10.1 Introductions

There are four important tasks that must be accomplished during the first few minutes of a speech. You must:

1. Capture the audience’s attention and give them a reason to listen.
2. Self-introduce and establish your credibility or ethos.
3. Reveal the topic of the speech through a clear thesis and relate it to the audience.
4. Preview the body of the speech by specifically outlining the main points you will cover.

Capture the Audience’s Attention

Audience members do not attend a presentation with the intention of losing interest or being bored to tears. Truth be told, audience members do not give a speaker a terribly long time to win them over either. You may only have several sentences and, possibly, a chance to actually introduce the topic of the speech before the audience mentally votes “Yes, I want to listen further” or “No, I’m tuning out and thinking about lunch.” If there is nothing in the speech that connects to the audience or gives them a reason to listen, then it is easy to decide not to listen. This opening statement is known as an attention getter.  This is your opportunity to capture the audience’s attention, but also help them to understand how this speech relates to them.

Depending on the overall time limit of a presentation, an ideal introduction should last no more than 30 seconds to 1 minute, and this includes your thesis and preview of your main points. This seems like a long time, but in truth, it is not. Hence, you have a short yet precious window to lure your audience and hope to keep them there. Here are top attention-gaining strategies to try in your upcoming speeches:

Ask a Question

Ask insightful, meaningful questions. Better yet, ask a series of questions designed to draw the audience further and further into your speech.

When you ask your audience a question, they must think. In the process of thinking, they are paying attention. Ideally your question should be rhetorical, you don’t want the audience to answer out loud, that can be distracting from your planned introduction and can interfere with the timing of the speech.  Asking a rhetorical question allows the audience to connect to your topic—if they raise their hands or agree with you, then this topic is important to them; if they don’t connect, they want to know what they are missing.  Asking a question draws the audience into your topic and makes it important to them.

“How many of you would categorize yourselves as ‘givers’? How many of you search for the perfect Christmas or birthday gift each year for your best friend or perhaps your mom? You go all out, right? Then, how many of you have signed up to be an organ donor? Isn’t that the ultimate gift? The gift of life?”

Find a Quotation

It could be a historical quote, a humorous one, even a song lyric. Ensure you credit the originator of the quote. Ensure the quote is relevant to your topic. If you use a quote, it should be impactful and cause your audience to want to hear more. When used effectively, the quote is relatively short and directly related to the topic.

“Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening.” –Dorothy Sarnoff

“Courage is being scared to death—but saddling up anyway.” –John Wayne

Use a Startling Statistic

Use a startling statistic or a shocking statement. For every topic, there is a statistic that the audience doesn’t know or is meaningful.  Audiences tend to remember startling information even after the speech ends, and it helps to get their attention.  Finding a statistic that also connects the audience to the topic can be very impactful.  Make sure you correctly cite your source when you state the statistic.

“According to HIV.gov, 34,800 new HIV infections occurred in 2019, while we don’t hear much about this disease anymore, it continues to disproportionately affect people in the South.”

“According to the FBI, statistics show that one in every four women will be assaulted in her lifetime. As I look around this room, that means that 5 of us will be victims of assault; is that you?”

Reference a Recent Event

Reference a local event, place, or activity. Use a recent news story, tragedy, or occurrence that your audience would be sure to recall.  A recent event can make your topic more meaningful to the audience because it demonstrates that your topic is happening right now, that this topic matters. There is always something going on, whether it’s Hispanic Heritage Month or a recent news story that you can connect your topic to and help the audience to know this topic matters to them.

“I’m sure all of you will recall the news story a few months back in which a car went over the Buckman Bridge, sideswiped by a drunk driver, as stated on the ABC news station KVUE. Today, I want to discuss how you can be a defensive driver—and hopefully—save yourself from becoming the next headline.” 

Tell a Story

Engage us, draw us in, and make the details of the story vivid and real to us.

“When I was four years old, I became separated from my parents while visiting the zoo. One minute they were there; the next, they were gone. While you might imagine that I was frightened, I wasn’t. I continued to look at the snakes in each display, fascinated. I tagged along with other visitors following the same path, staring in awe at each new exhibit. I certainly didn’t realize then what we all know now. How dangerous the world can be for a child alone?”

If you ever listened to a scary story told by a camp counselor at night when all were sitting near a campfire, you know the power of a good story. Plan to tell your audience a story, and you will have them listening as attentively to you as campers listen to a counselor’s scary story. Use vivid details; paint a mental picture in the minds of your listeners. You want them to relate—to smell the cookies baking, to see the tears in your grandmother’s eyes, to feel the softness of a baby in your arms. Make sure the story is short and directly related to the topic and the introduction is short and designed to move the audience into the body of the speech—if you have a longer story, that might be a main point.

Sometimes a story can be too personal or difficult to tell as a speaker, in which case you could use a personal reference instead. Rather than telling the whole story, it is just as meaningful to share your connection.

“According to the FBI statistics, 1 in 4 women will be a victim of assault in their lifetimes, I was a victim of assault due to an unfortunate and scary choice in a romantic relationship.”

While the story might be hard to share, even stating the connection from the speaker to the topic can be just as impactful.

