how to make an introductory speech

Speech Writing

Introduction Speech

Introduction Speech - A Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

11 min read

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Introduction speeches are all around us. Whenever we meet a new group of people in formal settings, we have to introduce ourselves. That’s what an introduction speech is all about.

When you're facing a formal audience, your ability to deliver a compelling introductory speech can make a lot of difference. With the correct approach, you can build credibility and connections.

In this blog, we'll take you through the steps to craft an impactful introduction speech. You’ll also get examples and valuable tips to ensure you leave a lasting impression.

So, let's dive in!

• 1. What is an Introduction Speech? 
• 2. How to Write an Introduction Speech?
• 3. Introduction Speech Outline
• 4. 7 Ways to Open an Introduction Speech
• 5. Introduction Speech Example
• 6. Introduction Speech Ideas
• 7. Tips for Delivering the Best Introduction Speech

What is an Introduction Speech? 

An introduction speech, or introductory address, is a brief presentation at the beginning of an event or public speaking engagement. Its primary purpose is to establish a connection with the audience and to introduce yourself or the main speaker.

This type of speech is commonly used in a variety of situations, including:

• Public Speaking: When you step onto a stage to address a large crowd, you start with an introduction to establish your presence and engage the audience.
• Networking Events: When meeting new people in professional or social settings, an effective introduction speech can help you make a memorable first impression.
• Formal Gatherings: From weddings to conferences, introductions set the tone for the event and create a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

In other words, an introduction speech is simply a way to introduce yourself to a crowd of people. 

How to Write an Introduction Speech?

Before you can just go and deliver your speech, you need to prepare for it. Writing a speech helps you organize your ideas and prepare your speech effectively. 

Here is how to introduce yourself in a speech.

• Know Your Audience

Understanding your audience is crucial. Consider their interests, backgrounds, and expectations to tailor your introduction accordingly.

For instance, the audience members could be your colleagues, new classmates, or various guests depending on the occasion. Understanding your audience will help you decide what they are expecting from you as a speaker.

• Start with a Hook

Begin with a captivating opening line that grabs your audience's attention. This could be a surprising fact, a relevant quote, or a thought-provoking question about yourself or the occasion.

• Introduce Yourself

Introduce yourself to the audience. State your name, occupation, or other details relevant to the occasion. You should mention the reason for your speech clearly. It will build your credibility and give the readers reasons to stay with you and read your speech.

• Keep It Concise

So how long is an introduction speech?

Introduction speeches should be brief and to the point. Aim for around 1-2 minutes in most cases. Avoid overloading the introduction with excessive details.

• Highlight Key Points

Mention the most important information that establishes the speaker's credibility or your own qualifications. Write down any relevant achievements, expertise, or credentials to include in your speech. Encourage the audience to connect with you using relatable anecdotes or common interests.

• Rehearse and Edit

Practice your introduction speech to ensure it flows smoothly and stays within the time frame. Edit out any unnecessary information, ensuring it's concise and impactful.

• Tailor for the Occasion

Adjust the tone and content of your introduction speech to match the formality and purpose of the event. What works for a business conference may not be suitable for a casual gathering.

Introduction Speech Outline

To assist you in creating a structured and effective introduction speech, here's a simple outline that you can follow:

Here is an example outline for a self-introduction speech.

Outline for Self-Introduction Speech

7 Ways to Open an Introduction Speech

You can start your introduction speech as most people do:

“Hello everyone, my name is _____. I will talk about _____. Thank you so much for having me. So first of all _______”

However, this is the fastest way to make your audience lose interest. Instead, you should start by captivating your audience’s interest. Here are 7 ways to do that:

• Quote  

Start with a thought-provoking quote that relates to your topic or the occasion. E.g. "Mahatma Gandhi once said, 'You must be the change you want to see in the world."

• Anecdote or Story

Begin with a brief, relevant anecdote or story that draws the audience in. It could be a story about yourself or any catchy anecdote to begin the flow of your speech.

Pose a rhetorical question to engage the audience's curiosity and involvement. For example, "Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel back in time, to experience a moment in history?”

• Statistic or Fact

Share a surprising statistic or interesting fact that underscores the significance of your speech. E.g. “Did you know that as of today, over 60% of the world's population has access to the internet?”

• “What If” Scenario

Paint a vivid "What if" scenario that relates to your topic, sparking the audience's imagination and curiosity. For example, "What if I told you that a single decision today could change the course of your life forever?"

• Ignite Imagination  

Encourage the audience to envision a scenario related to your topic. For instance, "Imagine a world where clean energy powers everything around us, reducing our carbon footprint to almost zero."

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 scenarios.

Introduction Speech Writing Sample

Short Introduction Speech Sample

Self Introduction Speech for College Students

Introduction Speech about Yourself

Student Presentation Introduction Speech Script

Teacher Introduction Speech

New Employee Self Introduction Speech

Introduction Speech for Chief Guest

Moreover, here is a video example of a self introduction. Watch it to understand how you should deliver your speech:

Want to read examples for other kinds of speeches? Find the best speeches at our blog about speech examples !

Introduction Speech Ideas

So now that you’ve understood what an introduction speech is, you may want to write one of your own. So what should you talk about?

The following are some ideas to start an introduction speech for a presentation, meeting, or social gathering in an engaging way. 

• Personal Story: Share a brief personal story or an experience that has shaped you, introducing yourself on a deeper level.
• Professional Background: Introduce yourself by highlighting your professional background, including your career achievements and expertise.
• Hobby or Passion: Discuss a hobby or passion that you're enthusiastic about, offering insights into your interests and what drives you.
• Volunteer Work: Introduce yourself by discussing your involvement in volunteer work or community service, demonstrating your commitment to making a difference.
• Travel Adventures: Share anecdotes from your travel adventures, giving the audience a glimpse into your love for exploring new places and cultures.
• Books or Literature: Provide an introduction related to a favorite book, author, or literary work, revealing your literary interests.
• Achievements and Milestones: Highlight significant achievements and milestones in your life or career to introduce yourself with an impressive track record.
• Cultural Heritage: Explore your cultural heritage and its influence on your identity, fostering a sense of cultural understanding.
• Social or Environmental Cause: Discuss your dedication to a particular social or environmental cause, inviting the audience to join you in your mission.
• Future Aspirations: Share your future goals and aspirations, offering a glimpse into what you hope to achieve in your personal or professional life.

