experience
65. 2:25completely changed my understanding of
66. 2:28what leadership actually means. Now,
67. 2:30suddenly, you want to know their
68. 2:31experience, you want to know their
69. 2:33story, you want to know the lesson. You
70. 2:35get involved. That is the difference.
71. 2:37The beginning of your speech is like the
72. 2:39first few minutes of a movie. A movie
73. 2:42does not begin by explaining everything.
74. 2:44It creates a situation. It creates
75. 2:47interest. It makes you curious. A good
76. 2:50speaker does the same. Your audience is
77. 2:52silently asking three questions. Who are
78. 2:54you?
79. 2:55Why should I listen to you? And what
80. 2:57value am I going to get from this? Most
81. 3:00people answer the first question. They
82. 3:02say that, "My name is this." But, great
83. 3:06speakers answer the other two first.
84. 3:09They first show the relevance, then they
85. 3:11create the interest, and then they
86. 3:13introduce themselves naturally. The
87. 3:15first way to start a speech is by
88. 3:17starting it with a story.
89. 3:20Human beings connect with stories
90. 3:22because stories are relatable. For
91. 3:24example, instead of saying, "Today, I'm
92. 3:26going to talk about confidence." Imagine
93. 3:27starting like this.
94. 3:29I remember standing in front of a room
95. 3:31full of people and feeling my hands
96. 3:33shake.
97. 3:34I prepared my content, I knew my
98. 3:36subject, but the moment everyone looked
99. 3:37at me, I questioned myself. Now, people
100. 3:40relate because everyone has experienced
101. 3:42some form of fear. A story makes your
102. 3:45audience see themselves in your words,
103. 3:47and your story does not have to be a
104. 3:49huge achievement. Sometimes, your
105. 3:51smallest moments
106. 3:53creates the strongest connection. Maybe
107. 3:55a mistake, maybe a lesson, maybe a
108. 3:57realization, that is what people
109. 4:00remember. Number two, what you can do is
110. 4:02start with a question. The second way to
111. 4:04start a speech is by asking a question.
112. 4:06But remember, a question is not just
113. 4:08about asking something. A powerful
114. 4:10speaker make the audience participate in
115. 4:13that question. So, what do you need to
116. 4:15do is you need to give them a cue. You
117. 4:17make them raise their hands, you make
118. 4:19them say yes, you make them reflect, you
119. 4:21make them say a no. For example, instead
120. 4:24of saying, "Today we are going to talk
121. 4:25about communication skills." Imagine you
122. 4:27walk on stage and say, while raising
123. 4:29your hands by giving them a cue, "How
124. 4:31many of you have ever had an idea in
125. 4:33your mind you knew exactly what you
126. 4:35wanted to say, but the moment you came
127. 4:37to speak, you struggled to express it?
128. 4:39Raise your hands." You immediately see
129. 4:41people responding. Some hands will go
130. 4:43up, some people will smile because
131. 4:45they've experienced it. Now, you follow
132. 4:47with a counter question. You ask them,
133. 4:49"Now, how many of you have never
134. 4:51experienced this? How many of you have
135. 4:53always been able to express exactly what
136. 4:55you wanted to say in every situation?"
137. 4:58Usually, very few hands will go up. And
138. 5:02that is where you create connection,
139. 5:04because you have just made the audience
140. 5:05realize this is not just her topic, this
141. 5:08is something all of us experience. That
142. 5:10is the power of good opening question.
143. 5:12It turns a speech from one-way
144. 5:14conversation into an interaction. The
145. 5:17best questions are not the ones that
146. 5:18collect information. The best questions
147. 5:20are the ones that make people look
148. 5:22inside themselves. Method number three
149. 5:24is starting with a strong statement.
150. 5:26This is the third technique which you
151. 5:27can use, that is making a statement that
152. 5:30challenges a common belief. For example,
153. 5:32most people believe that confidence
154. 5:34means speaking loudly, but confidence is
155. 5:36actually the ability to stay calm even
156. 5:39when everyone is watching. Now, people
157. 5:42pause. They think, "Interesting. Why
158. 5:44does that person believe that?" A good
159. 5:46opening, even a controversial one, can
160. 5:48create a gap. A gap between what people
161. 5:51know and what they want to know. And
162. 5:54that gap creates curiosity. But
163. 5:57remember, don't make shocking statements
164. 6:00just for attention. Make sure, even if
165. 6:02it's controversial, it's meaningful.
166. 6:04Method number four, another thing which
167. 6:06you can do is start with your personal
168. 6:07realization. Start with something you
169. 6:10learned. For example,
170. 6:12I used to believe that great speakers
171. 6:13are naturally confident. I thought some
172. 6:15people are just born with the ability to
173. 6:17command a room. But over time I realized
174. 6:19confidence is not something you're born
175. 6:21with. It is something you build. Now,
176. 6:23this works because you're not preaching,
177. 6:25you're not sharing. People connect more
178. 6:27with, "Okay, this is what she learned."
179. 6:30Rather than, "This is what you should
180. 6:31do." So, don't speak at them, speak to
181. 6:36them. So, to sum up, here is a simple
182. 6:38framework you all can remember. Hook,
183. 6:41connection, introduction, message. So,
184. 6:44first you grab their attention, then
185. 6:46pick up a story, probably a question, a
186. 6:49powerful statement, then create
187. 6:50connection. Make people feel, "Oh, this
188. 6:53is about me." Then introduce yourself,
189. 6:56because when you're delivering a speech,
190. 6:57it should not be about you, it should be
191. 7:00about other people. For example, have
192. 7:03you ever felt confident while preparing
193. 7:04something, but nervous the moment you
194. 7:06had to speak? I experienced this myself
195. 7:09when I first started addressing
196. 7:10audience. Hi everyone, I'm Ritu, and
197. 7:12over the years I have learned that
198. 7:14confidence is not about removing fear,
199. 7:16it is about learning how to communicate
200. 7:18it despite the fear.
201. 7:20See the difference? Your introduction
202. 7:22now has context. Your name is important,
203. 7:25your introduction matters, but your
204. 7:27first responsibility as a speaker is not
205. 7:29to introduce yourself, it is to create a
206. 7:32reason for people to listen. Because
207. 7:35people may forget your first sentence,
208. 7:37but they will remember the impact you
209. 7:39created. So, next time you step up on a
210. 7:42stage, don't just introduce yourself,
211. 7:44create an experience because a good
212. 7:46speaker doesn't demand attention.
213. 7:48They earn it. And that's how we live
214. 7:50with power and eventually speak with
215. 7:53power. Jai Hind, everyone. Namaste. See
216. 7:55you in the next video.