After coaching and working with thousands of motivational speakers over the years, I have realized that there is a tell-tale sign to know whether someone will be able to make a career out of it or not. In fact, I can usually tell within the first ten seconds of hearing someone speak whether they have this gift or not. Want to guess what this special trait is that all professionals have in common?
Before you guess though, it’s time for an important lesson in public speaking. When we open our speeches with a nugget of wisdom that everyone in the audience wants to hear, it instantly grabs their attention and silences all of their doubts about your expertise. We call this setting a hook, because the audience is literally hooked on your every word until you come back to the hook and give them an answer.
So take a few guesses…what main trait do all professional speakers have in common?
Here’s a hint though- it’s probably not what you’d expect. It has nothing to do with the tone of your voice or your speaking quality, how good you are at writing speeches or even your background credentials. None of that makes a great speaker (although each of them certainly helps!).
See what I just did there? I set my hook even deeper while focusing on you, and then changed the conversation back to this week’s lesson plan. You’re still paying attention though because you’re wondering if you possess the one trait that every great speaker has, and you’ll probably listen to me talk about the weather, tell a few stories or touch on a number of other subjects to get that information.
That’s why hooks are so powerful in speeches…and why it sometimes pays to set a hook and then leave it out there for a little while before giving the answer.
With that information out of the way, I’ll let you “off the hook”. Every great professional speaker refuses to quit. That’s the big secret. It does not matter how good you are now or how much experience you have under your belt…as long as you have a “can do” attitude and you’re constantly finding ways to improve your craft, then there’s no reason why you can’t be the next World Champion Speaker.
Now, before you say, “That’s it? I just have to have a good work ethic to become great?” I used that particular hook to give you a powerful lesson; your hook doesn’t have to be game-changing. It just has to capture your listener’s attention and help them connect with your message. And since you read this whole tutorial, you just proved that everything I have said is true.
Your turn: rework your last three speeches and try different hooks with them.