You can deliver engaging speeches on all kinds of topics. Here is a list of entertaining speech topics to get inspiration.

Tips for Delivering the Best Introduction Speech

Here are some tips for you to write a perfect introduction speech in no time. 

Now that you know how to write an effective introduction speech, let's focus on the delivery. The way you present your introduction is just as important as the content itself. 

Here are some valuable tips to ensure you deliver a better introduction speech:

• Maintain Eye Contact 

Make eye contact with the audience to establish a connection. This shows confidence and engages your listeners.

• Use Appropriate Body Language 

Your body language should convey confidence and warmth. Stand or sit up straight, use open gestures, and avoid fidgeting.

• Mind Your Pace

Speak at a moderate pace, avoiding rapid speech. A well-paced speech is easier to follow and more engaging.

• Avoid Filler Words

Minimize the use of filler words such as "um," "uh," and "like." They can be distracting and detract from your message.

• Be Enthusiastic

Convey enthusiasm about the topic or the speaker. Your energy can be contagious and inspire the audience's interest.

• Practice, Practice, Practice

Rehearse your speech multiple times. Practice in front of a mirror, record yourself, or seek feedback from others.

• Be Mindful of Time

Stay within the allocated time for your introduction. Going too long can make your speech too boring for the audience.

• Engage the Audience

Encourage the audience's participation. You could do that by asking rhetorical questions, involving them in a brief activity, or sharing relatable anecdotes.

Mistakes to Avoid in an Introduction Speech

While crafting and delivering an introduction speech, it's important to be aware of common pitfalls that can diminish its effectiveness. Avoiding these mistakes will help you create a more engaging and memorable introduction. 

Here are some key mistakes to steer clear of:

• Rambling On

One of the most common mistakes is making the introduction too long. Keep it concise and to the point. The purpose is to set the stage, not steal the spotlight.

• Lack of Preparation

Failing to prepare adequately can lead to stumbling, awkward pauses, or losing your train of thought. Rehearse your introduction to build confidence.

• Using Jargon or Complex Language

Avoid using technical jargon or complex language that may confuse the audience. Your introduction should be easily understood by everyone.

• Being Too Generic

A generic or uninspiring introduction can set a lackluster tone. Ensure your introduction is tailored to the event and speaker, making it more engaging.

• Using Inappropriate Humor

Be cautious with humor, as it can easily backfire. Avoid inappropriate or potentially offensive jokes that could alienate the audience.

• Not Tailoring to the Occasion

An introduction should be tailored to the specific event's formality and purpose. A one-size-fits-all approach may not work in all situations.

To Conclude,

An introduction speech is more than just a formality. It's an opportunity to engage, inspire, and connect with your audience in a meaningful way. 

With the help of this blog, you're well-equipped to shine in various contexts. So, step onto that stage, speak confidently, and captivate your audience from the very first word.

Moreover, you’re not alone in your journey to becoming a confident introducer. If you ever need assistance in preparing your speech, let the experts help you out.

MyPerfectWords.com offers a reputable essay writing service with experienced professionals who can craft tailored introductions, ensuring your speech makes a lasting impact.

Don't hesitate; hire our professional speech writing service to deliver top-quality speeches at your deadline!

Write Essay Within 60 Seconds!

Dr. Barbara is a highly experienced writer and author who holds a Ph.D. degree in public health from an Ivy League school. She has worked in the medical field for many years, conducting extensive research on various health topics. Her writing has been featured in several top-tier publications.

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• The 4 main speech types
• Example speeches
• Commemorative
• Declamation
• Demonstration
• Informative
• Introduction
• Student Council
• Speech topics
• Poems to read aloud
• How to write a speech
• Using props/visual aids
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• Breathing exercises
• Letting go - free e-course
• Using self-hypnosis
• Delivery overview
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• How to make cue cards
• How to read a speech
• 9 vocal aspects
• Vocal variety
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• Speaking rate
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How to write a speech introduction

12 of the best attention getters to start a speech

By:  Susan Dugdale  | Last modified: 01-12-2023

The audience settles in their seats. The lights dim. You walk out to the center of the stage. You pause, take a deep breath, open your mouth and begin.

What you say over the next 30 seconds to introduce your speech or presentation is crucial.

That's how much time you have to make a positive impression on your audience. In it they will decide whether or not you have anything relevant or useful to say. Those first impressions count!

So how do you write an effective speech introduction to grab and hold their attention?

Begin by finding out how to choose the right opener.

What's on this page:

• how to choose the right opener for your speech

12 of the very best ways to start a speech

3. What if?

5. Key fact

7. Rhetorical

9. Headlines

10. History

11. Challenge

How to choose the right opener for your speech

The better way to make your choice of opener is after you have carefully considered who you are talking to and why you're talking to them.

One size does not fit all. Different audiences will respond differently. If you are giving the same speech multiple times think about what you may need to change to fit. 

To work well your opening needs to be aligned with:

• the type of speech you're giving
• your main purpose for giving it
• your target audience and,  
• their interests or needs

Both the hook * to catch their attention and your topic must be relevant to them. Unless they're a captive audience, they've come freely to listen to you and they're expecting something of value from you.

How are you going to let them know they're in the right place? Why should they listen? What are they going to get or gain through listening?

Out of all the different ways to open, what attention getter is absolutely the best way?

The only way I know to work out what is best is to go through each of them, and as you do, consider your audience. Make a short list of those you think might work then try them out before making your final choice.

* hook – an opening statement that immediately captures the audience's attention just like a well baited hook on a fishing line catches a fish.

Return to Top

1. Use imagination to create mind pictures

Ask the audience to use their imagination. Get them to build evocative compelling images in their minds. Make them large. Add vibrant color, sound and movement.

