called a hook or a grabber.
I don’t want to close my eyes; it makes me feel awkward and exposed to be in a group of people with my eyes closed. Because of that, I keep my eyes open. The problem is when I keep my eyes open, I feel like some sort of horrible nonconformist rebel. I feel awkward with my eyes closed and I feel guilty if they are open. Either way, I just feel bad. Besides, half of the time when speakers tell audience members to close their eyes, they forget to tell us when we can open them. If you are wanting me to imagine a story, just tell me to imagine it, don’t make me close my eyes (rant over).
You should plan your opening to be intentional and with power. “Can everybody hear me” is a weak and uncertain statement and this is not the first impression you want to leave. Do a microphone check before the audience members arrive and have someone stand in different corners of the room to make sure you can be heard. Don’t waste your valuable speech time with questions that you should already know the answer to.
You should know that before you begin. Even if the presentations for the day are running over and you are the last speaker, you should ask the MC before you begin. Always plan your first words with power.
You should make your slides big, really big. Test out your slides in advance of your speech, walk all around the room and make sure you can read them. Have a friend check them out as well. You should know they are big enough because you planned for it and tested it.
People really hate having things taken away, not to mention that your audience may want to take notes on their devices. Chances are you are speaking to adults, let them determine if it is appropriate to have out their technology.
Stop apologizing! Stop making excuses! While these lines may be true, they just come of as excuses and can make the audience either feel like you don’t want to be there, or they just feel sorry for you.
Talking about your nervousness will make you more nervous and will make them look for signs of your nervousness. Just start your speech.
Do not start with hesitation. Plan the first words, memorize the first words, practice the first words. Do not start with “Ok, so um, now I’d like…” Plan strong and start strong.
Do Not Discuss Your Business with People Watching…Really! I Mean It! Many of us are giving and listening to presentations in an online format. I have attended numerous presentations this year through Zoom where I have to sit and watch while the organizers engage in personal small talk or deal with the details of the presentation. This is how the speech I recently attended began. “Donna, you are going to share your screen, right?” “Yes. I have my PowerPoint ready to go. Will you push “record” when I give the signal?” “Sure. Where did you say that button is again? Do you think we should wait five more minutes, I think we had more who were coming? Dave, what was the total we were expecting?” “Yeah, we had 116 sign up, but the reminders went out late so this may be all we have. We can give them a few more minutes to log on.” “Donna, How is your dog? Is she still struggling with her cone since her spay surgery? My dog never would wear the cone –she tore her stitches out and broke her wound open. It was terrible. Well, it looks like it is about time to begin, thank you everyone for coming.” If you are organizing an event online, hosting a speech online, giving a presentation online–please keep it professional. Most platforms will allow you to keep the audience in a waiting room until it is time to start. If you have a business to deal with, keep the audience out until you have everything ready to go. Once the audience is in the meeting, you should engage the audience in group-type small talk or you should just start the presentation. In professional settings, you should start the meeting on time. Why punish those who showed up on time to wait for those who aren’t there yet?
I asked my long-time friend, Bill Rogers, to write an excerpt to add to the book. I met Bill when he was the Chief Development Officer for a hospital in Northwest Arkansas and I met him again when he was reinventing himself as a college student getting a Master’s Degree in the theater. He would love to share a symbolic cup of coffee with you and give you advice about public speaking.
Perfect morning for a walk, isn’t it? Join me for a cup of coffee? Wonderful. Find us a table and I’ll get our coffee.
There you go; just like you like it. There’s nothing like a great cup of coffee on the patio of your neighborhood coffee shop, is there?
Now that you’re settled in your favorite chair, take a sip, and let that glorious caffeine kick in and do its stuff. Okay, let’s talk.
So, you were asking me about public speaking.
Well, let’s see. Where do we begin?
One of the first pieces of advice I ever received was to imagine that every member of your audience is sitting there in their underwear! Yeah, right. That never worked for me. I tried it once with a local civic group of community leaders both male and female. If the intent of that tidbit is to make you relax, it certainly didn’t work for me. It just made me more self-conscious…and more nervous. I not only got distracted, but I also lost my train of thought, I started sweating, and, of course, imagined myself standing there without clothes. Needless to say, that speech was a disaster and I’ve never used it again. I suggest you don’t either.
In the early days, I also relied very heavily on my typed-up speech. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that unless you find yourself reading it word for word as I did. Nothing is more boring nor puts an audience to sleep quicker than a speaker with their nose down reading a speech. There’s no connection and connection with your audience is key.
As you know, I love theatre and I’ve done a bit of acting over the years. Early on, I learned that the quicker I learned my lines, the more I could play, experiment, and shape my character. It relaxed me and gave me enormous freedom. It led me to find a mantra for myself: “With discipline comes freedom.” This freedom will allow you to improvise as your audience or situation dictates while still conveying the core message of your presentation. That discipline and its resulting freedom apply to public speaking of any kind and, I think, will serve you well.
Another old adage we’ve all heard is Aristotle’s advice. You know the one. No? Well, roughly, it’s to tell your audience what you’re going to say, say it, and then tell them what you just said. That’s the basic formula for public speaking. And it works as a good place to start.
However, effective speaking is much more and, to me, it starts with a story or even a simple sentence.
You know the feeling you get when you read the first sentence of a good book and it just reaches out and grabs you? That should be your goal with every presentation. One sentence to capture your audience’s attention. Something that causes them to lean forward. Something that sparks their imagination.
It doesn’t have to be all that profound either. It can be something very simple. A personal story that relates to your topic. A relevant fact or statistic that defines or illustrates the issue or subject matter at hand.
A couple of classics come to mind. The first is Alice Walker’s, “The Color of Purple.”
“You better not tell nobody but God.”
And the second one is from my favorite novel, “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee.
“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm broken at the elbow.”
Both sentences hook you immediately. A few simple words speak volumes. After reading or hearing those words, you naturally lean in. You want to learn more. You want to find out what happens next. Every effective speech or presentation does the same thing.
Of course, make sure that the first and last thing you say to your audience is both relevant and appropriate. I share this out of an abundance of caution. I once worked for an internationally recognized and well-respected children’s research hospital and I was given the privilege to speak at a national educational convention. The room was filled wall to wall with teachers. I thought I’d be cute and add a little levity. I opened my presentation with this line, “You know, I’ve had nightmares like this…” Instead of the roars of laughter, I was expecting, a wave of silence ensued. Not only was the line not funny, but it was also wholly inappropriate and I immediately lost my audience. Not my best day. Learn from my mistakes.
Finally, let’s touch on the importance of approaching a speech as a conversation. You and I are sitting here enjoying our coffee and having a friendly, relaxed conversation. Strive for that every chance you get. You may not always have that luxury. Some speeches and presentations simply demand formality. But even in those cases, you can usually make it somewhat conversational. I always try to write my speeches in a conversational style. Like I’m talking to a friend…or trying to make a new one.
So, to recap: tell a story, learn your lines, hook your audience with a simple sentence, close with a question or call to action, use repetition, keep it conversational, treat your audience as a friend, and give yourself permission to relax.
Above all, be yourself. Allow yourself to be as relaxed as you are with those closest to you. If you’re relaxed, if you try to think of your audience as a friend, then, in most cases, they too will relax and they will root for you. Even if they disagree with what you are telling them, they will respect you and they will listen.
How about another cup?
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Advanced Public Speaking Copyright © 2021 by Lynn Meade is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.
Maybe you know this: you may or must give a speech, but how do you start? Whether you’re giving a speech as an employer or to your colleagues, or you’re an external keynote speaker, the principles are always the same. Likewise, your preparation is not much different: whether it’s a keynote at a kick-off event , the festive speech at the company Christmas party , a motivational speech at a team event or even a laudatory speech at an awards ceremony – the search for the right begining should not be left to chance.
How do you get your audience’s attention so that they want to listen and can follow you easily? How do you sound interesting? In this article you will get the necessary tips for your ideal start for your next speech to inspire your audience. I have collected these speech introductions and examples in my work in the field of public speaking as a presenter and keynote speaker in front of over 5 million people.
Why is the beginning, i.e. the first few minutes of a presentation, so important? This is where the first impression is being made. Your audience intuitively decides within a few seconds whether they like the speaker and want to follow. After that, you still have up to three minutes to pick up your audience with the content of your speech.
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There’s a saying that goes, “ There’s no second chance for a first impression. ” It takes between 100 milliseconds and 7 seconds for your audience to get the same impression of you. If you as a speaker fail to make that first impression, no matter how impressive your speech, it will be very difficult to pick up your audience.
US comedian Jerry Seinfeld , one of the most famous American comedians of the 90s, said that his fame only gives him a starting bonus for the first three minutes – at the latest then he has to deliver. If you don’t enjoy the celebrity bonus in your speeches, that means you have to deliver right from the get go to win over your audience.
Before you can wow people as a speaker and give any thought to content, you need to set the stage. If you want to give a good speech and move your audience from A to B, two things are essential: you need to know where you want to go and where your audience is coming from .
If you don’t know in which direction you want to move your audience, then no amount of tips will get you there. So before you tinker with the ideal introduction, you need to be clear about what your outcome is .
What feeling do you want the audience to have when you leave the stage? What impression do you want to convey as a speaker? Even more public speaking tips you can find here.
If you want to catch a fish, you have to use a bait that tastes good to the fish, not to the fisherman . The same applies to presentations: who decides what is a top speech? That is, of course, in the eye of your audience. Therefore, it is all the more important to know who the people are, listening to your speech.
An American proverb says that your audience doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Your audience won’t pay attention to you until they see that your speech is relevant to them. As a speaker, do you bring examples and tips and answer questions in your main points that matter to the audience? Do your main ideas strike a cord?
Tip: Try to find out as much as possible to know in advance what moves your audience and why people are here today. If you have the opportunity, use the time for successful networking and listen to their needs.
Only after you know your outcome and your audience you can focus on how to start your presentation, because now you know as a speaker in which direction your ship should sail. If you want to give a speech, you need to get your audience interested in you and your main points. For this to happen, you need the attention of your audience.
Speaker Tip: First create attention , then develop interest in your message and your main points to make it worth listening for your audience.
Now let’s look at tips and examples of how you as a speaker can inspire your audience. These tips should give you a guideline from where you can successfully transition from your chosen introduction to the main part and final part of your speech.
An elegant way to begin a speech is with a question . The goal is to engage your listener directly in your opening and generate interest. In order for the question to be effective, it must be tailored to your target audience. The question may be provocative, surprising or even make you smile, but it must be relevant.
For example, if you’re speaking to a group of retirees, a question like “Which one of you went to a disco last weekend?” would be just as out of place as asking a group of Wall street brokers “Which one of you has been involved in stocks?”. Your audience needs to feel like you know who you’re dealing with.
“Who remembers what they did last Saturday night?” was an opening I chose many years ago when giving a speech. Of course, after that, there was a story about my Saturday night that fit right in with the theme of my speech. People were immediately involved and everyone was thinking. Because just about everybody did something last Saturday and so it was relevant… even if many didn’t even remember it.
With questions that fit the topics, you are sure to get the attention of the participants. However, always pay attention to what you trigger in your audience with a question and, if requested, also provide the appropriate answer.
Another speaking tip: When you ask a question, give your audience time to respond . Whether out loud, with a show of hands, or silently, people need time for what you say to have an impact. Of course, questions can also be used during your speech.
Using the words of another person in your speech is a proven way. The art of building a good speech is to pick up your audience where they are. A pointed quote that gets to the heart of your ideas or the occasion is the basic premise for choosing someone else’s statement as your lead-in. If people are familiar with the name of the person you are quoting, it gives you added credibility as a speaker.
Very similar to a quote is using a proverb to start your speech. Again, there is often a deeper wisdom behind it. Link this to the idea of your speech and you have a great introduction.
Again, I’ll give you an example from my own experience when I was asked to give a presentation on the topic of corporate mission statements many years ago. I decided to start with a quote, but the number of quotes on this topic are manageable. However, the corporate mission statement compares very well with the soul for people, and so on this occasion I found a quote on the subject of the soul and then drew the analogy with the corporate mission statement. “Outside the box” solutions are also the speaker’s friend.
A particularly powerful way to start is to share a story or personal real life experience with your audience at the beginning of your presentation. With a personal story, you create compelling moments and build an emotional connection with your audience. However, this is also where the biggest danger lies: your story must absolutely correspond to the facts and at the same time should have a connection to the topic of the event. The audience has a good nose for it, if you serve them a “suitably made” story.
Of course, storytelling is not limited to stories you have experienced yourself. You can also draw on a current or even historical event. Important, as mentioned above, is the connection to the goal of your presentation. Also, make sure that you start right in the relevant event and do not begin with Adam and Eve. Especially extroverted people like to get into narration and then it can happen that you lose the drive to your actual presentation and your audience is no longer on the point.
One of my stage coaching clients, for example, took his audience into a situation right at the beginning of his speech when he was at the start of his first triathlon. He immediately built up a tension, because he put his audience directly into it instead of talking about preparation and planning for the triathlon. Because he also found the right tone, the speech went down great. Bonus tip for your speech: Stories absolutely need to be rehearsed and tailored to your audience and the occasion. This does not mean, as already mentioned, that you add things, but that you leave out unnecessary things. Don’t just tell from memory, but really practice.
