Orange County Register

Fear of public speaking ranks up there with fear of death for some small-business owners. And now there’s more reason to be afraid than just looking silly.

Thanks to Instant Messaging, 10-minute oil changes and minute steaks, people are incredibly impatient, says Coto de Caza presentation coach Patrick McClure of Connexia Group. His Web site has more useful tips for small-business owners.

“You only have about 30 seconds to grab the audience’s attention and convince them you are worthy of their attention,” he says.

So when you must speak to a group, get to the point.

Fast.

Here are McClure’s tips for grabbing people’s attention before they zone out or leave the meeting early. (Add your own tips in the comment field.)

• Analyze your audience and understand what makes them tick.
• Determine your objective in giving the speech. Let’s hope you’re not up there to hear yourself talk.
• Organize your speech to hit the most important points relative to your objective.
• State your objective in the first 30 seconds of your talk. (Forget about thanking the person who introduced you, making some self-deprecating apology or taking a sip of water.)
• Grab attention with a startling, provocative or interesting statement.“Today’s Instant Messaging generation doesn’t have the patience to wait,” McClure says. “Get to the point quickly and convince your audience that you will not waste their time.”

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