You only have ten seconds to win an audience's attention. How do you achieve this? Here are some proven ways to start a speech.

Share the story

The most effective way to begin a speech is with a compelling story.
"I was a student on my way back from studying abroad in Cairo. Shortly after take-off, five men with guns jumped out of their seats and started shouting at the passengers. Our plane was being hijacked ..."

Yes, even stories like this can introduce an amazing presentation that participants will never forget. Attach a story to your performance, the point of which you will then elegantly link to your main theme.

Make a bold statement about your point of view

"I'm here today to talk about a disturbing question that has an equally disturbing answer. My topic is domestic violence, and the question I'm going to address is one that everyone always asks. Why should a woman stay with a man who beats her ...? ”

This introduction was offered by speaker Leslie Morgan Steiner in one of the most watched interviews at TED. You can use your own theme in similar fashion.

Ask a question

If you start with a question, use body language to make it clear to the audience that you really need an answer. When you ask your question, push one foot forward and raise your opposite hand high in the air while leaning slightly forward toward the audience. This position will invite the audience to respond. Then stop and wait for hands to rise or heads to nod. This is a technique that really does work in practice.

Make the audience laugh

The world-famous motivational speaker Zig Ziglar tries to make his audiences laugh during the first 10 seconds. Usually, if people laugh, it means they like his speech. For example, at the beginning of one of his speeches, he said, "I had a joke that was so funny your hair would fall out." Then he paused, looking around the room for some bald men. "But I see many of you have already heard it."

Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all joke, but you can be inspired by the speeches of successful speakers.

Ask the audience to imagine something

"Imagine you're driving on a dual carriageway. It's early in the morning, so the air is cool, fresh, clean and fragrant with the scent of freshly cut hay. You're sipping coffee from a thermos and feel at ease. All at once the silence is shattered by your cell phone, which you fumble for in the depths of your bag. Suddenly a blow. You've just hit an elephant!"

The magic of starting the story with "Imagine" is to invite the audience into your world. The pronoun "you", use of the present tense and description of perceptions for all the senses combine to place each listener directly at the centre of events.

Try these techniques. Unusual as they may seem, they do really work.

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