Starting with an open loop is something like the supreme discipline. Here, you start with a story, but don’t finish telling it until the end of your speech . This type of introduction is certainly a bit unusual and, in my opinion, more suitable for experienced speakers, especially to keep the tension high.
You start with the open loop in the same way as with storytelling and take your audience along until the point where the tension is at its highest. Instead of the resolution, you lead into the topic of your speech and then come to the main part, where the content is presented with further examples. Only at the end do you pick up the ball of your introductory story again and close the open loop.
As an example, I start one of my keynote speeches with such an open loop: I take the audience on my experience at the New York City Marathon. Since my preparation for it was far from ideal due to injuries, I wasn’t sure until the start how far I would run that day. My speech started with the thoughts going through my head at the start, with my uncertainty but also anticipation. The start of the marathon was then the Open Loop, which I only resolved at the end of the speech.
A parable is a very short to short story which might not even have a plot of its own. While a parable can be told with action, as if something has actually taken place, it can also be about something hypothetical: “Imagine…” or “Suppose…”. In both cases, the point is that we want to make a connection to the content.
The purpose of parables is to pick up the audience as they enter your presentation and provide an emotional experience that immediately introduces them to the topic through your words.
The FFS introduction is particularly useful if you have facts, figures or statistics that are not familiar to your audience and are also unusual. In addition, it must of course fit your topic and possibly support your thesis. A personalized statistic works best to meet your audience’s needs.
When we were designing the outline for one of my Executive Legacy Coaching clients’ investor pitch, we made a conscious decision to start with a number that would probably come as a surprise to many listeners. To back up the pain point that his product solves, he asked the panel how much they thought that an unhappy employee costs a company per year. Starting with that number was so effective because the audience’s estimates were all substantially lower than the true number, creating an a-ha effect.
Another way to start your speech is with a look back . This variant is particularly suitable if you are to give a speech on the occasion of an anniversary or birthday. In your preparation, you should pay special attention to who is sitting in your audience: what connection do they have to the person or the company or the occasion and, above all, have they experienced the period themselves.
Some time ago, I had the privilege of being on stage at a company’s 20th anniversary. In order to give the audience as emotional an experience as possible, I first had to find out who was in the audience. Have people lived through these last 20 years, and are they likely to remember the moment from 20 years ago? Since my audience was mostly over 35 years old I assumed that was the case. Thus I dove into the world of 20 years ago: how did the world look and what moved people at the time? Immediately the people were in the emotions of the memories and from that I could then draw a bow to the company anniversary: “much has changed, but one thing has remained the same…”.
Jokes are for comedians.
There are talented joke tellers and there are those who always flub the punch line. If you feel uncomfortable in the role of the joker, don’t do it. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t spice up the introduction with a little humor. Humor arouses positive emotions and loosens the atmosphere. A humorous introduction, which also works without a joke, signals to the participants that the event will not be dry as dust and that it is worth staying for.
Bonus tip: Humor is different in different regions and works best when you approach your audience with respect and humility.
A provocative introduction is like riding on a razor blade: very dangerous. You have to have an incredible ace up your sleeve to win your audience back. As a rule, I would strongly advise you not to use provocative introductions. If your audience perceives you as an unsympathetic person, no matter how ingenious the content of your speech, it will not bring the desired success.
Some insecure speaker starts his speech with an apology for his insecurity or God knows what else. Please don’t do that. For one thing, the audience usually doesn’t notice it anyway, and for another, it immediately takes something away from your first impression. You might get sympathy for it, but in the rarest cases you will get the attention for your speech.
One of the most important tips I once received was that your audience wants you to win . That’s right, you read that correctly. Your audience wants you to be good. No one sits in the audience hoping for a boring speaker to come on now. Your audience wants you to do your job well. If you feel anxiety on the way to the stage, keep reading.
The key to a perfect introduction lies not only in the preparation for your speech, but also in the emotional preparation in the moments before public speaking. Especially if you are nervous or even feel speech anxiety , it is even more important that you, to present convincingly, are in an ideal state.
Take a deep breath just before your performance, send positive emotions to your audience and off you go. Many speakers also like to take index cards with their notes to be prepared in case of an emergency. The phrase for the introduction as well as for the conclusion I would always write in full. For the main points, keywords are enough here.
When you finally arrive on stage, at first be aware of your audience . Before you begin, start with eye contact and confident body language to radiate stage presence . Only then, when you feel the attention of your audience, you start to talk. This confidence will automatically boost your credibility.
Bonus tip: if you’re unsure about your voice, a little voice training will help.
Of course, the principles for your ideal start also apply at virtual events. So if you hold a webinar or a virtual presentation or are on stage at a hybrid event , nothing will change in the structure of your preparation. The main point in the virtual space is that you have to speak in front of the camera and this should be practiced. The specific elements of structuring your presentation stay the same.
Click on the button and send a non-binding request to Ronny to be your coach for your next keynote, speech or presentation.
In this article you have learned how to start your speech in an ideal way. Do you already have an idea which structure you like best? Remember that you always start with your outcome and your audience before you create a thread for your presentation.
The tone makes the music. Former American writer Maya Angelou summed it up this way: “Your audience won’t remember exactly what you said, but they’ll always remember how it made them feel.” Whatever the occasion, take your audience on an emotional journey.
If you feel that you still need help for your next speech or keynote , feel free to contact me or just write me an e-mail ! Together many things are easier.
Which introduction appeals to you the most? Which start to a speech have you learned about here and would like to try out for your next performance? Please leave a comment below and share this article with someone who you think will profit from it. All the best for your next speeches.
There is no second chance for a first impression . The first impression is created in the first few seconds of perception and is crucial to whether your audience perceives you as likeable or unlikeable. If you mess up the first impression, the next few minutes will be a steep uphill climb to get the audience back on your side.
First, take three deep breaths and consciously put a smile on your face. Stand up straight, shoulders back, head up and visualize your audience and your goal. The important thing here is to move as quickly as possible from an internal focus (thinking about you) to an external focus (thinking about your audience). Imagine how your audience will benefit from your speech. For even more tips, I recommend you read my blog post Persuasive presentations: 3 Steps to Your Ideal State in Front of an Audience.
Ideally, you were introduced by a presenter who has also given some interesting background information about you to the audience. However, it always makes sense to leave nothing to chance here and, on the one hand, to discuss your introduction with the presenter upfront and, on the other hand, to include the most important points in your speech. I would always start with an introduction into the topic to get the audience interested and then introduce myself. The best way to find the right introduction is to read this article.
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You’ve heard the saying, “First impressions are lasting; you never get a second chance to create a good first impression” — right?
The same is true when talking about how to start a speech…
The truth is, when you start your speech, you must focus everything on making a positive first impression on your audience members (especially if you are doing the presentation virtually ). Capturing the audience’s attention from the very beginning is crucial to prevent them from being distracted, losing interest, or forming negative opinions.
The introduction is the formal greeting for speeches, so let’s be sure to get this right to hook the audience. Understanding the importance of speech openings can significantly impact making a strong first impression. Planning and delivering the first words with confidence and relevance is essential, as they set the tone for the entire presentation and ensure you deliver a professional start, free from hesitation or irrelevance.
Here are 15 different ways to start a speech as well as 2 extra BONUS tips at the end.
You can start by thanking the audience for coming and thanking the organization for inviting you to speak.
Refer to the person who introduced you or to one or more of the senior people in the organization in the audience.
This compliments them, makes them feel proud and happy about your presence, and connects you to the audience like an electrical plug in a socket.
A presentation tip at the start is to tell the audience members how much they will like and enjoy what you have to say.
For example, you might say:
“You’re really going to enjoy the time we spend together this evening. I’m going to share with you some of the most important ideas that have ever been discovered in this area.”
Remember that speaking is an art, so be an artist and take complete control of your performance,
You can begin by complimenting the audience members sincerely and with great respect.
Smile as if you are really glad to see them as if they are all old friends of yours that you have not seen for quite a while.
You can tell them that it is a great honor for you to be here, that they are some of the most important people in this business or industry, and that you are looking forward to sharing some key ideas with them.
You could say something like:
“It is an honor to be here with you today. You are the elite, the top 10 percent of people in this industry. Only the very best people in any field will take the time and make the sacrifice to come so far for a conference like this.”
Use a current event front-page news story to transition into your subject and to illustrate or prove your point. You can bring a copy of the newspaper and hold it up as you refer to it in your introduction.
This visual image of you holding the paper and reciting or reading a key point rivets the audience’s attention and causes more people to lean forward to hear what you have to say.
For many years, I studied military history…
Especially the lives and campaigns of the great generals and the decisive battles they won. One of my favorites was Alexander the Great. Standing in the symbolic shadow of such historical figures can provide a powerful and engaging start to any speech, especially when drawing parallels to contemporary challenges.
One day, I was asked to give a talk on leadership principles to a roomful of managers for a Fortune 500 company.
I decided that the campaign of Alexander the Great against Darius of Persia would make an excellent story that would illustrate the leadership qualities of one of the great commanders in history.
I opened my talk with these words:
“Once upon a time there was a young man named Alex who grew up in a poor country. But Alex was a little bit ambitious. From an early age, he decided that he wanted to conquer the entire known world. But there was a small problem.
Most of the known world was under the control of a huge multinational called the Persian Empire, headed by King Darius II. To fulfill his ambition, Alex was going to have to take the market share away from the market leader, who was very determined to hold on to it.
This is the same situation that exists between you and your major competitors in the market today. You are going to have to use all your leadership skills to win the great marketing battles of the future.”
You can start by quoting a well-known person or publication that recently made an interesting or important statement.
One of the subjects I touch upon regularly is the importance of continual personal development.
I will say something like:
“In the twenty-first century, knowledge and know-how are the keys to success. As basketball coach Pat Riley said, ‘If you are not getting better, you are getting worse.’”
Start by telling a story about a recent conversation with someone in attendance.
For instance, I might say:
“A few minutes ago, I was talking with Tom Robinson in the lobby. He told me that this is one of the very best times to be working in this industry, and I agree.”
You can start your talk by making a shocking statement of some kind.
For example, you might say something like:
“Here’s a startling fact: According to a recent study, there will be more change, more competition, and more opportunities in this industry in the next year than ever before. And 72 percent of the people in this room will be doing something different within two years if they do not rapidly adapt to these changes.”
Click here If you want to learn more techniques to wow your audience.
You can start by quoting a relevant, recent research report.
One example is:
“According to a story in a recent issue of Businessweek, there were almost 11 million millionaires in America in 2018, most of them self-made.”
The French philosopher Gustav Le Bon once wrote, “The only religion of mankind is, and always has been hope.”
When you speak effectively, you give people hope of some kind.
Remember, the ultimate purpose of public speaking, is to inspire people to do things that they would not have done in the absence of your comments.
Everything you say should relate to the actions you want people to take and the reasons that they should take those actions.
Bill Gove used to walk onto the stage after his introduction if he had just finished talking to someone on the side and was breaking off to give his talk to the group.
The audience got the feeling that his entire talk was one continuous conversation, devoid of meaningless filler words .
Bill would often go to the edge of the stage and then drop his voice in a conspiratorial way, open his arms, and beckon the audience members to come a little closer.
He would say, “Come here, let me tell you something,” and then he would wave them forward as though he was about to tell a secret to the entire room.
The amazing thing was that everyone in the room would lean forward to hear this “secret” that he was about to share. People would all suddenly realize what they were doing and break out in laughter. It was a wonderful device to get the audience into the palm of his hands.
You can open by making a positive statement and then pose a rhetorical question to engage your audience and set the stage for your presentation.
Try something like this:
“This is a great time to be alive and in business in America. But let me ask you, what does it truly mean to be self-employed in today’s economy?”
Raise your hand to indicate what you want people to do. I have used this line, and after a moment of thought, I then say to someone who looks intrigued in the front, “How many people here feel truly self-employed?”
Invariably, someone will say, “We all do!”
I then compliment and affirm the answer: “You’re right! We are all self-employed, from the time we take our first jobs to the day that we retire; we all work for ourselves, no matter who signs our paychecks.”
Similarly, a 17-year-old science fair winner effectively engaged their audience with a question at the beginning of their TED Talk, showcasing the power of this technique.
You can start with a problem that must be solved. If it is a problem that almost everyone has in common, you will immediately have the audience’s complete and undivided attention.
For example, you could say:
“Fully 63 percent of baby boomers are moving toward retirement without enough money put aside to provide for themselves for as long as they are going to live. We must address this problem and take action immediately to ensure that each person who retires will be able to live comfortably for the rest of his or her natural life.”
Introducing a new idea at this point can be a powerful way to engage your audience further, by promising a solution that is both innovative and beneficial.
You can start by making a strong and powerful statement and then ask a question. You then follow with an answer and ask another question. This gets people immediately involved and listening to your every word.
Here’s an example:
“Twenty percent of the people in our society make 80 percent of the money. Are you a member of the top 20 percent? If not, would you like to join the top 20 percent or even the top 10 percent? Well, in the next few minutes, I am going to give you some ideas to help you become some of the highest-paid people in our society. Would that be a good goal for our time together today?”
