Hello everyone,

Good evening.

I trust you’re well and happy in your end?

It feels really good to be with you tonight!!

In tonight’s discussion, I hope to unveil the two major areas that public speakers are likely to display their experience or inexperience and afterwards, we look at the attention killer sentences.

*HOW NOT TO START & CONCLUDE A SPEECH*

The most obvious place for you to show how experienced or inexperienced you’re as a speaker is at the *BEGINNING & CONCLUSION* of your speech.

The first sixty seconds of your presence on stage and the last thing you say before leaving the stage is enough for us to tell the kind of a speaker you’re.

So,  how do you show that you’re an inexperienced public speaker in your opening and closing?

*Do not begin with an apology:* The first most obvious blunder that an inexperienced speaker would make on stage is to begin with an apology. *”I am not a speaker”, “I am not as fluent and as audible as the previous speaker”, “I am not prepared to speak”*……….. *”I have nothing to say.”* THIS IS BAD!! VERY VERY BAD!!!

No sentence kills attention like this.

If you’re not prepared, some of us in the audience will discover that without your assistance. Others may not. Why call their attention to it? Why insult your audience by suggesting you did not think them worth preparing for?

Never you open your speech with an apology. Instead, start with a shock and awe inspiring statement. Open with a story or quote if you can.

Starting your presentation with an apology or speaking ill of your self is the best way to turn off your audience’s willingness to listen to you.

The beginning of your speech is a very important part and if you don’t hit the nail on the head then you lose your audience immediately.

*Do not say “Introduction:”* One of the reeks of amateur in public speaking is to loudly say *”Introduction”* on the microphone as they introduce their topic. That’s a super-fantastic show of inexperience.

Of course, we know the first part of every speech is the introduction. Kindly go ahead and introduce or set the pace for your presentation without telling us you’re introducing it. The audience will know that you’re introducing the topic without your assistance.

*YOU DON’T INTRODUCE INTRODUCTION…!!*

On the 15th of March in 44 BC, Mark Anthony, one of the greatest orator the world has ever had, gave an eulogy at the burial ceremony of Julius Caesar.

He started his eulogy with the opening: *” Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your ears.”* You need not be told that was his introduction.!!

Saying *”Introduction”* at the commencement of your speech is like writing a letter and when you get to *salutation*, you scream out *”Salutation”* and then you write “Dear Sir/Ma.” 

My dear, *You don’t salute salutation.*

Never you say out the word *”Introduction”* as you introduce your topic. The best place to spot this blunder is in religious gatherings and during academic presentations.

*Except in academic presentation, Do not start with your name: *”My name is Ohemu Godwin Pius………I work with company X & Y”* who cares? That’s completely irrelevant at this point. We are not here to hear you tell us your name. If need be, the person who introduced you should have told us your name. Give us the message. That’s what we came for.

Even when some speakers have been introduced they will start by saying, *”yes, as I was rightly introduced, my name is O.G. Pius”*…….Brother, we weren’t doubting the person who introduced you. And if he did it rightly as you claim, could you please spare us your biography give us the gist?

*Attention Killer Sentence 2:*

Some people even go as far as saying, *”I don’t have anything new to say”*, *”You already know it all”*, *”the first speaker has said it all”*

Haba! You don’t have anything new to say and you’re on stage? We already know it all and we are here sited to hear you speak? The first speaker has said it all and your name is on the list of speakers?

This is the best way to turn your audience off and to sell yourself for a farthing! 

Even if the first speaker has said everything, my dear, say your own, give out the message that you’ve prepared and go have your seat. 

You’re not the first speaker. You’re unique and special in your own way. Let’s hear you!

I’ve seen speakers make these sentences with the hope that it would show how humble they are and to win the support of their audience.

But in the real sense, they end up selling themselves for a farthing.

*I am not good a speaker:*

If you’re not good a speaker, why didn’t you just sit at home and let someone else who’s good do the job? Why appear on stage to waste our time?

The privilege to stand before a know or an unknown audience to speak is serious business. Don’t play with it. If yours is not precious to you, our time with you is very important to us. Use it well.

*The previous speaker has said it all*

This one weakens me to my third and forth generation.

You mean the previous speaker stole your outline and he said everything you wanted to say. How can you let him write you off in few minutes like that?

Please, in all of your speaking engagements:

Don’t say *”I don’t have anything new to say*”

Don’t say *”I am not good a speaker*”

Don’t say *”The previous speaker has said it all*”

Don’t say *”You already know it all*”

All of these put together are the most obvious spots where you show your inexeperience as a public speaker as you set the stage for your presentation

So, *How should you NOT end a speech?*

As important as the opening of a speech is, so also is the *conclusion* . Many people don’t even get to the end….they just begin to sputter and misfire when they are half way into their speech like an engine that is running short of petrol.

All I can say here is, please, carefully think out what should make the conclusion of your speech. Succinctly summarise what you’ve said in the body of your speech. Call for action if need be. Implore the audience to do something. Build to a crescendo if you can.

DON’T SAY….. *”That’s about all I have to say on that matter; so I guess I wills top.”*

That is not an ending. As Dale Carnegie would have it, *”that’s a mistake. It is almost unpardonable.”* If that’s all you have to say, why not round off your talk, and proudly take your seat and stop without talking about stopping.

*”Do that, and the inference that that is all you have to say may, with safety and good taste, be left to the discernment of the audience.”*

Don’t open your mouth and scream out *”IN CONCLUSION”*

*You don’t conclude conclusion*

Summarize your presentation to a crescendo and we would know you’re concluding.

If at all necessary, you can use the words, *Finally* or *in summary* or *in sum*

The Gettysburg address given by President Abraham Lincoln is a spectacular example of how to end a speech without talking about ending.

He concluded his speech with the crescendo that ended with the definition of democracy as the government of the people, by the people and for the people.

When he stopped, the audience knew he has finished.

He didn’t say, *In conclusion, let us define democracy*

I hope you’ve learnt something tonight? You might want to add them to your arsenal of tools for effective public speaking.

Nobody was born with these know-how. We are learning, unlearning and relearning everyday.

I wish you well in your quest to becoming an inspiring public speaker that instigates change.

Thank you so much for your time.

*O.G. Pius*

Speak Perfect International (SPI)

_Everyday a public speaker_