For example:

“Let's take a break. Make yourself comfortable. Now close your eyes for a moment. Take a deep breath, and you're there, in the place where you feel the most at ease, the place where all the tensions, all the demands of your normal everyday life disappear. Look around you. See it. Feel it. It's so good, it's perfect."

“Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and a moment to picture in your mind the people dearest to you, the people you feel you could not live without. Now when did you talk to them, or spend real time with them last?"

2. Use an item to build a connection 

Choose an image or an object related to your speech, for instance a pair of shoes, to trigger interest and build a connection.

For example, if I were giving a speech on the lives of upper-middle class 19th century women I could open by holding up a pair of ornately decorated kid leather pumps.

“What's the name of the young woman who wore these? Listen. Can you hear the rustle of her silk skirts? And hear her heart beat bom-biddy-bom as the beau of the ball stepped her way? Would he, or wouldn't he ask her to dance?”

3. Ask a 'What if...?' rhetorical question

'What if...?' invites an audience to consider the possibilities of something becoming real. They can be positive somethings or negative, trivial or something that would have a significant impact if it came to pass.

The power of a 'what if...?' rhetorical question as an opener lies in the potency of the images and feelings it triggers. A well-chosen 'what if...?' will immediately have an audience wanting to hear the rest of your speech.

• "What if we don't find a way to successfully manage climate change?"
• "What if we really did solve the affordable housing crisis?"
• "What if questions of race and color ceased to matter?"
• "What if medicines were freely available to everybody who needed them?"
• "What if the person sitting next to you turned, looked into your eyes and said they loved you? Truly. Madly. Deeply."

4. Try a quotation from someone who's impacted your life in some way

To be effective a quotation doesn't have to be the clever quip or snippet of enduring wisdom: a famous quote from a well known person. It's origin could be personal, something someone important in your life said that's remained with you.

For example, my Mother answered all initial wails of outrage, pain or hurt from any of her five children with a command. "Breathe!" That was repeated, interwoven with encouraging asides, until whoever it was, was able to talk clearly and be understood.  "It's OK.", she'd say. "Breathe. Come on. You can do it. Breathe. That's it. Keep going. Good."

Or I could use this line from one of my high school reports which read, "...with further maturity she should do well." (Thank you Mr Phillips. Your prediction was right on target.) 

Or this from our son aged four as he watched me getting ready for another day of teaching: "When I grow up I'm going to wear pretty dresses and go to school just like you."

5. Use an interesting key fact

Choose an interesting key fact as an attention getting device: one of the most rarely known, or a shocking statistic from the body of your speech to open with.

For example: "Take a guess at what the most powerful and frequently used word is in the English language? 

It's not one of those usually thought of candidates.  Love? No. Money? Nope. Neither is it  any member of your family... Mum, Dad, brother, sister, son, or daughter.

It's a three letter word, so common it's overlooked and taken for granted. 'The'. It's the humble 'the'."

(For more see this BBC article:  Is this the most powerful word in the English language?

Or: "Between 2020/21 and 2021/2022, Americans consumed about 11 million metric tons of sugar, up from about 10 million metric tons in 2009/2010. Can you even begin to imagine the size of that sweet white mountain?"

(For more see: US sugar consumption statistics )

6. Share personal stories

Share a personal story related to your specific topic as the beginning of a speech. Done well, it lets the audience know you understand their situation and helps establish your credibility: your right to talk on the subject.

As an example here's the opening of a speech I gave about the impact of suicide on families and friends:

“One fine Spring day I biked home from school and found a policemen guarding our backdoor. Through it came sounds I'll never forget: my quiet Mother screaming. He said, "You can't go in."

I kicked him in the shins and did. It was the 15th of September, three days before my thirteenth birthday and my father was dead. Killed by his own hand. Suicide.”

(If you want to find out more about the speech and read it, it's here: After they're gone . It's an example persuasive speech using the five steps of Monroe's Motivated Sequence.)

7. Rhetorical questions

These are questions that although they are asked, they're never really intended to be answered by anyone other than the person asking them. * Their principal function is to act as a segue, or lead in, to what the person intends to say next. For instance, the first main point of your introduction.

Examples: "What if I were to say to you that there was no such thing as public speaking fear?"

"What do you think the main benefits of being able to speak up in public are?"

* Although there's bound to be someone in your audience who will. Be ready for them, and move on.

8. An empathetic question, aligning yourself with the audience and eliciting a response

These questions bring speaker and audience together, establishing a common ground, a mutual understanding, which is an effective way to ease into a speech. If your question 'works' you'll see heads nodding in agreement.

• "Have you ever experienced the butterflies in your stomach turning into a herd of rampaging elephants, just before you step up to give your presentation?"
• "Have you ever wanted a good day to never end?"
• "How often have you 'lost' your car in the supermarket car park?"
• "How often have you ever wanted to shout, NO? You want me to prepare a new presentation by tomorrow? NO. You want me to stay late, again? NO."

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: "'Death toll soars to 76 in Florida after Hurricane Ian demolished entire communities.' 'Noru became a super typhoon in 6 hours. Scientists say powerful storms are becoming harder to forecast.' 'Hurricane Orlene strengthens into Category 4 storm as it heads toward western Mexico.'

Three front page headlines from CNN just today. Climate change. Let's do what we can."

10. This day in history

If you're giving a speech to celebrate a special birthday or an anniversary, consider using several carefully selected events that occurred on the same day as a speech opening. They could be either funny or serious, depending on the specific purpose of your speech. They're a great way to place the person in a much wider context and often with exalted company.

For example: "What do the 1863 National Thanksgiving Day proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln, National Boyfriend Day, and Gwen Stefani have in common with Joe? Yes, the 3rd of October! It's a great date made better by being Joe's birthday. And we say Gwen is truly privileged to have the same one as him."

11. Issue a challenge

Let the audience know first thing, at the beginning of the speech, what action you expect they'll be able to take by the time your presentation is complete. Then when you come to the final points, repeat the call to action, or challenge, as part of your closing statement.

For example: "I've a challenge for you. That's to sign up for our public speaking course. Right now you may not see yourself doing that. Public speaking? Me? I'd rather have a root canal done, without painkillers. However, by the end of the presentation...well, let's see. There's a first time for everything!"

