Common But Terrible Public Speaking Advice
Don’t “start your speech with a quote” until you’ve read this
“Start your speech with a quote.”
If you’ve ever given a speech, you’ve probably heard this piece of well-meaning, but ineffective, advice. I’ve been teaching public speaking for a decade, and still hear it frequently. Let’s look at the major pitfalls of this technique, then discuss better options to make your speech one your audience will actually want to hear.
Several years ago, I attended a luncheon that included a few speakers from my industry. It’s already difficult to grab your audience’s attention when theres an open buffet. These speakers had the added challenge of having only 5 minutes each to speak.
The third speaker, we’ll call him “Dave,” walked to the podium and began his presentation. He began, “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ‘All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.’”
Good quote, right? Absolutely. But did this quote help Dave with his presentation about great social media campaigns for tech companies? Definitely not.
Why was using this quote a bad idea?
- Dave began his speech by referencing one of the greatest speakers of all time. The excellence of Dr. King was immediately at the forefront of our minds, and yet, we were listening… to Dave. Would you want to be compared to one of the greatest speakers in history? I certainly would not.
- Dave attempted to link the quote, which comes from Strength to Love, to the work we were doing in social media marketing. Not only did this go against Dr. King’s original intent, it’s pretty crass to equate social media marketing for big tech with a sermon about labor and liberation.
- Because Dave only had 5 minutes to speak, he wasn’t able to detail the ways the quote was relevant his listeners. As a result, his presentation fell flat.
If you’re set on using a quote, how can you do so effectively?
- Quote people your audience will relate to in the context of the speech. For example, the president of your professional association, or a key author in your field, will resonate more with your audience. Your organization also has its own publications like newsletters or journals. These are great places to look for relatable information.
- Make sure you understand the context of the quote and the persona of the speaker. Have you ever heard a variation of the following quote, “Reading is not an end to itself, but a means to an end”? Care to guess who said that? It was Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf. I saw this quote on a Goodreads page called “Quotes about the importance of reading.” Context matters.
- Select a quote that presents a clear and actionable link to the topic of your speech. This is much easier to do if you follow the first tip about quoting someone your audience will recognize.
Finally… Do you really need to use a quote?
- Consider if you really want a quote from someone else to be the first thing your audience hears. What about a personal story related to the event, occasion, or setting? Maybe you have a little-known startling fact or statistic about your field? You have many options for starting a speech. Don’t begin with one of the most fraught.
- Let’s look at how Dave could have better introduced his topic (social media campaigns). Instead of using a (great) but unrelated quote, Dave could instead start with a story about something he learned in a recent campaign. Maybe some posts were performing better than others and he had to investigate. Maybe one post went viral — what caused it, and how could he do it again? A personal story + actionable step is a great way to introduce a speech and keep your audience engaged.
- Dave could have also referenced the occasion or setting of the luncheon. If it is regularly occurring event, what is the historical significance? What goals are you there to achieve? Is it the inaugural meeting of the organization? How exciting! Tell us a story about how this occasion came to be.
- Starting a speech with a (relevant) startling fact or statistic differs from quoting a well-known (but unrelated) person. In Dave’s case, he could have referenced recent Pew Research Center data about the growing number of Americans on social media (72%). Or, he could have discussed the strange data differences among social media users. For example, one study found that 81% of teens felt social media had a positive effect on their lives. Another study found only 1% of a teenager’s well-being could be attributed to social media. Dave’s audience would benefit from that information because it relates to their field of experience.
Dave is not alone in his quest for the perfect quote to open a speech. Hopefully, after reading this, you won’t join him on his journey.
What’s the worst public speaking advice you’ve heard?
This story is the first in a series about bad, but common, public speaking advice.
