Breaking the Ice

I recently talked about Oral Communication with Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Wayne State University.

The Department Chair, Dr. George Corcoran, did a wonderful job making me feel welcome.  We did a kind of impromptu warm-up act for the students as they made their way into the classroom.  I was trying to learn the students' names but was having difficulty since they were unfamiliar names to me.  I shared with them how difficult it is to retain information that is completely foreign and that it took me quite a few times of being exposed to my own son's name (Nadim) until I could remember it easily.

We joked around with the students about whether Dr. Corcoran should introduce me or not, since it is common for introductions to be bungled.  So instead, he asked if he could share a tie story with the students.  I took a seat and gladly agreed.  It's always a treat to see how other speakers handle a room.

He launched right into a short description of the tie he was wearing - it was a Jerry Garcia tie and he explained who Jerry Garcia is and then even talked about whether or not the tie even coordinated with his outfit.  It seems that Dr. Corcoran has an impressive tie collection and that he makes a point of beginning his classes by talking about the uniqueness or origin of the tie he is wearing that day.

It's a great idea to have a fall-back plan on how to begin a class or presentation.  One of my colleagues in Communication at Wayne State University opens his classes by asking the students what they have been following in the news that week.  I frequently ask an attendance question, a simple question that can be answered easily by the students as I call their names and take attendance.

When you are ready to get down to the business of talking about your topic, a speaker should launch right in and begin with a compelling attention getting device.  But before that, it's a great idea to break the ice a bit with the audience, set the tone, or give them a chance to participate in some small way.  You may not have an exhaustive collection of ties, but a few go-to questions or anecdotes come in handy when you are establishing rapport with an audience.