Use a startling statement, a fact, or a series of facts, to jolt the audience into paying attention.

"Covid. We've had 1.06 million of us die in the US, so far. Today there are nearly 60,00 new cases. More mothers, fathers, friends, colleagues, children – people. People ill. People who might die. So why have we stopped wearing masks?"

For more: Google: Covid stats US

Other speech writing resources

• how to end a speech effectively : explanations with examples showing how to close a speech with impact
• how to write a speech : a detailed guide with examples covering audience analysis, planning, writing oral language, transitions, how to use an outline... 

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9.3 Putting It Together: Steps to Complete Your Introduction

Learning objectives.

• Clearly identify why an audience should listen to a speaker.
• Discuss how you can build your credibility during a speech.
• Understand how to write a clear thesis statement.
• Design an effective preview of your speech’s content for your audience.

Erin Brown-John – puzzle – CC BY-NC 2.0.

Once you have captured your audience’s attention, it’s important to make the rest of your introduction interesting, and use it to lay out the rest of the speech. In this section, we are going to explore the five remaining parts of an effective introduction: linking to your topic, reasons to listen, stating credibility, thesis statement, and preview.

Link to Topic

After the attention-getter, the second major part of an introduction is called the link to topic. The link to topic is the shortest part of an introduction and occurs when a speaker demonstrates how an attention-getting device relates to the topic of a speech. Often the attention-getter and the link to topic are very clear. For example, if you look at the attention-getting device example under historical reference above, you’ll see that the first sentence brings up the history of the Vietnam War and then shows us how that war can help us understand the Iraq War. In this case, the attention-getter clearly flows directly to the topic. However, some attention-getters need further explanation to get to the topic of the speech. For example, both of the anecdote examples (the girl falling into the manhole while texting and the boy and the filberts) need further explanation to connect clearly to the speech topic (i.e., problems of multitasking in today’s society).

Let’s look at the first anecdote example to demonstrate how we could go from the attention-getter to the topic.

In July 2009, a high school girl named Alexa Longueira was walking along a main boulevard near her home on Staten Island, New York, typing in a message on her cell phone. Not paying attention to the world around her, she took a step and fell right into an open manhole. This anecdote illustrates the problem that many people are facing in today’s world. We are so wired into our technology that we forget to see what’s going on around us—like a big hole in front of us.

In this example, the third sentence here explains that the attention-getter was an anecdote that illustrates a real issue. The fourth sentence then introduces the actual topic of the speech.

Let’s now examine how we can make the transition from the parable or fable attention-getter to the topic:

The ancient Greek writer Aesop told a fable about a boy who put his hand into a pitcher of filberts. The boy grabbed as many of the delicious nuts as he possibly could. But when he tried to pull them out, his hand wouldn’t fit through the neck of the pitcher because he was grasping so many filberts. Instead of dropping some of them so that his hand would fit, he burst into tears and cried about his predicament. The moral of the story? “Don’t try to do too much at once.” In today’s world, many of us are us are just like the boy putting his hand into the pitcher. We are constantly trying to grab so much or do so much that it prevents us from accomplishing our goals. I would like to show you three simple techniques to manage your time so that you don’t try to pull too many filberts from your pitcher.

In this example, we added three new sentences to the attention-getter to connect it to the speech topic.

Reasons to Listen

Once you have linked an attention-getter to the topic of your speech, you need to explain to your audience why your topic is important. We call this the “why should I care?” part of your speech because it tells your audience why the topic is directly important to them. Sometimes you can include the significance of your topic in the same sentence as your link to the topic, but other times you may need to spell out in one or two sentences why your specific topic is important.

People in today’s world are very busy, and they do not like their time wasted. Nothing is worse than having to sit through a speech that has nothing to do with you. Imagine sitting through a speech about a new software package you don’t own and you will never hear of again. How would you react to the speaker? Most of us would be pretty annoyed at having had our time wasted in this way. Obviously, this particular speaker didn’t do a great job of analyzing her or his audience if the audience isn’t going to use the software package—but even when speaking on a topic that is highly relevant to the audience, speakers often totally forget to explain how and why it is important.

Appearing Credible

The next part of a speech is not so much a specific “part” as an important characteristic that needs to be pervasive throughout your introduction and your entire speech. As a speaker, you want to be seen as credible (competent, trustworthy, and caring/having goodwill). As mentioned earlier in this chapter, credibility is ultimately a perception that is made by your audience. While your audience determines whether they perceive you as competent, trustworthy, and caring/having goodwill, there are some strategies you can employ to make yourself appear more credible.

First, to make yourself appear competent, you can either clearly explain to your audience why you are competent about a given subject or demonstrate your competence by showing that you have thoroughly researched a topic by including relevant references within your introduction. The first method of demonstrating competence—saying it directly—is only effective if you are actually a competent person on a given subject. If you are an undergraduate student and you are delivering a speech about the importance of string theory in physics, unless you are a prodigy of some kind, you are probably not a recognized expert on the subject. Conversely, if your number one hobby in life is collecting memorabilia about the Three Stooges, then you may be an expert about the Three Stooges. However, you would need to explain to your audience your passion for collecting Three Stooges memorabilia and how this has made you an expert on the topic.

If, on the other hand, you are not actually a recognized expert on a topic, you need to demonstrate that you have done your homework to become more knowledgeable than your audience about your topic. The easiest way to demonstrate your competence is through the use of appropriate references from leading thinkers and researchers on your topic. When you demonstrate to your audience that you have done your homework, they are more likely to view you as competent.

The second characteristic of credibility, trustworthiness, is a little more complicated than competence, for it ultimately relies on audience perceptions. One way to increase the likelihood that a speaker will be perceived as trustworthy is to use reputable sources. If you’re quoting Dr. John Smith, you need to explain who Dr. John Smith is so your audience will see the quotation as being more trustworthy. As speakers we can easily manipulate our sources into appearing more credible than they actually are, which would be unethical. When you are honest about your sources with your audience, they will trust you and your information more so than when you are ambiguous. The worst thing you can do is to out-and-out lie about information during your speech. Not only is lying highly unethical, but if you are caught lying, your audience will deem you untrustworthy and perceive everything you are saying as untrustworthy. Many speakers have attempted to lie to an audience because it will serve their own purposes or even because they believe their message is in their audience’s best interest, but lying is one of the fastest ways to turn off an audience and get them to distrust both the speaker and the message.