You can start your talk with a personal story. Some of the most powerful words to capture the complete attention of the audience and make a personal connection are, “Once upon a time…”
From infancy and early childhood, people love stories of any kind. When you start off a presentation with a personal anecdote using the words, “Once upon a time…” you tell the audience that a relatable story is coming. People immediately settle down, become quiet, and lean forward, eager to hear how your experience might mirror their own or offer them new insights.
When I conduct full-day seminars and I want to bring people back to their seats after a break, I will say loudly, “Once upon a time there was a man, right here in this city…”
As soon as I say these words, people hurry back to their seats and begin to listen attentively, connecting with the story on a personal level.
Incorporating a personal story is very effective.
In fact, it’s probably one of the best public speaking tips I’ve learned to this day.
Very often, I will start a serious speech or presentation to a business, sales, or entrepreneurial group by saying:
“I started off without graduating from high school. My family had no money. Everything I accomplished in life I had to do on my own with very little help from anyone else.”
It is amazing how many people come up to me after a talk that began with those words and tells me that was their experience as well.
They tell me that they could immediately identify with me because they too had started with poor grades and limited funds, as most people do. As a result, they were open to the rest of my talk, even a full-day seminar, and felt that everything I said was more valid and authentic than if I had been a person who started off with a successful background.
Building a bridge like this is very helpful in bringing the audience onto your side.
You can ask people to turn to the person next to them to discuss a particular point.
For instance, you could say:
“Tell the person next to you what you would like to learn from this seminar.”
Whatever you ask your audience members to do, within reason, they will do it for you. Your commands and your thought leadership will easily influence them, as long as you ask them with confidence.
By following any one of these tips for starting your speech, you are sure to grab your audience’s attention every time. How do you start a speech? Let me know in the comments.
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About Brian Tracy — Brian is recognized as the top sales training and personal success authority in the world today. He has authored more than 60 books and has produced more than 500 audio and video learning programs on sales, management, business success and personal development, including worldwide bestseller The Psychology of Achievement. Brian's goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined. You can follow him on Twitter , Facebook , Pinterest , Linkedin and Youtube .
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Do you wonder how to start a speech here are some cool tips to captivate your audience.
Public speaking is an essential skill for leaders, educators, and professionals across various fields. It is a powerful tool for sharing ideas, influencing others, and building a strong personal brand. While many people find it intimidating, mastering the art of public speaking can be achieved with the right techniques, practice, and mindset. One of the most crucial aspects of delivering a successful speech is nailing the opening, as it sets the tone for the entire presentation and can make or break audience engagement.
Whether you are a seasoned orator or a novice presenter, starting a speech effectively can be challenging. After all, first impressions matter, and the first few minutes of your presentation determine whether your audience will be engaged, bored, or indifferent. To help you captivate your audience from the start, we have compiled a comprehensive list of 27 key tips to consider when crafting your speech opening. These tips, combined with relevant examples, will guide you in creating an impactful and memorable introduction.
Understanding your audience, identifying the purpose of your speech, and maintaining a clear structure are all essential elements to consider. However, the true magic lies in the delivery. It is important to practice and refine your skills to ensure a confident and captivating performance. The following tips have been meticulously curated to provide a roadmap for success, enabling you to transform your speech from ordinary to extraordinary.
This blog post aims to provide you with a wealth of knowledge and examples, empowering you to overcome your public speaking fears and conquer the stage. By implementing these tips, you will be well on your way to delivering a powerful, engaging, and persuasive speech that leaves a lasting impression on your audience.
The art of starting a speech effectively is a skill that can be honed with practice and dedication. By incorporating these 27 tips into your speech preparation and delivery, you can set the stage for a captivating and memorable presentation. Keep in mind that each audience is unique, and you may need to adjust your approach depending on your listeners’ needs and expectations. Nevertheless, these tips will provide a strong foundation for you to build upon, ensuring that you make a powerful first impression.
As you continue to refine your public speaking skills, remember that the key to success lies in engaging your audience, being authentic, and delivering a message that resonates with them. By doing so, you will not only captivate your listeners but also leave a lasting impact that goes beyond the stage.
In conclusion, delivering an exceptional speech begins with a strong and engaging opening. With these 27 tips and examples, you now have the tools to craft a compelling introduction that will set the tone for an unforgettable presentation. So, embrace your inner orator and step confidently onto the stage – your audience awaits!
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"Be a voice not an echo." - Albert Einstein
There's a moment of high drama when you give a speech or presentation—and it occurs before you've even said a word. It's the first few seconds when the "curtain" goes up.
In other words, it's all about anticipation. Your audience at that instant is paying maximum attention . . . they're primed for whatever they're about to experience. Often, these audience members will have no idea of your speaking ability. Oh, they may know they're interested in the topic. But they are almost surely filled with hope that the next half-hour or hour will be interesting and exciting.
Great speakers understand how to engage and move audiences at moments like this. You should too! Learn how in my Free Guide , "Six Rules of Effective Public Speaking."
What happens in the next 60 seconds will help determine whether your speech is successful or not. So here are four key elements you should always include in your speech's introduction. If you want listeners to pay attention, become intrigued, and tell themselves they're in good company, do these four things, in the following order:
Consider how most presenters begin. Nearly always, it's along the lines of, "Good afternoon. It's so nice to see you all. Today I'll be talking about . ." followed by a slide with the word "Agenda" and 5 bullet points. If we can't hear you screaming as an audience member, it's probably only because you're too polite to be doing it in public.
These first few seconds are such valuable real estate, it's shocking that speakers don't spend any time working up an inviting treatment. In fact, it's not overstating things to say that if you want to succeed as a speaker, you have to know how to start a speech . There are rhetorical devices ready and waiting for you to use to kick off in a much more interesting way. Here for instance are 12 foolproof ways to open a speech .
It's not good enough to take three or four minutes to settle into your groove. Remember that moment of drama, and how everyone is anticipating what you're about to reveal. You need to burn rubber as soon as your tires hit the road, not spin them unnecessarily in the gravel. It's infinitely easier to keep an audience with you if you engage them from the start.
This is the time your natural talent is on display! To build credibility and earn trust, download my Free e-book , "12 Easy Ways to Achieve Presence and Charisma."
At this point, without going any further into your speech, reveal your topic.
You may be thinking, "Well, yeah, of course!" Yet haven't you sat through speeches where, five minutes in, you're saying to yourself, "What's the topic here, anyway?" It one of the ways we as speakers may take things for granted, believing that the subject matter is perfectly obvious. (The phrase 'perfectly obvious' should not be part of your public speaking thought process!)
Even if the topic of your speech is emblazoned on posters and flyers beforehand, you lose nothing by reminding the audience about it in your intro. Besides, this is an opportunity to make it sound interesting. You could say, "My topic today is migrating birds of the Northeast." OR you could offer this instead: "Today, you'll be meeting some of the most eccentric characters you could ever run into . . . who just happen to be sitting outside your window right now."
Which talk sounds more interesting?
Just be sure to use language that helps rather than hurts your cause. Learn more in my Free White Paper , "25 Words or Phrases to Avoid in Speeches and Presentations."
Here's the most neglected family member of speech introductions—the relative too many speakers kept hidden away in the attic, never to see the light of day. It's the moment you tell everyone why your topic is something they really need to pay attention to.
This is a huge part of engaging audiences and getting them to be present. And as I say, many presenters never even give it a thought. But consider this: every member of your audience is in a "What's-in-it-for-me" frame of mind every time they listen to a speech. They're wondering if this is going to be worth their presence and the effort it took to get here (and the time it's taking them away from their work.)
If you answer those questions in a way that relates to their lives and makes the payoff to them clear, they will pay attention. "I want to talk about this with you today, because it's going to make your life much easier," is a great way, for instance, to address a new procedure that everyone in the department would otherwise be bored to death to hear about. So tell them specifically what's in it for them. Believe me, their ears will perk up.
So let's review. You've hooked your listeners' attention, made your topic sound intriguing, and told them how it's going to improve their lives. You're ready for the final part of your introduction: giving them a roadmap of where you'll be going together.
Call it a blueprint if you like that metaphor. (I prefer roadmap because it presupposes that you will be providing signposts along the way.) Partly, this is a way to make your subject manageable. Whatever that subject is, it's too big to talk about in its entirety. So you have to clue listeners in to the sub-topic areas you'll be addressing in this speech. It may sound something like this:
"I'll be talking about three specific elements of [reaching this goal, gaining this proficiency, understanding what you're looking at, etc.]. First, we'll examine [your first main point]. Once we have that information, we'll be able to [discuss your second item]. Finally, we'll add the third ingredient which will [give us a functioning model, repair the breach, head off the problem in the future . . . whatever the particulars are in your talk]." To me, this is already sounding more interesting than: "Here are the five parts of today's agenda for this speech."
As the great salesman Dale Carnegie once advised (and as I wrote about here ): "Tell the audience what you're going to say, say it; then tell them what you've said." To translate that into today's public speaking: Entice them with the journey you'll be going on together, take them there; then remind them of what an enlightening trip it's been.
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Gary Genard is an actor, author, and expert in theater-based public speaking training. His company, Boston-based The Genard Method offers in-person and online training to help executives and teams become extraordinary communicators. In 2020 for the seventh consecutive year, Gary has been ranked by Global Gurus as One of The World's Top 30 Communication Professionals . He is the author of How to Give a Speech . His second book, Fearless Speaking , was recently named as " One of the 100 Best Confidence Books of All Time ." Contact Gary here .
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This article was co-authored by Lynn Kirkham . Lynn Kirkham is a Professional Public Speaker and Founder of Yes You Can Speak, a San Francisco Bay Area-based public speaking educational business empowering thousands of professionals to take command of whatever stage they've been given - from job interviews, boardroom talks to TEDx and large conference platforms. Lynn was chosen as the official TEDx Berkeley speaker coach for the last four years and has worked with executives at Google, Facebook, Intuit, Genentech, Intel, VMware, and others. There are 15 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 3,800,864 times.
First impressions have a big impact on how others perceive you, so how you introduce yourself to others is extremely important. Many people call an introductory speech an elevator speech, because it should be succinct enough that you could introduce yourself and tell someone about your goals or interests in the time it takes to ride an elevator. It may also be called an "icebreaker" speech, as it breaks the ice and lets others get to know you. [1] X Research source Consider your words carefully when you write a speech introducing yourself. Crafting a good self-introduction can either build or harm your credibility.
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To write a speech introducing yourself, start by organizing the information you want to include. When writing content, consider the purpose of the speech, your intended audience, and your goals for the introduction. You can speak about your education, professional background, career/career goals, and outside interests, but keep things brief and to the point. Only include information that is important and relevant to your listeners. Don't forget to state your name in the first sentence of the speech. To learn more from our English Ph.D. co-author, such as how to practice and memorize your speech, continue reading the article! Did this summary help you? Yes No
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Learn to hook your audience in 10 seconds..
By Anne Barab, DTM, AS
You’ve got just 10 seconds to grab the audience’s attention before they decide to stay with you or tune you out. Here are five (of many) tried-and-true ways to start a speech.
Tell a story
By far the most effective way to open a speech is with a compelling story.
“I was a student returning from a study abroad course in Cairo. Shortly after takeoff, five men carrying guns leapt up from their seats and began shouting at the passengers. Our plane was being hijacked.”
Are you engaged? Do you want to know more? I did. The speaker was shot in the head in the doorway of the plane (which had been forced to land) and pushed out onto the tarmac where she lay for hours while hostage negotiations continued. Her topic was brain injury and fighting back from adversity. I can remember none of her main points, but I’ll never forget her story.
Make a bold statement of your unique point of view (POV)
“I’m here today to talk about a disturbing question, which has an equally disturbing answer. My topic is the secret of domestic violence and the question I’m going to tackle is the one everyone always asks. Why would she stay? Why would anyone stay with a man who beats her?”
That was the opening delivered by Leslie Morgan Steiner in one of the most frequently watched TED Talks. Are you interested? Do you want to know more? Sure you do, so watch her speech .
Ask a question
If you open with a question, use body language to make it clear you actually want an answer. As you ask your question, plant one foot forward and raise the opposite hand high in the air, leaning a little forward toward the audience. This posture invites the audience to respond. Now pause and wait for hands to go up or heads to nod.
Just throwing out a rhetorical question and plowing on without a pause for audience response has no dramatic impact whatsoever and, thus, does not invite your audience into your POV journey.
Get the audience to laugh
When I first started as a professional speaker, I asked the world-famous motivational speaker Zig Ziglar how he opened his speeches. He said, “I try to make them laugh in the first 10 seconds. If they laugh, they’ll like you.”
“How do you do that?” I asked.
“Well, I have three or four standard opening lines. For example, I say ‘I had a joke that was so funny it would make your hair fall out’—I pause and look around the room for balding men—‘but I see many of you have already heard it.’ You can use that one if you want.”
Well, indeed I did use it, until I realized that while the joke was great for Zig, a member of the aging-males-with-thinning-hair demographic, it sounded more like male-bashing when a woman said it.
Sadly, there is no one-size-fits-all opening joke.
Ask the audience to visualize something
“Imagine you are driving down a two-lane country road. It’s early in the morning so the air is cool, crisp, clean and fragrant with the smell of freshly mown hay. You’re sipping a cup of coffee and feeling at peace with the world. Your cell phone breaks the silence and you distractedly dig for it in the bottom of your purse. Suddenly BAM! You hit an elephant.”
