Though the introduction constitutes a small portion of the time allotted for delivering the speech, it has to contribute a significant amount of information to get the speech started right. The introduction offers the first opportunity to deliver the core message to the audience (the thesis or central idea) and give them a preview of the most important elements of that idea. If the speech lasts less than 10 minutes in length, the speaker needs to accomplish all of the following in less than two minutes:

1) Grab attention

2) Relate to the audience

3) Establish credibility

4) Provide the core of the speech, including a preview of the speech to come

In this chapter, we will focus on ways to Grab Attention of your audience.

“It was a pleasure to burn.” —Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.” —J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Well-known authors often admit that the opening line of a book is possibly the most important one in the entire book. Authors, like any other profession, need to make a living to maintain their lifestyle. This requires them to sell copies of their books, so authors must possess the capability to hook a reader within only one or two short lines to entice further reading. Most people, when searching for a new book, look first at the covers, and then to the first line of the story, and if it sufficiently grabs their attention, they continue perusing the pages. However, if those first lines fall flat, the book gets closed, set down, and likely forgotten forever.

A similar phenomenon occurs within the first few seconds of a speech. The first words uttered or the first actions that may communicate a message to an audience become absolutely critical. Imagine picking up a book that began with,

“Hi, everyone. My name is Stephen King, and today, I’d like to share a really scary story with you about homicidal clowns.”

Such a book promises little excitement, and most people would likely put it down without hesitation.

In a similar light, a speaker who gets up before an audience and “warms up” with a casual greeting, small talk, and an awkward announcement of the topic tends to put off most audiences’ attention spans. Considering that the average human transient attention span (temporary response to a stimulus) lasts around 8 seconds (Dukette & Cornish , 2009), a speaker has an extremely brief window of time in which to grab the audience’s attention and, subsequently, sustain it for the duration of the speech. In fact, the shorter the time the speaker has to speak, the more important this initial attention getter becomes. If given a limited amount of time to speak, don’t waste it on anything that does not further the purpose for speaking.

To grab an audience’s attention, try using one of the several time-honored techniques that continue to work today, despite all the various advances in technology. These include quotations, stories, rhetorical questions, shocking or unexpected information, and compelling visual aids or demonstration.

Quotations

A great quotation related to the speech topic often provides wisdom from a well-respected source that says something valuable or profound in much fewer words than most people can manage using many more. Choose quotes that demonstrate elegance, eloquence, or clever wit, yet make sure they remain relevant to the topic. Avoid using fun or humorous quotations for the sake of it, for this may make the audience feel cheated. Consider pulling quotations from websites, like BrainyQuote.com or GoodReads.com, works of literature, poetry, film, or even from personal acquaintances. Quotes can work especially great at the beginning and ending of speeches.

Select each of the > below to see examples of introductory quotes for a speech.

Stories

Providing a story or a narrative helps speakers frame the topic for the audience. Stories provide speakers with a way to personalize a topic by helping audience members identify with the characters, events, or places within the story. Also, stories can entertain and engage, further reinforcing the idea of using an attention getter at the beginning of a speech. Stories can present “what if” scenarios that give the audience a hypothetical situation that illustrates the main point of the speech. Stories can also come in the form of real-life anecdotes based on personal experiences, those of others, or even events portrayed in fictional works like television, film, or literature.

Select a story for both its relevance to the topic, but more importantly, its ability to resonate, or strike a familiar chord, with the audience. Knowing the audience in advance becomes critically important when selecting the perfect story to illustrate or frame a point.

View the interactive video below, answering the pop-up questions as they appear. Note: if using a mobile device, select the purple circle with a white hand to interact with the pop-up questions.