The third characteristic of credibility to establish during the introduction is the sense of caring/goodwill. While some unethical speakers can attempt to manipulate an audience’s perception that the speaker cares, ethical speakers truly do care about their audiences and have their audience’s best interests in mind while speaking. Often speakers must speak in front of audiences that may be hostile toward the speaker’s message. In these cases, it is very important for the speaker to explain that he or she really does believe her or his message is in the audience’s best interest. One way to show that you have your audience’s best interests in mind is to acknowledge disagreement from the start:

Today I’m going to talk about why I believe we should enforce stricter immigration laws in the United States. I realize that many of you will disagree with me on this topic. I used to believe that open immigration was a necessity for the United States to survive and thrive, but after researching this topic, I’ve changed my mind. While I may not change all of your minds today, I do ask that you listen with an open mind, set your personal feelings on this topic aside, and judge my arguments on their merits.

While clearly not all audience members will be open or receptive to opening their minds and listening to your arguments, by establishing that there is known disagreement, you are telling the audience that you understand their possible views and are not trying to attack their intellect or their opinions.

Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is a short, declarative sentence that states the purpose, intent, or main idea of a speech. A strong, clear thesis statement is very valuable within an introduction because it lays out the basic goal of the entire speech. We strongly believe that it is worthwhile to invest some time in framing and writing a good thesis statement. You may even want to write your thesis statement before you even begin conducting research for your speech. While you may end up rewriting your thesis statement later, having a clear idea of your purpose, intent, or main idea before you start searching for research will help you focus on the most appropriate material. To help us understand thesis statements, we will first explore their basic functions and then discuss how to write a thesis statement.

Basic Functions of a Thesis Statement

A thesis statement helps your audience by letting them know “in a nutshell” what you are going to talk about. With a good thesis statement you will fulfill four basic functions: you express your specific purpose, provide a way to organize your main points, make your research more effective, and enhance your delivery.

Express Your Specific Purpose

To orient your audience, you need to be as clear as possible about your meaning. A strong thesis will prepare your audience effectively for the points that will follow. Here are two examples:

• “Today, I want to discuss academic cheating.” (weak example)
• “Today, I will clarify exactly what plagiarism is and give examples of its different types so that you can see how it leads to a loss of creative learning interaction.” (strong example)

The weak statement will probably give the impression that you have no clear position about your topic because you haven’t said what that position is. Additionally, the term “academic cheating” can refer to many behaviors—acquiring test questions ahead of time, copying answers, changing grades, or allowing others to do your coursework—so the specific topic of the speech is still not clear to the audience.

The strong statement not only specifies plagiarism but also states your specific concern (loss of creative learning interaction).

Provide a Way to Organize Your Main Points

A thesis statement should appear, almost verbatim, toward the end of the introduction to a speech. A thesis statement helps the audience get ready to listen to the arrangement of points that follow. Many speakers say that if they can create a strong thesis sentence, the rest of the speech tends to develop with relative ease. On the other hand, when the thesis statement is not very clear, creating a speech is an uphill battle.

When your thesis statement is sufficiently clear and decisive, you will know where you stand about your topic and where you intend to go with your speech. Having a clear thesis statement is especially important if you know a great deal about your topic or you have strong feelings about it. If this is the case for you, you need to know exactly what you are planning on talking about in order to fit within specified time limitations. Knowing where you are and where you are going is the entire point in establishing a thesis statement; it makes your speech much easier to prepare and to present.

Let’s say you have a fairly strong thesis statement, and that you’ve already brainstormed a list of information that you know about the topic. Chances are your list is too long and has no focus. Using your thesis statement, you can select only the information that (1) is directly related to the thesis and (2) can be arranged in a sequence that will make sense to the audience and will support the thesis. In essence, a strong thesis statement helps you keep useful information and weed out less useful information.

Make Your Research More Effective

If you begin your research with only a general topic in mind, you run the risk of spending hours reading mountains of excellent literature about your topic. However, mountains of literature do not always make coherent speeches. You may have little or no idea of how to tie your research all together, or even whether you should tie it together. If, on the other hand, you conduct your research with a clear thesis statement in mind, you will be better able to zero in only on material that directly relates to your chosen thesis statement. Let’s look at an example that illustrates this point:

Many traffic accidents involve drivers older than fifty-five.

While this statement may be true, you could find industrial, medical, insurance literature that can drone on ad infinitum about the details of all such accidents in just one year. Instead, focusing your thesis statement will help you narrow the scope of information you will be searching for while gathering information. Here’s an example of a more focused thesis statement:

Three factors contribute to most accidents involving drivers over fifty-five years of age: failing eyesight, slower reflexes, and rapidly changing traffic conditions.

This framing is somewhat better. This thesis statement at least provides three possible main points and some keywords for your electronic catalog search. However, if you want your audience to understand the context of older people at the wheel, consider something like:

Mature drivers over fifty-five years of age must cope with more challenging driving conditions than existed only one generation ago: more traffic moving at higher speeds, the increased imperative for quick driving decisions, and rapidly changing ramp and cloverleaf systems. Because of these challenges, I want my audience to believe that drivers over the age of sixty-five should be required to pass a driving test every five years.

This framing of the thesis provides some interesting choices. First, several terms need to be defined, and these definitions might function surprisingly well in setting the tone of the speech. Your definitions of words like “generation,” “quick driving decisions,” and “cloverleaf systems” could jolt your audience out of assumptions they have taken for granted as truth.

Second, the framing of the thesis provides you with a way to describe the specific changes as they have occurred between, say, 1970 and 2010. How much, and in what ways, have the volume and speed of traffic changed? Why are quick decisions more critical now? What is a “cloverleaf,” and how does any driver deal cognitively with exiting in the direction seemingly opposite to the desired one? Questions like this, suggested by your own thesis statement, can lead to a strong, memorable speech.