The magic of starting a story with the word “imagine” is that it invites the audience into your world. Using the pronoun “you” and the present tense “you are driving” (instead of “I was driving”), and describing the setting in terms of the five senses, places each listener squarely in the middle of the scene.
An interesting opening introduces your audience to your unique point of view, gives them an idea of where you’re going to take them and invites them to join you on the journey.
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How To Start a Speech (With Examples) : A speech is a discussion presented to an audience, whether informal or official. Giving a speech allows you to speak to a group of people and share your ideas and, more often than not, your opinions. Speeches may be found in a variety of settings and for a variety of reasons. Public speaking is a wonderful art form, and it may be even better when the speaker has a goal in mind.
The speech writing process becomes simpler and smoother when you have a defined target and purpose in mind. While anybody can deliver a speech, having the appropriate goal and a broad awareness of the surroundings and your audience may help make it more successful. Some speeches are intended to educate, while others are intended to entertain.
Recommended: Best ways to start a debate (Introducing yourself)
Table of Contents
It’s time to compose the speech with an introduction, body, and conclusion once you’ve studied your audience, chosen a topic, gathered supporting resources and developed an outline. The broadcaster’s maxim is followed in these important parts:
(1) Let them know what you’re about to say.
(2) Inform them.
(3) Inform them of what you’ve said.
a. The Introduction: Tell them what you’re about to say: A strong opening grabs the audience’s attention, previews the topic and important ideas, and establishes your authority as a speaker. Employing a quotation, telling a tale, raising questions, presenting comedy, using surprising facts or figures, offering an illustration or anecdote, and mentioning historical or contemporary events are all effective methods to draw attention.
The introduction directs the audience’s attention to the most important elements. The impact of your speech, which is generally saved for the end, should be added at the beginning of the speech, according to science communicators. The opening establishes your trustworthiness with the audience: They’re curious as to why they should believe what you’re saying. As a result, establishing oneself is essential. The opening establishes your trustworthiness with the audience: They’re curious as to why they should believe what you’re saying. As a result, establishing oneself is essential.
Also see: How to speak in public without fear or anxiety
b. The Body : You will include reliable sources, such as scientific papers, in the body of the speech and refer to them throughout the speech. The key concepts of the speech should flow organically from the speech’s goal and thesis statement in this section.
It’s ideal to limit your content to two to five key points, with a maximum of seven.
Focusing on three major issues is recommended by scientists’ communicators for scientific talks. If you have too many, your viewers will forget your main points. Focusing on three main ideas and providing solid supporting reasons for each of them can help your speech be remembered. Supporting points to aid in the development of your thesis and the justification of your main statements.
c. Conclusion : The conclusion sums up what the audience was expected to learn or be convinced to do throughout the presentation. Key phrases such as “ finally ,” “ let me end by stating ,” and “ in conclusion” might be used to indicate that the conclusion is near. Because the conclusion is your last chance to inspire your audience, it should conclude with a powerful remark.
A good finish for a persuasive speech is a call to action, in which you tell the audience what they should do with what they’ve learned. Many times, a mirrored conclusion can be used, which refers back to, or “ mirrors ,” the information you present in the introduction.
Recommended: Interesting ways to end you debate presentation
1. Quote : Using a famous or relatable quote to begin a speech is one way to capture the audience’s attention. If you’re giving a speech about politics, for example, you could use a powerful quote that communicates a central political theme to connect with the subject of your speech. Starting your speech with a quote can also help to engage the audience and get them thinking about what you’re saying.
People love quotes because they are motivating and inspiring, as well as easy to remember. The well-considered words of history’s greatest orators can sometimes be the difference between a successful speech and one that fails. For example, “ If your actions inspire others to dream bigger, learn more, do more, and grow bigger, you’re a leader.”
Also see: Best education system in the world
2. Question of Rhetoric: A rhetorical question is an effective spoken communication tactic. These questions will help you engage and engage your audience in your presentation. They aid in the regulation of your words and the thinking of the audience.
A competent public speaker knows how to get his audience to take action on his message.
For example, “If you prick us, do we not bleed?” is a famous rhetorical question posed by William Shakespeare. Do we not laugh if you tickle us? Do we not perish if you poison us? And if you wrong us, aren’t we entitled to retaliation?
3. Introduce in a straightforward manner: Another popular and efficient technique is to begin your speech with a brief introduction that leads into a forceful remark. For example, a speech about the rising earthquakes in a small town caused by fracking may benefit from a short start.
They may start their speech by telling how they grew up in a tiny community before moving on to a powerful message on the effects of fracking. The goal of using the short beginning strategy is to utilize it as a springboard for a compelling, thought-provoking, or otherwise persuasive remark that communicates your speech’s theme.
Recommended: How to become a good conversationalist
4. Thank the Organizers and the Attendees: If you want to adhere to the basics of public speaking, simply thank the persons who made your presentation possible. Thanking the event organizers and the audience complements them, makes them pleased and delighted to have you there, and establishes a strong connection between you and the audience.
Refer to the individual who introduced you to one or more of the organization’s top executives in the audience, and congratulate them as a sign of respect. In your complimentary remarks to the company, be humble and honest.
5. Scenario: Using a “ what if ” scenario to pique the audience’s interest in your speech works like a charm. To elicit your audience’s imagination, begin your speech with a “what if” question.
“What if you had been blind all your life and just got to see the world today?” for example. So far, how have you visualized the world? And what draws you to these hues? Is there anyone who is colorblind, by the way?”
Also see: How to start a conversation with someone for the first time
6. This day in history : One of the key reasons why people assemble to listen to talks is to learn something. The audience will immediately pay attention if you begin your speech with a historical fact.
If your speech occurs on March 5, for example, you may begin by saying, “On this day, March 5, 1963: Arthur “ Spud ” Melin, co-founder of Wham-O, patents the Hula Hoop, a hip-swiveling toy that became a big phenomenon across America when it was first released by Wham-O in 1958.” In the first four months of manufacture, an estimated 25 million Hula Hoops were sold.”
7. Anecdote or Experience : To make your audience feel connected, begin your speech by sharing personal stories. You might start by telling them how much you think they’ll appreciate what you’re going to show them.
“I first fell in love while I was in high school.” , for example. From infancy and childhood, people have a strong need for tales of all kinds. People sit down, get quiet, and lean forward like kids around a campfire as soon as they discover you’re about to tell a story.
Also see: How to introduce a Guest in an event
8. Silence : Pauses are the most valuable aspect of talks. Silence, when used well, has greater eloquence than words. When you need to highlight anything, take a little pause. Knowing when to take a breather might help you deliver your message more effectively.
9. Make up a tale : You might also tell a tale to start your speech. The storytelling technique can help you develop audience anticipation and get them thinking about how your narrative will relate to the issue. Consider the case of an honors graduate who delivers a speech at a graduation ceremony.
The graduate might utilize narrative to capture the audience’s attention and engage them in the presentation. Similarly, narrating a tale elicits emotional responses from the audience as they listen, which may greatly engage them and make them invested in what you’re saying.
“Once upon a time” is one of the most potent words that may quickly attract the audience’s attention since people of all ages like stories of all kinds.
Also see: How to hold a long conversation with a girl
10. Statistics : Start your speech with fascinating and original information that will wow your audience. Incorporating statistics into your presentation is an excellent way to give your message a quantitative and persuasive edge. It provides a basis for you to build your argument, defend your claim, and demonstrate your position.
Giving figures in your beginning might be as simple as saying, “ In 2021, there were 12,000 homeless people strolling the streets of California. ” By 2023, the number is expected to nearly quadruple.” This form of messaging highlights the need to tackle the problem of homelessness since the number is persuasive, detailed, and alarming.
11. Make a joke : To engage the audience, you may crack a joke or employ a comedic technique. Telling a joke or engaging in light-hearted banter with your audience might help you connect with the folks in the crowd.
This may have a significant influence on how attentive the audience is when you introduce your speech’s topic. Additionally, for positive-themed presentations and speeches, delivering a joke or making the audience laugh might be useful. Making jokes at the start of your presentation informs the audience that you aren’t too serious and that they can relate to you.
For example, a good beginning maybe, “If you can hear me, please start clapping to baffle those who can’t hear what I’m saying.”
Recommended: Best approach to handle inferiority complex
12. The challenge open : Audiences want to be challenged and inspired to participate in a cause that they care about. If you’re trying to boost sales, raise money for a project, recruit volunteers, or change legislation, start your speech with a challenge. It’s not enough to believe in your message; you must also act on it.
You may start your speech with “Leaders see potential where followers see difficulties, I’m here today to urge officials to persuade individuals who are skeptical of the project to see past the roadblocks in the development of this local park and consider providing a better environment for citizens.”
Recommended: How to avoid falling in love with someone
Knowing how to begin a presentation or speech is one of the most difficult aspects of public speaking. The first sentence of a presentation leaves an effect on the audience. Each speech should include three key sections: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. You should outline before writing the speech. An outline is a structure that arranges the major and supporting elements in the order that you feel will have the most impact on your audience.
Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka, ACMC, is a lawyer and a certified mediator/conciliator in Nigeria. He is also a developer with knowledge in various programming languages. Samuel is determined to leverage his skills in technology, SEO, and legal practice to revolutionize the legal profession worldwide by creating web and mobile applications that simplify legal research. Sam is also passionate about educating and providing valuable information to people.
Last updated on June 7th, 2024
These days, most of the audience prefers an informal approach in presentations, but at the same time, it must sound professional. When people prepare for any type of presentation, they often face this dilemma: how to start a presentation? What should be the opening speech? How much time should we take for the introduction part?
The first three minutes of your presentations are crucial to get to your audience with an engaging message and make the overall presentation effective. With the proper opening speech for your presentation, you can hook your audience, win the audience’s attention and get them audience interested in what you have to say. Check out some speech introduction examples to get familiar with this topic. Undoubtedly, if the beginning of your presentation is solid and exciting, the chances of success of your presentation increase. Opening your persuasive speech entirely depends upon your style and choice because when you are giving a presentation, you are required to be yourself and avoid putting artistic elements. So, choose something with which you are entirely comfortable.
If you are looking on how to start a speech then this article can help you to get some ideas. Here is a list of opening speech examples that you can use to prepare your presentations with a persuasive speech that convinces the audience. Find useful starting lines of speech, phrases and strategies to make your presentation a success:
This is the very basic, common and important step in which you need to greet your audience by wish them good morning/afternoon or evening (as per the time of session in which you are giving presentation). How to start a speech? Check out some of the examples below including a simple but effective speech introduction greeting example.
Example of Opening Greetings
Hello, everyone. I’d like, first of all, to thank the organizers of this meeting for inviting me here today.
Another example of opening Greeting speech.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am honored to have the opportunity to address such a distinguished audience.
Secondly, just after wishing greeting to your audience give them compliment and choose some words which show that you are delighted to see them there.
Example:
It’s great to see you all, Thank you for coming here today.
How you introduce yourself during a presentation is important. There are many ways to introduce yourself. Here we will see some examples on how to introduce yourself in a presentation. First of all, give your introduction start from telling your name. You can show some casual attitude by telling your short name or nick name, and then tell the audience more about your background and what you do.
For example, a good way to start introducing yourself could be:
My name is Louis Taylor, friends call me Lee sometimes.
Then introduce yourself professionally and give quite information about what you do and why are here today. For Example:
I am a software engineer by profession and working in ABC Corp. Today, I am here to provide you some exciting information about new technology, which is going to be very beneficial for you in future.
Another example of self-introduction speech:
For those of you who don’t know me already, my name is Louis Taylor, and I’m responsible for the software department at ABC Corp.
Using a self-introduction template and slide in your presentation, you can support your speech while presenting the information about you in the projection. You can also visit self introduction speech examples to find out some examples on how to introduce yourself and download self-introduction templates for PowerPoint & Google Slides.
Next is the part where you introduce the topic of your presentation or speech. Here are some examples of good opening speech for presentations examples on a specific topic.
What I’d like to present to you today is…
Or here is a simplified example of a good introduction for presentation in which we try to get the audience’s attention over the screen where you are presenting the content of your PowerPoint or Google Slides presentation.
As you can see on the screen, our topic today is…
Put all your information in front of them and then put your proposal and its related information and key point by which you can implement and utilize that idea effectively. Now let collect these points to make a summary and concise illustration. Here is an example of presentation starting speech that you can use:
“Good afternoon every one, it’s great to see you all here, thank you for coming. My name is Louis Taylor, friends call me Lee sometimes. I am a software engineer by profession and working with ABC Ltd. Today we are here to know about new software so that we can take most of it. Firstly, we will look how it work, next we will discuss where can we use it, then we will learn what are its advantages and finally we will discuss what precautions are required to kept in mind while implementing it.”
An effective opening speech is not just about presenting information or stating facts; it’s about forging an emotional connection with your audience. Building this connection can make your presentation more engaging, relatable, and memorable. Here are some strategies to achieve this:
Storytelling: One of the most powerful ways to establish an emotional connection is through storytelling. Sharing a personal anecdote or a relevant story can evoke emotions and draw your audience into your presentation. Make sure your story aligns with the overall theme of your presentation and adds value to your message.
