By: Svetlana Papazov
In order to get your audience to believe, listen and trust you, you must establish your hook from the very beginning.
Within the first ten minutes of your presentation, people will begin to stay plugged in or check out. If you can’t grab their attention in the beginning, then you are not accomplishing your goal of communicating to the people within the audience.
Story
I remember when I first stepped on stage to do public speaking. I was only 14. I wasn’t alone. In fact I was hidden among my peers who also were going to take part in the talk. And I wasn’t in front of an unknown crowd, but in front of my church family in my own town. Yet none of that made a difference. My heart was going to come out of my chest. My fear of speaking was greater than the fear of being discovered that I go to church by the communist government scouts who could have been in the audience. The result could have been that I’d be expelled from my ivy-league high school. Yet that fear didn’t hold a candle to my fear from public speaking. I was on stage without any preparation on how to deliver a captivating talk, just having the desire to share my heart as a Christian in a country full of unbelief. I had a noble cause without nominal redness to make an impact. That was my first stage appearance. I have no memories on how the actual talk went, my brain has retained only the haunting memories of the fear I experienced speaking unprepared to hundreds of people. I know that many of you have great plans and ideas, but you may not be comfortable presenting them in front of people, or you are not sure how to put a talk together for best impact. I know for a while I was not.
Q1: How do I create an interesting hook?
People connect to authenticity and vulnerability; the more open you decide to be, the more open the audience will be to you.
When crafting the opening hook, connect your audience with your story. Allow them the opportunity to see themselves throughout your story and talk.
Be the mirror and allow them to be the hero of the story, you are only the guide to help navigate them to understanding.
Public speaking may not be in your job description but it’s critical to your performance and success. In many business situations you will need to know how to prepare for and present yourself in front of your peers and superiors. You need to learn how to communicate effectively and efficiently, engaging the participants well so that they can clearly understand and accept the concepts or products you’re presenting.
Q2: What separates you from your competitors?
Your passions, your gifts, and your story; everything that makes up who you are makes the difference between you and a competitor.
A hero is someone who was brave, an overcomer. What if your customers saw an overcomer, someone who found a solution and is breaking through, in themselves after they entered into business with you?
By being authentic, relatable and vulnerable, you would have the ability to gain more trust with new and old clientele.
Whether you are on a stage, in a coffee shop, or a conference room you have the ability to use your story to help others around you.
Jesus did this throughout his ministry. As he spoke to groups of people through parables, or stories. This gave the people an opportunity to fully comprehend his teachings.
This was an effective model Jesus used that is still effective today.
People connect to your heart. Allow them an opportunity to see what’s inside.
Svetlana Papazov is Lead Pastor and Founder of Real Life Church, President/Founder of Real Life Center for Entrepreneurial and Leadership Excellence, a first of its kind model of church and business incubator that educates in entrepreneurship, leadership and faith praxis, and author of the book, “Church for Monday.”