A World Champion’s Guide to Public Speaking: Part 1

If you have ever struggled with how to start a presentation, worried about losing your audience in the first few moments, or wanted to make your speaking feel more polished, confident, and compelling, join us for the first session in "A World Champion’s Guide to Public Speaking - The Five Steps to Creating the Perfect Opening".

In this workshop, Andrew Simon will break down the art and structure of a powerful opening into a clear, practical, repeatable process. He will walk participants through five key steps for building a compelling opening, including how to identify the real purpose of your talk, how to create immediate audience relevance, how to choose the right type of opening, how to build curiosity or emotional connection, and how to transition smoothly into the body of your presentation.

Agenda
18:30 Welcome
19:00 - 20:30 Workshop
RSVP so we can have an accurate headcount. There is no cost for attendance. Attendees are required to purchase minimum a drink, or food to support the venue. This helps keep these events running! Latecomers will not be allowed to enter the room to prevent disruption.

About Andrew Simon
Andrew Simon is a world public speaking champion, speechwriter, and public speaking coach with more than 30 years of experience helping speakers craft and deliver presentations that connect with audience. Over his career, Andrew has conducted trainings and prepared presentations for professionals from Microsoft, Facebook, the National Football League, AT&T, MIT, Harvard, and more. Additionally, he has written “The Art (and Science) of Public Speaking,” a complete guide to content, rhetoric, and deliver. His work focuses on making public speaking clearer, more engaging, more strategic, and more human. Through his coaching, seminars, and workshops, Andrew helps speakers move beyond memorized scripts and generic presentation advice, giving them practical tools to communicate with confidence, authenticity, and impact.

Workshop Content
One of the most important parts of any presentation is the opening. A strong opening does more than sound impressive. It gives the audience a reason to listen. It establishes the emotional and intellectual direction of the talk. It creates curiosity. It signals confidence. Most importantly, it helps the audience understand why your message matters.

Whether you are giving a business presentation, pitching an idea, speaking at an event, leading a meeting, delivering a workshop, or preparing for a major speech, your opening sets the tone for everything that follows. It is the moment when your audience decides whether to lean in, tune out, trust you, doubt you, relax, resist, listen, or mentally leave the room.
Instead of relying on generic advice like “start with a joke,” “tell a story,” or “grab their attention,” this workshop will explore what a great opening is actually supposed to accomplish. You will learn how to think strategically about your first few moments on stage, how to avoid the most common opening mistakes, and how to create an introduction that feels natural, engaging, and purposeful.

This workshop will not be a passive lecture. It will be interactive, practical, and designed to help participants apply the ideas in real time. You will see examples of what works, understand why certain openings fail, and learn how small changes in language, structure, timing, and framing can dramatically improve the way an audience experiences your presentation.

By the end of the workshop, you will have a clearer understanding of how to begin a speech, presentation, or pitch in a way that feels intentional rather than improvised, compelling rather than generic, and audience-focused rather than self-focused.

What You Will Learn

• Create an opening that captures attention without sounding forced or gimmicky.
• Avoid common opening mistakes that weaken credibility before the presentation has truly begun.
• Make your audience feel that your message is relevant to them.
• Use stories, questions, observations, contrast, tension, or surprise more effectively.
• Build a clear bridge between your opening and the main point of your presentation.
• Start with greater confidence, clarity, and control.

Who This Event Is For
Professionals, entrepreneurs, leaders, students, coaches, trainers, educators, and anyone who wants to become a stronger, more engaging, and more persuasive speaker. It is especially useful for people who already have to speak in front of others but sometimes struggle with how to begin, how to sound natural, how to capture attention quickly, or how to make their presentations feel more polished and powerful. No advanced speaking experience is required. The focus will be on practical tools that anyone can understand and apply.