Example of speech opening:
“Good morning, everyone. When I was a little boy, I used to watch my grandfather work tirelessly on his old typewriter. The clacking of the keys was a lullaby that lulled me into dreams of creating something impactful. Today, I am here to talk about the evolution of technology and its effect on communication, from typewriters of old to the smartphones of today.”
Relatability: Find common ground with your audience. This could be based on shared experiences, values, or aspirations. Doing so helps to humanize you, making it easier for your audience to relate to your message.
“Like many of you, I too struggle with maintaining a work-life balance in this fast-paced digital world. Today, I’ll share some strategies I’ve discovered that have significantly improved my quality of life.”
Utilizing Emotions: Use emotions like humor, surprise, curiosity, or inspiration to engage your audience. Different emotions can be used depending on the tone and purpose of your presentation.
“Did you know that the average person spends two weeks of their life waiting for traffic lights to change? That certainly puts our daily commute in a new light, doesn’t it?”
Remember, authenticity is crucial in building an emotional connection. Be yourself, share your experiences, and speak from the heart. This helps to gain your audience’s trust and keeps them engaged throughout your presentation.
Visual aids are a potent tool in any presentation, particularly in your opening speech. They can grab your audience’s attention with a visually appealing cover slide, support your message, and make a lasting impression. Here are some ways you can utilize visual aids in your opening speech.
Images: An image is worth a thousand words, they say, and it’s true. An impactful or relevant image can pique the curiosity of your audience and set the tone for your presentation. Ensure the image aligns with your topic and contributes to your overall message.
“As you can see on the screen, this is an image of a barren desert. It may surprise you to learn that this was once a thriving forest. Today, I’ll be talking about climate change and its irreversible effects.”
Short Videos: A short video can be a great way to engage your audience. This could be a brief clip that illustrates your topic, a short animation, or even a quick introductory video about you or your organization.
Example of a presentation opening statement:
“Before we start, let’s watch this brief video about the incredible journey of a raindrop.”
Infographics and Charts: If you are sharing statistical data or complex information, infographic slides or charts can simplify and clarify your message. They are visually engaging and can help your audience understand and remember the information.
“Take a look at this chart. It shows the exponential increase in cybercrime over the last five years, a topic that we will delve into further today.”
Slides: A well-designed slide can provide a visual structure for your opening speech. It should be clean, easy to read, and should not distract from your speech. Avoid cluttering your slides with too much text or complex graphics.
“According to the infographic on the screen, we can see the three core areas we’ll be focusing on in today’s presentation.”
Remember, the goal of using visual slides is to enhance your message, not overshadow it. They should complement your speech and provide visual interest for your audience. Always test your visual aids beforehand to ensure they work properly during your presentation.
A rhetorical question is a powerful tool you can use in your opening speech to provoke thought and engage your audience. By posing a question that doesn’t require an answer, you can pique your audience’s interest, make them think, and steer their focus towards your presentation’s key points. Here’s how to use rhetorical questions effectively in your opening speech:
Spark Curiosity: Use a rhetorical question to spark curiosity about your topic. This question should be thought-provoking and relevant to your presentation.
“Have you ever stopped to wonder how much of your life is influenced by social media?”
Highlight Key Issues: A rhetorical question can help highlight the key issues or problems that your presentation aims to address. This will help your audience understand the importance of your topic.
“What would happen if our natural resources were to run out tomorrow?”
Encourage Reflection: Encourage your audience to reflect on their personal experiences or beliefs. This will make your presentation more relatable and engaging.
“How many of us truly understand the value of our mental health?”
Set the Tone: You can also use a rhetorical question to set the tone of your presentation, whether it’s serious, humorous, or contemplative.
“Is there anyone here who doesn’t love pizza?”
Remember, rhetorical questions are meant to stimulate thought, not to put anyone on the spot. Make sure your questions are relevant to your topic and are appropriate for your audience. With the right questions, you can grab your audience’s attention, keep them engaged, and guide their thinking throughout your presentation.
Using statistical data in your opening speech is a powerful way to capture the audience’s attention and lend credibility to your message. Surprising or impactful statistics related to your presentation’s topic can instantly make your audience sit up and take notice. Here’s how you can incorporate statistical data effectively in your opening speech:
Relevant and Interesting Data: Choose statistics that are directly relevant to your topic and are likely to pique your audience’s interest. This data should enhance your message and provide valuable context for your presentation.
“Do you know that according to the World Health Organization, depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting over 264 million people?”
Simplify Complex Data: If you’re presenting complex or dense data, make sure to simplify it for your audience. Use percentages, comparisons, or visual aids like infographics or charts to make the data easily understandable.
“Look at this chart. It represents the staggering 80% increase in cybercrime incidents over the past five years.”
Credible Sources: Always ensure your data comes from credible and reputable sources. This not only adds legitimacy to your presentation, but it also boosts your credibility as a speaker.
“According to a recent study published in the Journal of Environmental Science, air pollution contributes to 1 in 8 deaths worldwide.”
Shocking or Surprising Data: If you have statistics that are surprising or counter-intuitive, they can be an excellent way to grab your audience’s attention and spark curiosity about your presentation.
“Can you believe that, according to the United Nations, we waste approximately 1.3 billion tons of food every year, while one in nine people worldwide go hungry?”
Using statistical data in your opening speech can help to highlight the significance of your topic, draw your audience in, and lay a solid foundation for the rest of your presentation. Remember to present your data in a clear, accessible way, and always cite your sources to maintain credibility.
Anecdotes and quotations can be a powerful tool in your opening speech, serving as hooks that draw your audience into your presentation. They can provide a human element to your topic, connect with your audience on an emotional level, and add depth to your message. Here’s how you can effectively incorporate anecdotes and quotations in your opening speech:
Relevant Anecdotes: Sharing a relevant anecdote, whether personal or related to your topic, can make your presentation more relatable and engaging. Your anecdote should be brief, interesting, and serve to illustrate a point related to your topic.
“When I was a teenager, my family’s home was destroyed by a fire. That experience ignited in me a passion for safety measures and awareness, which brings us to today’s topic: fire safety in residential areas.”
Inspiring Quotations: A well-chosen quote can add depth and perspective to your topic. It can inspire, provoke thought, or set the tone for your presentation. Presenting it with a visually appealing quote slide increases the chances to make a lasting impression. Make sure the quote is relevant to your topic and from a credible source.
“Albert Einstein once said, ‘The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.’ This leads us into our discussion today on the importance of mindset in personal development.”
Humorous Anecdotes or Quotations: Depending on the formality of the setting and the topic of your presentation, a funny anecdote or quote can help to relax the audience, making them more receptive to your message.
“Mark Twain once said, ‘I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.’ As a fellow writer, I can relate to this sentiment, which brings us to our topic today: the art of concise writing.”
Remember, your anecdote or quote should serve to enhance your message, not distract from it. It should be interesting, relevant, and appropriately timed. With the right anecdote or quote, you can create a powerful hook that engages your audience from the outset.
Storytelling is a compelling method to make your opening speech memorable and engaging. A well-told story can create a strong emotional connection with your audience, making your presentation more impactful. Here’s how to effectively weave storytelling into your opening speech:
Choosing the Right Story: The story you tell should be relevant to your topic and capable of illustrating the point you’re trying to make. It could be a personal experience, a case study, or a historical event.
“Years ago, I worked on a project that, at the outset, seemed destined for success. But due to a lack of clear communication within the team, the project failed. Today, we will be discussing the importance of effective communication within teams.”
Creating Suspense: Build suspense in your story to hold your audience’s attention. You can do this by posing a problem or a conflict at the beginning of your story, which gets resolved by the end of your presentation.
“One day, as I was walking through a remote village in Africa, I came across a scene that profoundly changed my perspective. But before I reveal what it was, let’s discuss the issue of clean drinking water in underdeveloped countries.”
Showing, Not Telling: Make your story more vivid and engaging by showing, not telling. Use descriptive language and paint a picture with your words to make your audience feel like they’re part of the story.
“As the sun rose over the bustling city of Tokyo, I found myself in a small sushi shop tucked away in a quiet alley, experiencing what would become a pivotal moment in my culinary journey.”
Relatable Characters: If your story involves characters, make them relatable. Your audience should be able to see themselves in your characters, or at least understand their motivations and challenges.
“Meet Sarah, a single mother of two, working two jobs just to make ends meet. Her struggle is the reason we’re here today, to discuss the issue of minimum wage in our country.”
Storytelling is a powerful tool that can bring your presentation to life. A well-told story can captivate your audience, making your message more memorable and impactful. Be sure to select a story that aligns with your overall message and is appropriate for your audience.
Involving your audience from the get-go can make your presentation more engaging and memorable. By integrating interactive elements into your opening speech, you can foster a sense of participation and connection among your listeners. Here’s how you can do it:
Audience Polling: Modern presentation software often includes real-time polling features. You can ask your audience a question related to your topic and display the results instantly.
“To start, I’d like to ask you all a question. (Show poll on screen) How many of you think that Artificial Intelligence will significantly change our lives in the next ten years?”
Questions for Thought: Pose a thought-provoking question to your audience at the beginning of your speech. It can stimulate curiosity and get your listeners thinking about your topic.
“Before we delve into today’s topic, I want you to ponder this: what would you do if you had only 24 hours left to live? Keep that in mind as we discuss the importance of time management.”
Physical Engagement: Depending on the formality and size of your audience, you can incorporate physical engagement. This can range from a simple show of hands to engaging activities.
“By a show of hands, how many of you have ever felt overwhelmed by the amount of information available on the internet? That’s what we’ll be discussing today: information overload in the digital age.”
Interactive Quizzes: Quizzes can be a fun and interactive way to engage your audience and test their knowledge on your topic. It can also serve as a hook to introduce your topic. You can use a free Quiz PowerPoint template to ease the job of creating a quiz for your presentation.
“I have a quick quiz for you all (show quiz on screen). Let’s see who can guess the most common fear among adults. The answer will lead us into our topic of discussion today: overcoming fear.”
Remember, the goal of incorporating interactive elements is to engage your audience, so it should be relevant and add value to your presentation. Tailor your interactive elements to suit the needs and preferences of your audience, and you’ll have a winning opening speech.
As we mentioned earlier, the first minutes of your presentation are crucial to hook the audience and let them pay attention to the message you want to convey. This will depend on the type of presentation (if it is persuasive presentation, informative presentation or a presentation for entertaining the audience), but in general terms, when presenting we need to:
Barack Obama started his speech in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner saying: “You can’t say it, but you know it’s true.”
In same cases, humour can be a great companion for your speech. If you can use humour in a positive way, then getting a laugh in the first seconds of a presentation can get your audience hooked. It is a great way to open your speech.
Try to make habit of starting your presentation this way, it will sound great. You may come across several more opening speech examples for presentation but, once you implement this you yourself will realize that this is the best one. Alternatively you can learn more on quotes for presentations & speech topics to use during your presentation in PowerPoint, learn how to close your presentation , or find other relevant speech introduction greeting examples.
thank you very much
Hi Kavishki, we hope the article was useful for you. Will be great to learn more about how you have used the speech examples. If you need more speech ideas, I’d recommend you free Persuasive Speech topics .
hi,good morning all of you.i’m shadi.now i’m going to do a panel discussion.we want some informations from you we believe all will support us.
Hi Kavishki, good morning. Can please provide more information about the Panel Discussion needs and if it involves a PowerPoint presentation? We’d be happy to be of help!
This was very useful to me! But i need more speech ideas!
Being a content person myself,i’ve gotta be honest.Now this was assisting,you bet…great stuffow.
Thank you so much. It’s very helpful. Keep it up.. Good luck <3
plesae i would like u my pleasure to help me with some opening celebration word,s specially greeting to the audience
It would be appreciable if you share more speech about this.thank you.
thanks a lot for dis.. really its very helpful
I do thank you for the tips you provided me with on how to make speeches/presentations.
a very gud thanks for such tips
Thank you for the information. Very good tips.
thanks you for the great ideas. this can help me to improve my presentation skill.
this information very nice to me.i get many new thing after i read this article.this information can help me to make a good presentation later.thank you.
I think this article is very useful for me to make presentations. Thank.
I think it is true.Keep it up.
What a good infomation.It very useful thank u
Thank you for the information. Its very helpful
It is helpful for my presentations.
i hope someone could teach me present more effectively. i would appreciate it
Thank you for the information.i can learn about the article/speech with simple and easy to understand..
this is useful tips
Good tips on how to start a presentation.
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This tips makes me more confident . Thank you very much and break a leg guys !
Hi, I’m Gayathiri. I would like to thank you for giving such a helpful tips. I will defenitely use this tips in my speech/presentation.So, I hope my friends also use this tips for their presentation.
it was a good tip for us newbie on how to make a speech without any worries.
Thank you for your note and tip… It can change me to be a good student..
This article really helped me a lot for preparing a presentation.
this all very useful tips…can boost my confident during the presentation.thank you so much….
it’s very use helpful..thank you!
I need to view ths document
This was a good read. Thank you for the information.
Thank you for the information about the introduction during pesentation.Truely,i really need to study lot about how to start my presentation so that the audience are interesting to hear what i want to talk about and do not feel bored.
it’s is very usefull article that can use as our revision in upcoming for the next presentation.Thank you..