Enhance Your Delivery

When your thesis is not clear to you, your listeners will be even more clueless than you are—but if you have a good clear thesis statement, your speech becomes clear to your listeners. When you stand in front of your audience presenting your introduction, you can vocally emphasize the essence of your speech, expressed as your thesis statement. Many speakers pause for a half second, lower their vocal pitch slightly, slow down a little, and deliberately present the thesis statement, the one sentence that encapsulates its purpose. When this is done effectively, the purpose, intent, or main idea of a speech is driven home for an audience.

How to Write a Thesis Statement

Now that we’ve looked at why a thesis statement is crucial in a speech, let’s switch gears and talk about how we go about writing a solid thesis statement. A thesis statement is related to the general and specific purposes of a speech as we discussed them in Chapter 6 “Finding a Purpose and Selecting a Topic” .

Choose Your Topic

The first step in writing a good thesis statement was originally discussed in Chapter 6 “Finding a Purpose and Selecting a Topic” when we discussed how to find topics. Once you have a general topic, you are ready to go to the second step of creating a thesis statement.

Narrow Your Topic

One of the hardest parts of writing a thesis statement is narrowing a speech from a broad topic to one that can be easily covered during a five- to ten-minute speech. While five to ten minutes may sound like a long time to new public speakers, the time flies by very quickly when you are speaking. You can easily run out of time if your topic is too broad. To ascertain if your topic is narrow enough for a specific time frame, ask yourself three questions.

First, is your thesis statement narrow or is it a broad overgeneralization of a topic? An overgeneralization occurs when we classify everyone in a specific group as having a specific characteristic. For example, a speaker’s thesis statement that “all members of the National Council of La Raza are militant” is an overgeneralization of all members of the organization. Furthermore, a speaker would have to correctly demonstrate that all members of the organization are militant for the thesis statement to be proven, which is a very difficult task since the National Council of La Raza consists of millions of Hispanic Americans. A more appropriate thesis related to this topic could be, “Since the creation of the National Council of La Raza [NCLR] in 1968, the NCLR has become increasingly militant in addressing the causes of Hispanics in the United States.”

The second question to ask yourself when narrowing a topic is whether your speech’s topic is one clear topic or multiple topics. A strong thesis statement consists of only a single topic. The following is an example of a thesis statement that contains too many topics: “Medical marijuana, prostitution, and gay marriage should all be legalized in the United States.” Not only are all three fairly broad, but you also have three completely unrelated topics thrown into a single thesis statement. Instead of a thesis statement that has multiple topics, limit yourself to only one topic. Here’s an example of a thesis statement examining only one topic: “Today we’re going to examine the legalization and regulation of the oldest profession in the state of Nevada.” In this case, we’re focusing our topic to how one state has handled the legalization and regulation of prostitution.

The last question a speaker should ask when making sure a topic is sufficiently narrow is whether the topic has direction. If your basic topic is too broad, you will never have a solid thesis statement or a coherent speech. For example, if you start off with the topic “Barack Obama is a role model for everyone,” what do you mean by this statement? Do you think President Obama is a role model because of his dedication to civic service? Do you think he’s a role model because he’s a good basketball player? Do you think he’s a good role model because he’s an excellent public speaker? When your topic is too broad, almost anything can become part of the topic. This ultimately leads to a lack of direction and coherence within the speech itself. To make a cleaner topic, a speaker needs to narrow her or his topic to one specific area. For example, you may want to examine why President Obama is a good speaker.

Put Your Topic into a Sentence

Once you’ve narrowed your topic to something that is reasonably manageable given the constraints placed on your speech, you can then formalize that topic as a complete sentence. For example, you could turn the topic of President Obama’s public speaking skills into the following sentence: “Because of his unique sense of lyricism and his well-developed presentational skills, President Barack Obama is a modern symbol of the power of public speaking.” Once you have a clear topic sentence, you can start tweaking the thesis statement to help set up the purpose of your speech.

Add Your Argument, Viewpoint, or Opinion

This function only applies if you are giving a speech to persuade. If your topic is informative, your job is to make sure that the thesis statement is nonargumentative and focuses on facts. For example, in the preceding thesis statement we have a couple of opinion-oriented terms that should be avoided for informative speeches: “unique sense,” “well-developed,” and “power.” All three of these terms are laced with an individual’s opinion, which is fine for a persuasive speech but not for an informative speech. For informative speeches, the goal of a thesis statement is to explain what the speech will be informing the audience about, not attempting to add the speaker’s opinion about the speech’s topic. For an informative speech, you could rewrite the thesis statement to read, “This speech is going to analyze Barack Obama’s use of lyricism in his speech, ‘A World That Stands as One,’ delivered July 2008 in Berlin.”

On the other hand, if your topic is persuasive, you want to make sure that your argument, viewpoint, or opinion is clearly indicated within the thesis statement. If you are going to argue that Barack Obama is a great speaker, then you should set up this argument within your thesis statement.

Use the Thesis Checklist

Once you have written a first draft of your thesis statement, you’re probably going to end up revising your thesis statement a number of times prior to delivering your actual speech. A thesis statement is something that is constantly tweaked until the speech is given. As your speech develops, often your thesis will need to be rewritten to whatever direction the speech itself has taken. We often start with a speech going in one direction, and find out through our research that we should have gone in a different direction. When you think you finally have a thesis statement that is good to go for your speech, take a second and make sure it adheres to the criteria shown in Table 9.1 “Thesis Checklist”

Table 9.1 Thesis Checklist

Preview of Speech

The final part of an introduction contains a preview of the major points to be covered within your speech. I’m sure we’ve all seen signs that have three cities listed on them with the mileage to reach each city. This mileage sign is an indication of what is to come. A preview works the same way. A preview foreshadows what the main body points will be in the speech. For example, to preview a speech on bullying in the workplace, one could say, “To understand the nature of bullying in the modern workplace, I will first define what workplace bullying is and the types of bullying, I will then discuss the common characteristics of both workplace bullies and their targets, and lastly, I will explore some possible solutions to workplace bullying.” In this case, each of the phrases mentioned in the preview would be a single distinct point made in the speech itself. In other words, the first major body point in this speech would examine what workplace bullying is and the types of bullying; the second major body point in this speech would discuss the common characteristics of both workplace bullies and their targets; and lastly, the third body point in this speech would explore some possible solutions to workplace bullying.

