First words of the morning. First words of a conversation. First words of an informal greeting. First words of a presentation. First words of the evening greeting to self as sleep happens. This is what we do in the course of every day.
"How are you!" is the usual informal greeting. It all sounds so innocent and throw away. Something I have learned is that a person being greeted may well be having a really bad day and now how to respond to this intrusive greeting? One may wish to say " None of your business!" or "Let me tell you about this terrible thing happening in our family!". The person doing the greeting expects to hear " Just fine, how are you?" And thus a standoff is created with both parties trying to get this all over as soon as possible.
This may well be the reason "Hello!" was created. Little confrontation there. It says "I see you and you see me." Conversation not demanded. An opening to conversation may be appropriate or both parties may go on their way.
The creator of the first words of a presentation needs to remember that the first ten seconds or so are given to orientation by the listener. "Who is this, what am I about to hear, and is this worth my attention." Then attention to meaning may or may not happen.
First words of the day may be the hardest of all. They often set the tone of the day. There is not much time to think. If one can have presence of mind at such a time, the brain often brings up something that really does need attention this day. At least remember the mental suggestion and make a note of it. So I intend and sometimes do this usually to good effect.
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