Thank you miss because of this article, it can help me on my next presentation.
thank you for this article,it’s useful to improve my presentation tasks.
this article has many tips for prepare to our presentation.thank you for sharing this article.
Thanks for the useful information. Can I ask how can I improve my self-confidence so as not to be embarrassed when presenting? Any idea? Thank you.
thank you..i’ll try to use those information for my presentation so i’ll be the best presenter in my class
this information very nice and useful to me.i get many new thing and tips after i read this article.this information can help me to make a good and better presentation later.thank you for useful information and meaningful for me
first of all, thank you for the help. there are a lot of great idea for me to use for my next presentation
Hi please i would like you to help me write an introduction for a speech about myself to my teacher
It’s help my presentation
Thank you so so much I will tell this at the UNIVERSITY presentation
please i really love your speech but can you please throw more light on the introduction
Hi every body I have entretien to USA Ambassi.
I need good presentation.
thank you so much for such a beneficial tips.
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Jun 22, 2024
Posted by: Regine Fe Arat
Giving a speech can be daunting, but it’s an incredible opportunity to inspire, persuade and make a lasting impact on your audience.
Whether you're speaking at a conference, a wedding or in a classroom, the ability to deliver a powerful speech is a valuable skill that can open doors and create meaningful connections.
From Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech to Steve Jobs' commencement address at Stanford University, we’ve seen many amazing speeches. History is full of speeches that have inspired generations and shaped the world.
In this comprehensive guide, we'll walk you through the essential steps to crafting and delivering a memorable speech that will leave a lasting impression on your listeners.
At the heart of every great speech is a clear, compelling message. This main idea or theme is what you want your audience to take away from your speech.
To craft an effective message, start by asking yourself what you want your audience to think, feel or do after hearing your words.
Once you have a clear goal in mind, distill your message into a single, powerful statement that sums up your main point.
Imagine you're giving a speech about the importance of volunteering. Your main message might be: "Giving our time and talents to others can create a more compassionate and connected world."
Your body language impacts how your audience perceives and engages with your speech.
It's important to use nonverbal cues that convey confidence, warmth and authenticity to create a strong connection with your listeners.
Some key body language tips to keep in mind include:
It's normal to feel nervous before giving a speech, and you can use these feelings to boost your confidence and performance.
The key is to reframe your nerves as excitement and use that energy to fuel your passion and enthusiasm for your topic.
Some techniques for channeling your adrenaline in a positive way include:
Before your speech, take a few minutes to stand in a confident, big stance (such as the Superman pose) to increase your sense of power and self-assurance.
Use affirmative statements to remind yourself of your strengths and abilities, such as "I am well-prepared and ready to share my message."
Picture yourself delivering your speech with clarity, confidence and impact, with your audience responding positively to your words.
Effective speech writing involves a systematic process of researching, organizing and refining your content:
First, you need to research your topic. Look for compelling facts, statistics and examples to illustrate your key points and make your message more memorable.
To give your speech credibility and impact, choose sources that support your key points. Look for references that are:
When citing your sources in your speech, credit the original authors or creators properly. This demonstrates your commitment to academic integrity and helps your audience trust the information you're presenting.
Some common ways to cite sources in a speech include:
Next, summarize your speech's main point or argument. This is usually best near the end of your introduction as a roadmap for the rest of your speech.
To craft the best summary, consider the following tips:
For example, if you're giving a speech on the benefits of meditation, your summary might be: "Regular meditation practice can reduce stress, improve focus and promote overall well-being."
Once you have a solid foundation of information and your main argument, begin outlining your speech.
Break your content down into logical sections, such as an introduction, main body and conclusion. Within each section, organize your points to flow naturally and build toward your message.
As you write your speech, focus on clear, concise language. It should be easy for your audience to understand and follow. Use short sentences, active voice and concrete examples to make your points more engaging and memorable.
Remember to also include transitions between sections to help your audience follow your train of thought and see the connections between your ideas.
If the audience needs a call to action, include it in the conclusion.
The way you structure your sentences and paragraphs can impact how your audience understands and engages with your speech.
To create a clear and compelling flow, consider the following tips:
Practice your microphone technique.
If you're using a microphone during your speech, take some time to practice with it beforehand.
Get a feel for the optimal distance and angle to hold the microphone, and experiment with your volume and tone to ensure everyone can hear you.
Remember, the microphone is there to project your voice, so you don’t need to yell into it.
Speak directly into the microphone. Avoid turning your head away while speaking as this can reduce the volume of your voice.
One of the most important things to remember when delivering a speech is to be concise.
Aim to keep your speech within the allotted time frame and avoid going off on tangents or including unnecessary details.
A good rule of thumb is around one minute of speaking time for each main point. A concise speech ensures you hold your audience's attention and drive home your key messages.
When crafting and delivering your speech, keep your audience's needs and interests in mind.
Research your audience beforehand, and tailor your content and delivery style to their specific needs and preferences.
For example, if you're speaking to a group of experts in your field, you may want to use more technical language and discuss your topic in more detail.
However, a general audience will prefer more accessible language and less jargon. Focus on the broader essence of your message and keep it straightforward.
It's important to choose a clear theme and stick to it throughout a speech to create a cohesive and memorable presentation .
Avoid trying to cover too many different topics or ideas. A confusing, jumbled speech can quickly turn an audience off.
Instead, focus on developing a single, powerful theme that ties your main points together and reinforces your overall message.
For example, if you're giving a speech on the importance of sustainability, you might choose a theme like "Small changes, big impact.” You could use examples and anecdotes that illustrate how individual actions can contribute to a more sustainable future.
When delivering your speech, it's important to speak at a pace that allows your audience to follow along and absorb your message.
Many speakers rush through their material when they're nervous, making it difficult for their audience to keep up.
To avoid this, practice speaking at a slower, more deliberate pace. Use pauses strategically to emphasize key points or give your audience time to process what you've said.
If you find yourself speeding up, take a deep breath and consciously slow down your delivery.
Incorporating humor into your speech can be a great way to engage your audience and make your message more memorable.
A well-placed joke or funny anecdote can break the ice, lighten the mood and create a more relaxed and receptive atmosphere.
However, it's important to use humor carefully and ensure your jokes are appropriate and relevant to your topic. Avoid offensive or insensitive humor, and don't rely too heavily on jokes at the expense of your core message.
If telling jokes doesn’t come naturally, avoid them entirely or practice them until you sound like a seasoned comedian.
Repetition is a powerful tool in speech-making, as it reinforces your key points and makes them more memorable.
A technique known as "the rule of three" suggests that people are more likely to remember information in groups of three.
So don't be afraid to repeat your primary message or points throughout your speech with slightly different language or examples each time.
Visual aids, such as slides, charts or props, can reinforce your message and make your speech more engaging.
However, it's important to only include those that are truly necessary to support your points.
Avoid cluttering your presentation with too many slides or images, as this can detract from your overall message.
Instead, choose a few key visuals that are clear, relevant and easy to understand. Use them strategically throughout your speech to enhance your words.
One of the best ways to improve your speech delivery is to seek feedback from others.
Consider joining a public speaking group, course or Toastmasters club to practice your skills in a supportive environment.
You can also ask friends, colleagues or mentors to listen to your speech and provide feedback on your content, delivery and overall impact.
Another challenge of public speaking is being aware of your body language. When certain movements feel normal, you might not realize it’s distracting for those watching.
Ask a friend or colleague to watch you practice your speech and provide feedback on any awkward mannerisms.
They may notice that you fidget with your hands, sway back and forth or use filler words like "um" or "like" frequently.
Becoming aware of these habits means you can work to minimize them and project a more confident, polished presence on stage.
Remember that feedback is a gift, and constructive criticism can help you grow as a speaker.
The key to becoming a confident and effective public speaker is regular practice. The more you practice your speech, the more comfortable and natural you'll feel when delivering it.
Dedicate time each week to work on your public speaking skills, whether you practice a specific speech or work on general techniques like vocal projection, gestures or eye contact.
Consider recording yourself speaking and watch the video to identify areas for improvement. You can also practice your speech in front of a mirror or with a small group of friends to build your confidence.
When delivering your speech, it's important to make eye contact with your audience to create a sense of connection and engagement.
However, many speakers make the mistake of focusing on just one or two people throughout their entire speech.
To avoid this, make a conscious effort to look around the room and make eye contact with people in different sections of the audience.
This will help you connect with a wider range of people and make your speech feel more inclusive and engaging.
Don’t let your gaze wander aimlessly or linger too long on anyone, as this can be distracting or uncomfortable for your audience.
One of the most effective ways to calm your nerves before and during a speech is to practice deep breathing techniques.
Deep breathing slows down your heart rate, relaxes your muscles and calms your mind, which can help you feel more centered and focused.
To practice deep breathing:
Impromptu speeches can be particularly nerve-wracking, as they require you to think on your feet and organize your thoughts quickly.
To handle an impromptu speech effectively, try the following tips:
Before you start speaking, take a deep breath and give yourself a few seconds to gather your thoughts and choose a main point or theme to focus on.
Organize your speech into a basic structure, such as an introduction, three main points and a conclusion. This will help you stay focused and avoid rambling or getting off track.
Draw on your experiences, knowledge and opinions to provide examples and anecdotes that support your main points. This will help you speak more authentically and confidently.
Remember that impromptu speeches are an opportunity to showcase your ability to think on your feet and adapt to new situations. Embrace the challenge and try to have fun with it.
Many speeches are followed by a Q&A session or panel discussion, which can be an opportunity to engage with your audience and provide additional insights and perspectives on your topic. To prepare for these sessions, consider the following tips:
Before your speech, brainstorm a list of questions that your audience may ask, and practice your responses. This will help you feel more prepared and confident when fielding questions.
When answering questions, aim to be concise and to the point, while still providing enough context and detail to fully address the question.
If you're part of a panel discussion, don't feel like you need to answer every question or dominate the conversation. Defer to other panelists when appropriate and build on their ideas to create a more dynamic and engaging discussion.
Even if you receive a challenging or hostile question, try to remain positive and professional in your response. Avoid getting defensive or argumentative. Instead, focus on providing a thoughtful and measured perspective.
To help illustrate the techniques and strategies we've covered in this guide, let's take a look at a few examples of persuasive speeches that have made a lasting impact:
This popular TED Talk by researcher Brené Brown uses humor, personal stories and scientific data to argue that vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness and that it's essential for building authentic connections and living a meaningful life.
This iconic speech, delivered during the 1963 March on Washington, is a powerful example of using rhetorical devices. King mastered the use of repetition, metaphors and emotional appeal to convey a message of hope and unity.
In this TED Talk, novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie uses personal anecdotes and storytelling to illustrate the importance of seeking out diverse perspectives and challenging stereotypes.
Sojourner Truth was born into slavery in 1797 and escaped from her master in 1827. She’s a prime example of an early feminist and anti-slavery speaker. In her famous speech, ”Ain’t I A Woman?” she used repetition and thought-provoking questions to highlight the poor treatment of Black women.
In this powerful TED Talk, Monica Lewinsky draws on her own experiences with public shaming and cyberbullying to argue for a more compassionate and empathetic online culture.
Giving a speech can be challenging but rewarding. It allows you to share your ideas, inspire others and make a positive impact on the world.
Follow the strategies and techniques outlined in this guide to become a more confident, effective and persuasive speaker.
Remember to start by crafting a clear and compelling main message, and use body language, vocal techniques and storytelling to engage and connect with your audience.
Practice regularly, seek feedback from others, and don't be afraid to embrace your natural nervousness and use it to your advantage.
To start giving a speech, try:
The four stages of giving a speech are:
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The surgeon general says parents should be aware that using the platforms might harm adolescents’ mental health..
This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.
From “The New York Times,” I’m Sabrina Tavernise and this is “The Daily.”
[MUSIC PLAYING]
A rising tide of mental health problems among teens has sent parents, teachers, and doctors searching for answers. This week, the nation’s top doctor offered one. Today, I talk with Surgeon General Vivek Murthy about his plan to take on what he sees as a central threat facing American teens, social media.
It’s Friday, June 21.
Dr. Murthy, nice to see you.
Hey, Sabrina, it’s good to see you, too. You can call me Vivek, by the way. I’m very informal.
Vivek, OK, well, being the nation’s top doctor, I’m inclined to call you doctor, but we can go with Vivek.
Yeah, I’ll tell you, Sabrina. I still think of Dr. Murthy as my dad, so.
Aha, interesting. So you are the country’s surgeon general, and we’re talking to you today because earlier this week, you made a pretty big announcement about the dangers of social media for young people. And you suggested a potential fix for it.
You actually announced this move by writing an op-ed in “The New York Times.” But before we get to that fix that you’re proposing, let’s talk about the problem. When did you start thinking of this as an issue that you should be focused on?
Well, I first started seeing the roots of the youth mental health crisis during my first term as surgeon general. This was during 2014 to ‘17. I was traveling the country listening to communities in big cities and small towns, and I was hearing often about these struggles that young people were having with loneliness and isolation, with depression and anxiety. Over the course of two terms, I have seen this ratchet up with the pandemic pouring fuel on a fire, but a fire that was already burning before the pandemic arrived.
And what specifically were you hearing? I mean, was there a patient you saw or was it something that happened to a friend or your own family that made this problem especially real for you?
