Agendas are boring.

“Today we’re going to talk about A, B, and C” is not an engaging way to begin a speech.

Here’s another presentation killer:

“Before we begin, I need to tell you about x.”

There is no before. As soon as you speak your first word, you’ve begun!

And never, ever, ever start with

“Good morning.”

“I can’t hear you!”

You have just a brief moment to capture your audience’s attention with a provocative opening line.

Agendas, backstories, and elementary school engagement tactics will cause a speech to trip over the starting line every time.

What’s the solution?

If the audience needs to know something before you can deliver your message, hand that job off to your emcee. Bake that information into the introduction your announcer shares so you can open with a one-two punch that slays your audience.