演讲开场15秒,抓住观众的心

 　　演讲开场后的15秒，足以让你的观众决定是否还要继续听下去。千万不要浪费这短短的15秒，不然你在演讲中，就会后悔地看到他们开始低头玩手机啦！为了防止这种情况发生，以下给出4个建议，帮你快速抓住观众的心！

　　1. Have somebody else introduce you.

　　省去自我介绍，让别人代劳吧！

　　Don‘t waste time explaining who you are and why you’re there. Write a short (100 word) bio and a short statement (50 words) of what you‘ll be talking about. If you were invited to speak， have whoever invited you read this information to the audience. If you called the meeting yourself， put that information in the invite.

　　2. Do not tell a “warm-up” joke.

　　暖场笑话实在没必要。

　　I have no idea how the “warm-up joke” became part of conventional business wisdom. Most of the time， the “joke” consists a weak attempt at situational humor (like “why are these meetings always on Monday？”) that merely communicates that you’re nervous and unsure of yourself. The rest of the time， the “joke” is a long story with an obvious punch line that tries everyone‘s patience.

　　3. Do not begin with “background.”

　　观众对背景知识没兴趣。

　　Many presentations begin with a corporate¹ background that’s intended to build credibility. (Example： “Our company has 100 years of expertise²！”) The problem here is that at the start of a presentation nobody cares about your company. You‘re asking them to translate your background information into something that’s meaningful to them and their business. Why should they bother？

　　4. Open with a startling and relevant fact.

　　新奇、重要的事实更能抓人眼球。

　　To get an audience focused on what you‘re going to tell them， you must first break through the “mental noise” that causes their attention to waver. This is best accomplished³ by a slide showing a fact that is new to the audience and important enough to capture their attention. Build the rest of your presentation to answer the business questions that this initial fact has raised in their minds.

　　两个不同的演讲开头

　　BAD：

　　“Hi， I’m John Doe from Acme⁴ and I‘ve been working in the widget industry for 20 years. And boy， has it been an exiting time (just kidding！) Acme is the industry leader in widgets with over a million satisfied customers！！ I’m here today to talk to you about how we can help you save big money on your purchases of high quality widgets.”

　　BETTER：

　　“Yes， one million dollars.” (Pause.) “That‘s how much money you’re losing every year because of widget failure. Fortunately， there IS a better way and I‘m going to explain how you can easily save that money rather than waste it.”

　　Needless to say， the slides in the above example are simplistic. The “better” example could probably be made more visually rich， perhaps with an illustration of money going down a drain (along with the $1m).

　　What’s important here is that you realize why the surprising and relevant first slide is far more likely to capture the audience‘s attention than the typical rambling⁵ intro.

　　Please note that the “startling and relevant” fact need not be an attempt to generate fear. ?The fact could just as easily be about possible opportunity， the achievement of a long held goal， or something else that inspires. As long as it’s surprising and relevant， the audience will listen.

1 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

2 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

3 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

4 acme   

n.顶点，极点

参考例句：

• His work is considered the acme of cinematic art. 他的作品被认为是电影艺术的巅峰之作。
• Schubert reached the acme of his skill while quite young. 舒伯特的技巧在他十分年轻时即已达到了顶峰。

5 rambling   

adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的

参考例句：

• We spent the summer rambling in Ireland. 我们花了一个夏天漫游爱尔兰。
• It was easy to get lost in the rambling house. 在布局凌乱的大房子里容易迷路。