Well, actually, there have been a series of things that made it real. One is my own experience personally. As a young person, I struggled a lot with my mental health, with feeling alone and isolated. I was very shy and introverted as a child. And at that time, I thought I was the only one who was struggling. It was only years later, Sabrina, that I actually realized a lot of my classmates were struggling too.
But then I think about the conversations I had as surgeon general, and I heard some stories I expected but many I did not. I remember stopping at a college, and one young woman said to me, I feel like I’m on this campus surrounded by thousands of other students, but nobody really knows me. And I feel like I can’t be myself, and I feel all alone.
I think about the moms and dads who have come to visit me, who have talked about how social media is impacting the mental health of their kids. The one mother whose son was also shy and introverted and struggled a lot with his mental health, was being bullied and was having a really difficult time. And then the algorithm on his social media platform started suggesting to him that he take his own life and started directing him as to how to do that. And he ultimately followed his directions and took his own life.
I heard just countless stories like this of young people who are struggling, parents who are struggling, as well. And those are stuck with me. And those go along with the many statistics we now have that demonstrate that we are indeed living in a profound mental health crisis.
OK, so you’re noticing this problem or this looming problem, and you’re hearing these really tragic stories. How did you go from that kind of anecdotal information gathering to actually studying this issue more closely, to inspect this as a potential health hazard?
Well, once I started hearing those stories and hearing them at such volume and consistency, they’re what really compelled me to dig more deeply into the data and to try to understand what is driving this deeper mental health crisis? It turns out it’s not just one thing. Loneliness and isolation are contributing. The experiences of violence and the fear of violence, particularly gun violence, are contributing to the daily stress and strain that so many families are going through right now. But it turns out, again and again, the issue of social media kept coming up.
So when I decided I needed to dig into this more deeply, I began, essentially, a research project with my team to understand more deeply what is the data telling us about social media and youth mental health? And the data tells us that there is, in fact an association between social media use among young people and the mental health harms that they are experiencing.
The second thing, though, that we know, and this is very important, is we know a lot based on what young people are telling us themselves. 6 out of 10 adolescent girls talk about being approached by strangers on social media in ways that make them feel uncomfortable. A third of young people say they’re staying up till past midnight on their devices. A lot of that is social media use. But nearly half of adolescents are also telling us, on these studies, that using social media makes them feel worse about their body image.
And I want to just caveat this by saying there are still open questions. We want to know more about which populations are most deeply impacted by social media, both positively and negatively.
We want to know what types of use of social media seem to contribute to the most harm and the most benefit. These are really important questions to address, and we should be investing more research in understanding them.
I want to return to something that you said, which is that there’s an association between social media use and mental health problems among young people. So this is a point of dispute within the scientific community, right? There are some studies that show that these two things are associated, in other words, that there’s some relationship there, but there really isn’t much evidence that one actually causes the other, that social media is the reason for the rise in mental health problems.
One of my colleagues, this week, talked to the chief science officer at the American Psychological Association, and she was asking about whether the time a child spent on social media contributed to poor mental health? And he said, and I quote, “the results have been really mixed with probably the consensus being that, no, it’s not related.” What is your response to that?
Well, I think — look, it’s important to look at the research question broadly. What we’re trying to understand, first and foremost, is the answer to the question parents are asking us, which is, is social media safe for my kids? And if you ask researchers, what is the data, tell us about safety, where is the data that tells us these platforms are safe? That data is not there.
So there’s not evidence of safety. There is growing evidence of harm. There is data showing an association between social media use and youth mental health harm. Now, where there are debates and discussions, in the research community, is how big is that association? Is it bigger for boys versus girls? And it seems like it is bigger for girls. Does it differ based on your socioeconomic status, based on other indicators? And those are important questions to debate.
But one of the things that you learn in medicine and in public health, when you’re faced with the real-world problems, is that you have to assess when you have enough information to act, recognizing that you want to continue to get clarity that will continue to hone your approach as time goes on.
To give you an example from a clinical circumstance, if I have a patient in front of me whose blood pressure is dropping rapidly and who is in danger of losing their life, I have to rapidly assess what are the potential causes of that. There could be many different reasons. I’ve got to quickly assess it, and I’ve got to move forward with treating it. And I keep gathering data along the way.
But the risk of inaction, of saying, hold on, let me not take action here, until every question I have is answered, the risk of that is the patient’s life. And that is literally what we are seeing taking place right now. It’s not to say that there aren’t kids who are having some benefits, but the measure of whether we should take action or not is not are some kids getting benefits from social media or not? That is not the threshold.
I lay out in my advisory last year, that there are certain benefits, but getting some benefits does not justify forcing kids to endure significant harms. We can make social media safer. We should so that kids can get the benefits without having to sustain the harms.
So I want to talk more about the warning advisory that you issued last year. As you said, the moment when you first started to act on this. Basically, your thinking was that there were these findings on social media and mental health. They seemed to be related. You were raising the alarm, and you called on parents, on tech companies, and on lawmakers to do more to protect young people. Why did you take that approach?
Well, because I think to address the harms of social media does, in fact, require all of us to ask the question, what can we do to protect our kids? And we all do have a role and responsibility here. But I do think up until now, the vast majority of the burden of managing the harms of social media has been placed almost entirely on the shoulders of parents and kids alone.
Now, think about this for a moment. Because the platforms themselves are designed by some of the best product engineers in the world, supported and resourced by some of the wealthiest companies in the world, and informed by cutting-edge brain science, ultimately to maximize how much time our kids are spending on the platforms. And to tell a parent, who didn’t grow up with these platforms, that they should somehow manage these rapidly evolving tools and keep their kids safe when they don’t even understand the full extent of harms here, that is both unreasonable and unfair. And that is why in the advisory I issued, I called on a number of other players to step up.
And what did you hope would happen after you issued your report last year?
Well, my hope was that a few things would happen. Number one, that policymakers would respond and would come together to start putting in place the kind of safety standards and data transparency requirements and privacy protections that we need. My hope also was that parents and young people would feel seen, would recognize that they’re not alone in their struggles. And finally, I wanted platforms to know that they also have a role here that they still have an opportunity to fulfill.
Social media has been around for nearly two decades. There’s been plenty of time for platforms to make the experience of young people safe, sufficiently safe. It’s one thing to say we’re implementing safety measures. It’s another thing to actually provide evidence that those measures are working to keep our kids safe.
So now we come to this week when you decide to put forward your suggested fix to the problem, and that is a warning label.
Which is something we’re used to seeing on cigarette packages, Surgeon General’s Warning. How exactly would a warning work in practice? I mean, which social media platforms are we talking about, and what would it look like in your ideal scenario?
So a warning label would be a digital warning. It would pop up at a regular basis when individuals used social media. There are important details of what that warning label looks like, what kind of font size it is, what are the literal wording of the warning label, does it have graphics associated with it, what part of your screen does it appear on? Those questions are typically answered in a scientific process that takes place after Congress authorizes a label.
Lastly, it’s important for people to know that there is data about warning labels and their effectiveness. We have now decades of experience with tobacco and alcohol warning labels. And what they tell us, particularly from tobacco, is that these labels, when done right, can be effective in increasing awareness and changing behavior.
But what gave you the idea to propose this? Is it a reflection of any frustration that not enough has been done after you issued your report last year?
Well, it’s a reflection more of the fact that we all have to look at every tool we have in our toolbox and use them to help address the harms that we may be seeing here with social media. And in our case, a surgeon general’s warning is one of those tools.
I want to be very clear that a warning label, in my mind, is not the entire fix to the harms that social media poses to our kids. I still firmly believe what I stated last year in my advisory and what I called for this week in the op-ed, which is Congress ultimately needs to make social media safer. And the way to do that is by putting in place measures that protect kids from harmful content and from manipulative features that lead them to excessive use. That is what Congress has to do. Alongside that, a warning would help parents and kids understand the risks that we see.
But let me separately say that if you’re asking, am I frustrated or concerned that there hasn’t been enough action? Absolutely yes. Look, I think all of us should be deeply concerned about how long it has taken for us to ultimately take action to make social media safer. We’ve got to do better. And that starts, ultimately, with the platforms as well as with Congress stepping up to take action.
We’ll be right back.
I wanted to ask you, Dr. Murthy, about the benefits, actually, because we’re talking that this is a complicated problem, but that there are benefits, of course. You know, social media can be particularly helpful for marginalized kids, people maybe who don’t have access to a supportive group of people around them, that it is meaningfully good in their lives. So how do you think about putting a warning label, kind of, just in a blanket way on all social media platforms in that respect?
So, I think about a warning label is providing people with information about their risk of harms. Now, risk of harm doesn’t mean that every single person is harmed. It doesn’t mean that there aren’t benefits, as well. That’s true with tobacco. It’s true with alcohol. And we have warning labels on both of those products.
But what it does mean is that there are significant risks that people should be aware of. And when it comes to special populations and groups of people and individuals who are helped by social media, we also have to look at the full picture there. Think about LGBTQ youth for a moment.
We do know, that in some cases, social media can be a way for LGBTQ youth to find community, to find support that, in some cases, they may not have in person, right? That can be positive. But what is less mentioned, is the fact that LGBTQ youth are much more likely to be bullied and harassed on social media compared to straight youth.
So how do we put that together? How do we balance those? The bottom line is, that we can’t assume, as I worry we have been doing in some of the debate around this, that because there are some benefits, that justifies all the harms, that it means we shouldn’t talk about the harms.
People have compared this moment in social media to moments in America when new media arrived on the scene and created a kind of social panic or say, new things arrived on the scene and created a kind of social panic TV, video games. That these things would be dangerous for kids. That these things would be bad for kids growing up and for their brains and all of that. What do you say to that criticism that maybe right now we’re just in the midst of another moral panic about this because we don’t quite understand it yet? What do you say to that?
Well, I think it’s an important question to consider. We want to make sure our responses are appropriate to the gravity of the situation. But in the case of social media, there’s something here that is fundamentally different from some of the other technologies that have cropped up and created temporary moral panics, whether that was TV, radio, even going way back, the printing press and books.
What’s different here, is that social media has fundamentally transformed childhood in a way that these previous technologies did not. When TV came onto the scene, I wasn’t bringing my TV into my bed and watching it throughout the night. I wasn’t able to be contacted by strangers through the TV in ways that would lead to bullying and exploitation. I didn’t have my personal data stolen because I was watching TV in ways that also could lead to exploitation and abuse.
All of these things are very unique to social media and the pervasiveness of it, the fact that young people can now carry it in their pockets and have 24/7 access to it, that has fundamentally changed the game. And this point is just important to underscore. Adolescents are not little adults. They are fundamentally in a very different stage of brain development.
And in that stage of brain development, their impulse control hasn’t developed as much. They are more susceptible to social comparison and social suggestion. So the things that, even to us adults, might seem as just willpower questions, you might just say it’s a balance. Just draw a few boundaries around your use of social media, no problem. One would argue it’s quite hard for adults to do that, by the way, but especially for young people, this is exceedingly hard.
And Sabrina, I got to say that, for me, and I know for many others, this is very personal. I’m a father of two young kids who’s watching them grow up you faster than I would like every day and who’s seeing the world coming at them rapidly. And I know I’m not alone as a parent.
And I think about the day when they come up to me and ask me if they can have a social media account. I think about what’s going to happen when their friends are bullied and harassed online. How are they going to respond? Are their friends going to feel comfortable talking to them about it? These are the questions that all of us have to grapple with as parents.
How old are your children?
My kids are six and seven now, and even though they’re young, I will say that a couple of years ago, when my daughter was in preschool, she came home one day and asked us about posting a picture on social media.
That’s how early it’s coming at us.
And what did you say to her?
We said no, and she went on her way, and she was fine. But this is going to happen more and more. It’s happening earlier and earlier to kids. And parents are out there trying to manage this all on their own. There’s no manual for how to manage social media for your kids. There’s no set of ideal practices for how to tailor your kid’s needs to the evolving nature of social media.
That’s actually why I believe that parents need to also come together and support one another around taking a set of shared rules so that not only is it easier for us, but it’s easier for our kids. When we tell our kid, for example, as my wife and I are planning to do for our kids, that we are not going to consider them being on social media until at least after middle school, it will be helpful to us if there are other parents in our friend community and our school community who are doing the same because then we can say, no, you’re not the only one, but Bobby and Mary and Jack are also waiting until after middle school.
And are there other parents who want to do the same to wait until after middle school? Or are you guys outliers?
Well, so this is what has been fascinating, obviously, even in our own school community. In the last few weeks alone, there has been more conversation in our school about how to manage technology for our kids. And there are many more parents than I had even realized, in our school, who want to wait until later. But the reason many don’t is because they want to assume that everyone is just doing this. They don’t want their kid to be left out. So this is a collective action problem.
But many of them are also unsure how to manage some of those harms or may not even be sure what the harms are. And there’s a lot of pressure too. The number of parents I talked to who say, my child came up to me and said, if you don’t let me open up an account on social media, I’ll be the only one —
— in my class. I’ll be left out. Do you want me to be more lonely? And if you’re a parent facing that, of course you don’t want your child to be lonely. So I really feel for parents because our kids shouldn’t be alone in this, and we shouldn’t be alone either, as parents, in managing social media.
So as the daughter of parents who decided that their child should not have a television, I can identify with those kids who say, I feel more lonely.
