Less is often more, Keep It Simple, Be on – be brief – be seated (Franklin D Roosevelt), Men of few words are the best men of all (William Shakespeare), are all ways of saying get to the point and make your message as clear and concise as possible.
Most of us read newspapers or magazines, but very few of us read every article in them. How do we decide which articles to read fully or which articles to skip? We read the headlines and that determines if we read on or not. As a speaker or presenter, you can do the same thing. Keep your opening brief, to the point but interesting so the listener stays tuned in.
Both the grey figure and the gold figure, above, get to the same point eventually. But which one would you rather listen to.
So when crafting your speech and your opening, be clear on what you want to say, be brief, be to the point and grab attention early with your “I need to hear more” headline.
So “be on, be brief, be seated”