What if you have something important to communicate with someone but you are afraid that you are boring?
I guess that this is a real problem and a legitimate concern because let’s face it: most people can be boring at times. Most people who give speeches and presentations in the business world are really boring which is why everyone carries around their cell phones and pull it out right before most speakers start speaking. People have an expectation of being bored by most presentations. So if you are concerned that you are boring, you might be.
For starters, let’s look at how you actually start. Most people start business presentations by saying things like ‘Good morning, I am happy to be here today. My name is this, my title is this, and today I am going to tell you about xyz. Before I do, let me tell you about the boarding history of my company and blah blah blah. I mean, that is how most people start any kind of formal presentation. Guess what? It is really boring!
So how do you start? You might anticipate that I will say, ‘Start by telling a joke!’. No. You don’t have to. Just start by saying something interesting. Say something of value to your audience that isn’t about you giving them value. Show something of interest to them then they will want to learn more about you. You can talk about yourself later.
The other big tip is that whatever you have to say, whether it is to one person, a two minute conversation, or a two hour keynote speech in front of a thousand employees, practice your speech on video. When you are playing back the video, every so often ask yourself, so why should I care? If you don’t have a good answer for that, maybe it is time to change the speech because it might actually be boring.