You’re not part of the conversation. You can’t participate in the games because you don’t hear, and you don’t see, and it is difficult. It’s the hardest thing for a parent, right? Are you worried that could happen to you that your kids — you would somehow kind of deepen the loneliness? I mean, you yourself were a lonely child growing up, you said. How do you think about this?
Well, this is why I think it’s so important for us to build this broader movement together, to reengineer the relationship that our kids have with technology. Because imagine if we delay the age at which kids start using social media. Imagine even after they use social media, if we build tech free zones in their lives, in their days to protect sleep, in-person interaction, physical activity, and learning. Think about what we would do and could do with that time.
I think about the school in Indiana that I went to, which had put in place restrictions around the use of social media and phones during class time. And they said that what they noticed was kids started playing games together in the library, and in the hallway, they were talking more. The volume in the hallways went up. And this has been one of the most striking things to me about the college tours that I’ve done. I remember college as a time where the most noisy place on campus was the dining hall.
Because everyone was coming together to talk about what they did. It was just you could barely hear yourself think.
These days, when I go to college campuses, and particularly the dining halls, it’s quiet because people are on their devices, they’re listening to music on their iPod, they’re on their laptops. And one of the most chilling questions that I got on the college tour, again and again, from kids, was how were we supposed to build connection with one another when the culture isn’t for people to talk to each other anymore? Just think about that for a minute.
They’re saying the culture is not for people to talk to each other anymore. We have to rebuild the spaces where people can talk to each other, where our kids can talk to each other, where they can discover things together, where they can agree and disagree together, but where they can do that in a way that helps them build healthy relationships, negotiate disagreement, and build friendships.
So let’s say that Congress goes along with this, and warning labels start to appear on social media online. We’re now almost 20 years since the advent of the smartphone. 2007 was the first iPhone. I remember getting one. Entire generations have formed their habits around these devices.
And as we’ve discussed, there have been some real benefits, but also there are some steep societal costs.
Someone, I read somewhere, put it that our kids are now this giant human, real-time, real-life laboratory of what all of this is going to mean. So is a label actually going to unwind that? Is it too late to unwind this?
I don’t think it’s too late. I think about smoking in our country. In 1964, when the first Surgeon General’s Report on Tobacco was issued. At that time, 42 percent of Americans smoked. There were advertisements everywhere for smoking that kids could see. It was just seen as part of the culture.
And there were people, at that time, who said, the notion that you’re going to get people to stop smoking just seems unrealistic. But the combination of not just a report but all of the action that that report helped to promote and unleash community education programs, advocacy from parents, legislation from Congress and from state and local legislatures. Together, over the years, that helped us take us from 42 percent to below 12 percent. That helped us save countless lives.
So is it going to be easy to change and re-engineer our relationship to social media and to make social media safer? No, it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be complicated. But I firmly believe that, as a nation, America can do hard things. We’ve done hard things before. And what better time than on this issue when what’s at stake is the mental health and well-being of our kids?
Do your kids know what your job is?
[LAUGHS]: My kids now know that I’m the surgeon general, but I don’t know that they know what that means. They know that I wear a uniform. And they know that I do a lot of interviews and talks, but I’m not sure that they entirely know what my day job is. They just know it has to do with health.
In my house, when you ask who’s a doctor in the house —
— my kids point to my wife. And we often have to remind them that, hey, daddy’s a doctor, too. So [LAUGHS]: it’s one of the humbling things about being a parent, and I love it.
Do they know anything about what you did this week?
They know that I was doing a lot of media because they saw me on TV here and there when they were walking past their grandparents’ television. But they don’t really know, otherwise. They don’t really know what — really, what social media is, at this point. But that is going to change any day now. It’s coming.
Do you think that, potentially, what you’re doing now means that they will be more protected?
I hope so, yeah. I mean, we do the work we do, as parents, I do the work I do, as a dad, not only because I want to serve, but because I want the world to be better for my kids.
And that’s what guides me here too.
I want my kids to grow up in a world where the technology and the tools that are in front of them help them and don’t harm them. I want them to grow up in a world where we are more connected with one another, where they can build friendships, and they can seek out other kids who may be struggling with loneliness and help them feel less alone and know that there’s somebody who’s got their back.
If I’ve learned one thing, in my life, it’s that we really do need each other. My wife and I, as much as we love our kids, we can’t make sure the whole world is safe for them by ourselves. We can’t make sure that they grow and encounter healthy levels of adversity just on our own. This is something we’ve got to do together as parents.
And so I do hope that the work that I do will have some small contribution to making the world better for them. But I also know that to fulfill that hope, it’s going to take all of us working hand in hand and keeping our North star clear, which is, ultimately, taking care of our kids. Because as a dad, I just don’t know what’s more important than that.
Dr. Murthy, thank you so much for your time.
Thank you so much, Sabrina. I really appreciate the chance to talk with you about this. [MUSIC PLAYING]
You can hear more discussion of the surgeon general’s social media recommendation on this week’s episode of “Hard Fork.”
Here’s what else you should know today. On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld a tax on foreign income that helped finance the tax cuts that President Donald Trump imposed in 2017 in a case that many experts had cautioned could undercut the nation’s tax system. The vote was 7 to 2, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh writing the majority opinion. He was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and by the court’s three liberals. The ruling avoided what many feared could have been fiscal chaos by upholding, for now, the structure of the income tax system.
And Donald Sutherland, the actor who played a laid-back battlefield surgeon in the television series “M*A*S*H” and a soulful father in the movie “Ordinary People,” died on Thursday, in Miami, at the age of 88. Sutherland was known for his wide range. He had the ability to both charm and unsettle, to reassure and repulse. Across six decades, starting in the early 1960s, he appeared in nearly 200 films and television shows. Some years, he was in as many as half a dozen movies.
A quick reminder to catch a new episode of “The Interview” right here tomorrow. This week, Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer about why she wants to meet one of the men convicted of plotting to kidnap her in 2020.
I’d like to understand what drove this group of people to undergo this exercise to try to kidnap me and kill me. I want to understand it. What is happening —
You think there’s something to understand?
Maybe. Maybe there’s not. But I’d like to see.
Today’s episode was produced by Lynsea Garrison, Rob Szypko, Alex Stern, and Rikki Novetsky. It was edited by Lexie Diao and Michael Benoist, contains original music by Dan Powell and Chelsea Daniel and was engineered by Alison Moxley. Special thanks to Ellen Barry. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.
That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Sabrina Tavernise. See you on Monday.
Hosted by Sabrina Tavernise
Produced by Lynsea Garrison , Rob Szypko , Alex Stern and Rikki Novetsky
Edited by Lexie Diao and Michael Benoist
Original music by Dan Powell and Chelsea Daniel
Engineered by Alyssa Moxley
Warning: This episode contains mentions of bullying and suicide.
A rising tide of mental health problems among teenagers has sent parents, teachers and doctors searching for answers. This week, the U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, offered one: social media.
Today, Dr. Murthy discusses his proposal to require platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Instagram to include warning labels, like those that appear on tobacco and alcohol products.
Dr. Vivek H. Murthy , the U.S. surgeon general.
Dr. Murthy cannot unilaterally impose warnings on social media; the action requires approval by Congress .
Read a guest essay by Dr. Murthy: Why I’m Calling for a Warning Label on Social Media Platforms .
There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.
We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.
The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.
Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson, Nina Lassam and Nick Pitman.
An earlier version of this episode misstated one of Donald Sutherland’s most notable roles. He starred in the film M*A*S*H, not the television series that followed.
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4. Make them laugh. Injecting a little humor into your opening line puts everyone at ease and makes your speech more memorable. Just make sure your joke is relevant and doesn't offend your audience. Example: "They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but if the doctor is cute, forget the fruit!". 5.
Analyze their response and tweak the joke accordingly if necessary. Starting your speech with humour means your setting the tone of your speech. It would make sense to have a few more jokes sprinkled around the rest of the speech as well as the audience might be expecting the same from you. 4. Mohammed Qahtani.
Here are 26 different techniques for beginning your speech: 1. Use a quote. One method of starting a speech and gaining the audience's attention is to use a famous or relatable quote. This approach can give your audience context for your topic and connect it to something they recognize. For instance, if you plan to give a speech on a political ...
9. It's in the news. Take headlines from what's trending in media you know the audience will be familiar with and see. Using those that relate to your speech topic as the opening of your speech is a good way to grab the attention of the audience. It shows how relevant and up-to-the-minute the topic is. For example:
So don't be afraid to let someone else's wisdom shine—it just might be the perfect way to start your next speech. 7. Employ Humor or Wit. When it comes to giving a speech, humor is one surefire way to engage your audience and keep them entertained. But before you start cracking jokes, there are a few things to keep in mind.
Opening Line: "All right. I'm going to show you a couple of images from a very diverting paper in The Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine.". #6: Julian Treasure - "How to Speak so that People Want to Listen". Opening Line: "The human voice: It's the instrument we all play.". #7: Jill Bolte Taylor - "My Stroke of Insight".
Start your introduction speech with a moment of silence, allowing the audience to focus and anticipate your message. This can be especially powerful in creating a sense of suspense and intrigue. Introduction Speech Example. To help you understand how to put these ideas into practice, here are the introduction speech examples for different ...
Typical Patterns for Speech Openings. Get the audience's attention-called a hook or a grabber. Establish rapport and tell the audience why you care about the topic of why you are credible to speak on the topic. Introduce the speech thesis/preview/good idea. Tell the audience why they should care about this topic.
The goal of an ideal introduction to your speech; Giving a speech: seven perfect speech introductions. 1. He who asks, leads - starting with a question; 2. Start your speech with a quote; 3. Inspire your audience with storytelling; 4. Start with an open loop; 5. Enchant the audience with parables; 6. Facts, figures and statistics as an ...
1) Thank the Organizers and Audience. You can start by thanking the audience for coming and thanking the organization for inviting you to speak. Refer to the person who introduced you or to one or more of the senior people in the organization in the audience. This compliments them, makes them feel proud and happy about your presence, and ...
Use a prop or visual aid: Show your audience something tangible that relates to your topic, like a product, a photograph, or a diagram. Employ the power of silence: Pause for a few seconds before beginning your speech to build anticipation and capture your audience's attention. Connect with your audience: Make eye contact, smile, and be ...
After that point, you'll be able to change those opinions about as easily as you can change a hamster into a ham sandwich. So here's how to be strong in the first 60 seconds of your speech. (2) Your opening sets the entire tone of your presentation (including whether you'll be interesting or not). (3) This is when you introduce your message and ...
A great public speaker will grab your attention from the first words. If you want to know how to start a speech effectively—and how to start an introduction ...
Need ideas on how to start your upcoming speech? Public speaking is listed as Americans' number one fear, before death at number 5, and loneliness at number ...
As a speaker or presenter, you barely have 30 seconds to convince your public to listen to you; afterwards, it's almost impossible to change their mind. You'...
4) Give Them a Roadmap of Your Journey Together. So let's review. You've hooked your listeners' attention, made your topic sound intriguing, and told them how it's going to improve their lives. You're ready for the final part of your introduction: giving them a roadmap of where you'll be going together.
Download Article. 1. Make an outline of your speech. Start by making a skeletal draft of your main points. Strip the speech down to its bare bones to determine what is most important to say, and in what order you should deliver those facts. This is the basic structure which you will build your speech around.
Here are five (of many) tried-and-true ways to start a speech. 1. Tell a story. By far the most effective way to open a speech is with a compelling story. "I was a student returning from a study abroad course in Cairo. Shortly after takeoff, five men carrying guns leapt up from their seats and began shouting at the passengers. ...
1. Thank the announcer for introducing you and the audience for attending. Thanking the announcer for introducing you and the audience for being there at the top of your speech can be very effective, as it creates an instant connection with the audience. 2. Mention a well-known personality.
Famous speech presentation opening lines with examples Best and Impactful Ways to start a speech Presentation. 1. Quote: Using a famous or relatable quote to begin a speech is one way to capture the audience's attention.If you're giving a speech about politics, for example, you could use a powerful quote that communicates a central political theme to connect with the subject of your speech.
1. Quote a leader. One of the most effective ways to start a speech is using a relatable quotation from a famous leader. This can get the audience's attention instantly and give direction to the rest of the speech. Ensure that the quote is somehow relevant to your speech topic or the person you are quoting is directly relevant to what you are ...
Learn the 5 Best Ways to Start a Speech or Presentation. Crafting a killer opening is a vital public speaking skill and separates beginners from more advance...
2. Open the Speech by Giving Compliment & Show Gratitude towards your Audience. Secondly, just after wishing greeting to your audience give them compliment and choose some words which show that you are delighted to see them there. Example: It's great to see you all, Thank you for coming here today.
"Good morning everybody. I'm so glad to be here with you today." I wanted to yell, "BOOOOOOOOOOOO!" It was a huge conference and he was the keynote speaker.
Before you start speaking, take a deep breath and give yourself a few seconds to gather your thoughts and choose a main point or theme to focus on. Use a simple structure. Organize your speech into a basic structure, such as an introduction, three main points and a conclusion. This will help you stay focused and avoid rambling or getting off track.
Ms Reeves urged private schools to start bracing for the extra 20 per cent levy if Labour wins the general election. She said: "Over the last 14 years state schools have to make huge ...
This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this ...