Key Takeaways

• Linking the attention-getter to the speech topic is essential so that you maintain audience attention and so that the relevance of the attention-getter is clear to your audience.
• Establishing how your speech topic is relevant and important shows the audience why they should listen to your speech.
• To be an effective speaker, you should convey all three components of credibility, competence, trustworthiness, and caring/goodwill, by the content and delivery of your introduction.
• A clear thesis statement is essential to provide structure for a speaker and clarity for an audience.
• An effective preview identifies the specific main points that will be present in the speech body.
• Make a list of the attention-getting devices you might use to give a speech on the importance of recycling. Which do you think would be most effective? Why?
• Create a thesis statement for a speech related to the topic of collegiate athletics. Make sure that your thesis statement is narrow enough to be adequately covered in a five- to six-minute speech.
• Discuss with a partner three possible body points you could utilize for the speech on the topic of volunteerism.
• Fill out the introduction worksheet to help work through your introduction for your next speech. Please make sure that you answer all the questions clearly and concisely.

Stand up, Speak out Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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10 Proven Tips: How to Write a Speech Introduction

Why is the Speech Introduction Important?

The speech introduction is a crucial part of any presentation. It sets the tone for the entire speech and captures the audience's attention from the start. A well-crafted introduction can make or break a speech, as it determines whether the audience will be engaged and interested in what the speaker has to say.

What is a Speech Introduction?

A speech introduction is the opening part of a speech where the speaker introduces themselves, the topic, and grabs the audience's attention. It is the first impression the speaker makes on the audience, and it should be compelling and captivating.

Here are 10 proven tips on how to write a speech introduction that will captivate your audience:

1. Start with a Powerful Opening Statement

A powerful opening statement is essential to grab the audience's attention right from the start. It should be a concise and impactful sentence that immediately hooks the audience and makes them want to listen further. For example, "Imagine a world where everyone has access to clean water." This statement creates curiosity and sets the stage for the rest of the speech.

How to Write a Powerful Opening Statement

To write a powerful opening statement, consider using strong and emotional words that evoke a response from the audience. Use vivid imagery or a thought-provoking question to make the audience sit up and take notice. Keep it short and concise, as a long-winded opening statement may lose the audience's interest.

2. State the Purpose of Your Speech

After grabbing the audience's attention, it is important to clearly state the purpose of your speech. This helps the audience understand what to expect and why they should listen to you. For example, "Today, I am going to talk about the importance of recycling and how it can help save our planet."

How to State the Purpose of Your Speech

When stating the purpose of your speech, be clear and specific. Avoid vague statements that leave the audience guessing. Clearly articulate what you aim to achieve with your speech and why it is relevant to the audience.

3. Establish Your Credibility

Establishing your credibility is crucial to gain the audience's trust and make them believe in what you have to say. This can be done by sharing your qualifications, experience, or any relevant achievements that make you an expert on the topic. For example, "As a climate scientist with over 20 years of experience, I have witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of global warming."

How to Establish Your Credibility

To establish your credibility, provide specific details about your qualifications and experience related to the topic. Use facts, statistics, or personal anecdotes to demonstrate your expertise. This will help the audience trust your knowledge and expertise.

4. Connect with the Audience

Connecting with the audience is essential to create a rapport and make them feel engaged in your speech. This can be done by finding common ground or shared experiences with the audience. For example, "We have all experienced the frustration of sitting in traffic for hours."

How to Connect with the Audience

To connect with the audience, use relatable examples or stories that resonate with their experiences. Show empathy and understanding towards their concerns or challenges. This will make the audience feel that you understand them and are speaking directly to their needs.

5. Use Humor

Humor is a powerful tool to engage the audience and make your speech memorable. A well-placed joke or funny anecdote can lighten the mood and make the audience more receptive to your message. However, it is important to use humor appropriately and avoid offensive or controversial jokes.

How to Use Humor

To use humor effectively, consider the context and audience. Tailor your jokes or anecdotes to the topic and ensure they are relevant. Practice your delivery to ensure the timing and punchline are on point. Remember, a well-executed joke can make your speech more enjoyable and memorable.

6. Create Suspense or Intrigue

Creating suspense or intrigue in your speech introduction can pique the audience's curiosity and make them eager to hear more. This can be done by posing a thought-provoking question or sharing a surprising fact. For example, "Did you know that the average person spends 6 months of their life waiting in line?"

How to Create Suspense or Intrigue

To create suspense or intrigue, choose a fact or question that is relevant to your topic and will surprise or challenge the audience's existing beliefs. Avoid using clickbait tactics or misleading information, as this can undermine your credibility.

7. Use Emotional Appeals

Appealing to the audience's emotions can be a powerful way to connect with them and make your speech more impactful. Emotions such as empathy, compassion, or even anger can motivate the audience to take action or change their perspective. For example, "Imagine the joy on a child's face when they receive their first book."

How to Use Emotional Appeals

To use emotional appeals effectively, choose emotions that are relevant to your topic and align with your message. Use storytelling or personal anecdotes to evoke emotions in the audience. However, be mindful of not manipulating or exploiting the audience's emotions for personal gain.

8. Preview the Main Points

Previewing the main points of your speech in the introduction helps the audience understand the structure and flow of your presentation. It gives them a roadmap of what to expect and helps them follow along more easily. For example, "In the next few minutes, I will discuss the causes of climate change, its impact on our environment, and the steps we can take to mitigate it."

How to Preview the Main Points

To preview the main points, provide a brief overview of the key topics or arguments you will cover in your speech. Keep it concise and avoid going into too much detail. This will give the audience a clear idea of what to expect without overwhelming them with information.

9. Use a Strong Closing Statement

A strong closing statement is essential to leave a lasting impression on the audience. It should summarize your main points and reinforce your message. For example, "Let us come together and take action today to create a better future for our planet and future generations."

