How to write a killer speech introduction
I am going to assist you in easing your social anxienty by providing you with few methods to open a speech to draw in the audience’s attention.
The opener of your speech sets the tone and expectation for your speech. If you want your speech to have a powerful message you need a powerful opener. I will provide you with examples of persuasive openers, an opener method that I have previously used to convey a powerful message and an opener that Steve Jobs gave at a college commencement ceremony.
I found a blog written by Dave Mac on presentationblogger.com where Dave lists killer speech openers and why they are effective.
1. “I’m about to share the 5 life secrets that no one has ever told you.” This makes an irresistible promise that audience cannot ignore.
2. “Who likes Chocolate?” This question begs to be answered. As a result, the audience pays attention
3. “Here’s why you’re wasting your time sleeping” This shocks the audience to attention with the fear they are using their time for something unnecessary
4. “Here’s how I make my wife/husband very, very angry:” This implies a promise of an interesting irresistible story
5. “My massive business mistake was coming to work without a pen” Engagement through an implicit promise of success by avoiding failure
6. “I learnt my lesson. I will never come to a party again naked”. This prepares the audience to get ready for a humorous speech
7. “These are the 3 warning signs you need to follow.” This forces the audience to think Am I okay? Do I have any of the warning signs? I must listen! I must pay attention!
I once opened a speech at school with five party poppers tied together. I hid the party poppers in my pocket and upon standing up I pulled the party poppers at once and gave the whole class a fright. I perfectly tied it in with my Shakespeare’s speech detailing these similarities of the audience’s fright to the fright that I received with King Lear’s hubris. My teacher loved it. He commented on the speech opener multiple times. I received the highest mark I have ever been given in English.
Another opener could be a personal story that relates directly to you, your audience will be drawn in, as they appreciate you sharing your personal experiences with them. They will in return provide you with their full attention. This is perfectly represented in Steve Job’s 2005 Commencement Address at Stanford University where he delivers a personal speech. The opener of his speech is as follows. “Truth be told, I never graduated from college, and this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today, I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it, no big deal — just three stories. The first story is about connecting the dots. I dropped out of Reed College after the first six months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another eighteen months or so before I really quit. So why’d I drop out? It started before I was born.” Steve Jobs then transitions into his personal story. This is an excellent opener and can freely viewed on YouTube.
There are numerous ways to open a speech, I encourage everyone to experiment with different types of openers. This education topic about how to open a speech only scratches the surface of what is possible. And remember if you cannot think of a good opener, just make a loud noise.