Use Humor

If the topic is funny, then start with a funny story or a humorous admission of your own to connect the topic to the audience. Not every topic is serious or designed to save the world, some topics are lighthearted and funny, and the introduction should be funny as well. It is important to remember the audience however, not every humorous story is appropriate for every audience. In a classroom setting, you would want to ensure your humor was academically appropriate, and at work, your humor would need to be work appropriate. Note that humor does not work for every speaker. If you are not originally a funny person or unconfident of using humor in your speech, it might be safer to avoid humor.

Find a Compelling Visual Aid

A picture is worth a thousand words. Find a poignant, shocking, funny, or charming picture to get your audience’s attention. For example:

• A photo of a homeless child.
• A picture of a crystal-clear lake and mountain range.
• A cartoon depicting a political news story.

Self-Introduce and Establish Your Credibility

An audience may or may not have a preconceived notion about you when you stand before them, but your audience will make up its mind about you quickly. Humans are notoriously quick to judge and often form a first impression about a date, a stranger, or a speaker within the first 30 seconds. It becomes imperative, then, for you to introduce yourself and establish your credibility after you have grabbed the audience’s attention. While some in your audience will form a first impression of you based upon your outfit or your smile, most will judge your credibility based upon two crucial factors: your perceived competence and character.

Competence ensures your audience that you know your subject well. You have a strong knowledge base, and you are well prepared to share the topic with your listeners. Reveal your expertise in the introduction, so your audience knows from the beginning that you can be trusted. If you have a special relationship to the topic, either personal or professional or by association, the beginning of your presentation is the time to share that. If you do not have in-depth knowledge of the topic, it’s time to hit the books, access the Internet, or talk with the experts. You have the ability to become a minor expert on most any topic by doing some research. Then ensure that your audience knows of your research; they want to know that your information is valid.

A second component of credibility comes from the audience’s assessment of your character. Can you be trusted? Do you have their best interests at heart? Will the information you provide be useful and relevant to their lives or do you have your own agenda? This aspect of credibility is often referred to as “ethos,” the Greek word for character.

A great example is the stereotype of a used car salesman. You need a car, but you are not sure which one is right for you and which one you can really afford. The salesman knows all the necessary information about the vehicles—gas consumption, mileage, and accessories. But you just do not trust that s/he has your best interest at heart. Is s/he trying to get rid of a particular car or make more commission? Is the car you are being shown best for you or best for the salesman? While you feel confident of the salesperson’s competence, you are doubtful of his/her character. It is important that you show your audience that you are credible in both areas (Banks).

Some of the different ways to get the audience’s attention can also be used to establish your credibility.  If you told a story of how this topic happened to you, or you ask a rhetorical question and then state that you have or do whatever the question was about, this can help to get our attention and establish credibility.

“How many people in here have ever watched an important person in your life suffer through an illness?  I watched my sister struggle with breast cancer and today I will be explaining what breast cancer is.”

Sometimes you might not have a personal connection to the topic, where your research will be important to demonstrate that you are knowledgeable.

“Ever since my grandfather gave me a telescope, I have been fascinated by the stars.  This has become a topic that I research and read about every chance I get.”

Whatever topic you choose to present in your speeches, it is important that you have some connection to that topic, you have to be credible to speak on a topic in order for the audience to believe you, it would be unfair to ask the audience to do something that you don’t do or have no connection to.

Reveal the Topic of the Speech Through a Thesis Statement & Preview the Body of the Speech

After you grab your audience’s attention and before you reach the actual body of the speech, you will reveal your thesis statement. Remember, a thesis statement is a singular thought that tells the audience what the speech is about. It should be a strong, single, declarative sentence that captures the main point of your presentation. For example, if you are giving an informative speech on how to properly use a fire extinguisher, your thesis may be:

“Knowing how to operate a fire extinguisher by following four simple steps can be beneficial and potentially lifesaving.”

or

“Using a fire extinguisher can be accomplished by following four simple steps.”

A preview statement is also an important component of your introduction. While many people attempt to combine the thesis and preview statement, it is more thorough to include them as separate distinct items. The preview statement is usually the last sentence of the introduction. The preview is like giving your audience a map for a car trip: They will have an overview of where you will be taking them. It will be easier for them to pay attention as you present your information, and it will help them retain the main points of your presentation.

Using the same topic as used above, a preview statement might sound like:

“Today we will cover four specific steps that you should follow when using a fire extinguisher. I will explain the PASS acronym of pull, aim, squeeze, and sweep in my speech.”

Or perhaps it will be spoken this way:

“In our time today, we will discuss how to properly use a fire extinguisher.  You should pull the pin, aim the nozzle, squeeze the trigger and use a sweeping motion when using a fire extinguisher in an emergency situation.”

Notice that in each case, the speaker laid out the roadmap for what was going to be presented during the presentation. The audience had a framework to fill in when the supporting material was presented.

To prepare yourself, review the main points you intend to cover, and write one sentence that previews each of those points, separated by commas. You can also write three shorter sentences and use periods. Beware of going into the details reserved for the main body of the speech while previewing your topic. This will confuse the audience, and they will wonder what else you plan to discuss.  Remember, the introduction is short, and your goal is to move the audience into the body of the speech.