Back in 1998, I had been out of law school for a few years.
I was asked to speak to a group of new business owners and was so excited!
Here it was, I thought, my big break!
I'd tell these business owners how important it was to have a business attorney reviewing all their documents and transactions... and... they'd all rush the stage to hire me.
Or so I thought.
That's not what happened. Not by a long
shot.
The truth is, pretty much from the moment I opened my mouth, I was boring, nervous, overly prepared (which meant I sounded robotic)... and...
I Was Dead In the Water
Within the First 10 Seconds!
How did I know I bombed so early on? I could feel the energy draining from me... I could feel the audience's attention slipping away. I just felt it.
I had died on stage... and it
only took 10 seconds.
Since then, I've learning many lessons about public speaking, keeping an audience's attention, persuasion and many other things.
But the thing I'll never forget -- and I hope you won't either -- is that the first 10 seconds, when you're trying to capture an audience's attention, are the most critical. Some people say it's even less than 10 seconds. More like five. But you get the point.
Keep in mind this applies to ANY type of communication in which you're trying to
capture someone's attention:
-In a speech
-When you first meet someone professionally or personally
-When you run any kind of advertisement (that's why you must ALWAYS have a
headline)
-In long social media post
-In a business phone conversation
-In a sales call
-Etc...
Like I said, this 10 second rule applies to any method of communication.
If you don't capture your audience's interest right away... and keep their interest... it's pretty much game over. Yes, there are exceptions... but it's much better to start out of the
gate strong.
I hope you learn from my brutal lesson over 20 years ago and work on making your communications interesting right away.
You don't want to die in 10 seconds like I did. :)
And, remember, K.I.C. (Keep It Coptic).