How to Write a Strong Closing Statement

To write a strong closing statement, reiterate your main points and tie them back to your opening statement or purpose. Use powerful and inspiring language to leave the audience with a sense of urgency or motivation. Avoid introducing new information or arguments in the closing statement.

Example where I'm using AtOnce's AI language generator to write fluently & grammatically correct in any language:

The speech introduction is a critical part of any presentation. By following these 10 proven tips, you can write a speech introduction that captivates your audience, establishes your credibility, and sets the stage for a successful speech. Remember to start with a powerful opening statement, state the purpose of your speech, establish your credibility, connect with the audience, use humor, create suspense or intrigue, use emotional appeals, preview the main points, and end with a strong closing statement. With these tips, you can confidently deliver a speech introduction that leaves a lasting impact on your audience.

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What is the purpose of a speech introduction?

The purpose of a speech introduction is to grab the audience's attention, establish credibility, and provide an overview of the main points that will be discussed in the speech.

How do you grab the audience's attention in a speech introduction?

There are several ways to grab the audience's attention in a speech introduction. You can start with a compelling story or anecdote, ask a thought-provoking question, use a powerful quote, or use humor to engage the audience.

What should be included in a speech introduction?

A speech introduction should include a hook to grab the audience's attention, a thesis statement that clearly states the main purpose of the speech, and an overview of the main points that will be discussed.

Asim Akhtar

Asim is the CEO & founder of AtOnce. After 5 years of marketing & customer service experience, he's now using Artificial Intelligence to save people time.

Speech introductions

The introduction and conclusion of a speech are essential. The audience will remember the main ideas even if the middle of the speech is a mess or nerves overtake the speaker.  So if nothing else, get these parts down!

Introduction

The introduction gives the audience a reason to listen to the remainder of the speech. A good introduction needs to get the audience’s attention, state the topic, make the topic relatable, establish credibility, and preview the main points. Introductions should be the last part of the speech written, as they set expectations and need to match the content.

Attention getters

The first few sentences of a speech are designed to catch and maintain the audience’s attention. Attention getters give the audience a reason to listen to the rest of the speech. Your attention getter helps the audience understand and reflect on your topic.

• Speaker walks up to stage with notes stuck to hands with jelly.
• Did you know there is a right way to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?
• Rob Gronkowski once said, “Usually, about 2 hours before a game, I stuff in a nice peanut butter and jelly [sandwich] with chocolate milk.”
• A little boy walks in from a long day at school, telling his mom that he is starving. His mom is confused because she knows she sent him to school with a full lunch. As she opens his lunch box, she sees his peanut butter and jelly, with the grape jelly smeared on the side of the bag. She realizes there has to be a better way to make a PB&J.
• Bring in a clear sandwich bag with jelly seeping through the bread of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Logical orientation

Once the audience is invested in the speech, logical orientation tells the audience how the speaker will approach and develop the topic.

• Peanut butter on both sides of the bread with jelly in the middle is the best way to make a PB&J.
• PB&Js have developed a bad reputation, because of the jelly making the bread soggy and hands sticky.

Psychological orientation

Like the logical orientation of a speech, the psychological orientation is also going to provide the audience with a map for how and why the topic is being presented.

• Most of us remember our moms – dads too – packing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in our lunches. We also remember how the jelly did not just stay in the sandwich, but became a new stain on our shirts and the glue that held all the playground dirt to our hands.
• We can end this torture for future generations by making sure all parents are aware of the best way to make a PB&J.
• I have eaten numerous PB&Js myself, but my real authority on the topic comes from being a mom of two boys and the maker of many PB&Js.

Both the logical and psychological orientations give the audience a road map for the speech ahead as well as cues for what to listen to. This will help the audience transition from the introduction to the main points of the speech.

Beebe, S. A., & Beebe, S. J. (2012). A concise public speaking handbook . Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Lucas, S. (2012). The art of public speaking . New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Sprague, J. & Stuart, D. (2013). The speaker's compact handbook, 4th ed . Portland: Ringgold, Inc.

Vrooman, S. S. (2013). The zombie guide to public speaking: Why most presentations fail, and what you can do to avoid joining the horde . Place of publication not identified: CreateSpace.

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Steps for Drafting a Good Introductory Speech

Table of Contents

Introducing yourself in a speech can be daunting. After all, you want to make a good impression and ensure that your audience is engaged.

A practical introduction is the key to any successful speech. There are specific steps you can follow to ensure yours leaves a lasting impact. Here’s how to write a good introductory speech for any occasion!

What Is an Introductory Speech?

An introductory speech is a type of public speaking that introduces a topic, person, or event . It usually lasts for just a few minutes and often takes place before the main speaker presents their material.

Introductory speeches are designed to set the tone for the rest of the presentation, so they must be exciting and engaging. 

A Good Introductory Speech Outline

When preparing on how to write a good introductory speech , it’s essential to have a clear structure. A good outline should include the following: 

• An opening statement that grabs the audience’s attention
• An introduction of the topic or speaker 
• A brief overview of what you will discuss
• A transition into the main body of the presentation 
• Concluding remarks which tie everything together 

Remember to keep it concise and focus on one or two points in each part. This will ensure that your introductory speech is impactful and exciting while leaving plenty of time for the main speaker. 

How to Begin an Introductory Speech

Beginning an introductory speech can be the most challenging part. Here are a few tips for getting started: 

• Begin with a story or anecdote – This can help to engage your audience and provide context for the presentation. 
• Ask a question – Posing a rhetorical question effectively draws in your audience and makes them think about what you’re saying. 
• Share personal experiences – Speaking from experience will create a connection between you and your audience, making them more likely to listen. 
• Use humor – A joke or two can help break up a speech’s monotony and give it some personality! 

Steps on How to Write a Good Introductory Speech

Here are six steps to get you started: 

1. Research your topic – Ensure you understand the material and know what points need to be covered in your introduction. 

2. Plan an outline – Create a basic structure with crucial points that will help guide you when writing. 

3. Write an opening statement – Start your speech with something exciting or unexpected to grab the audience’s attention. 

4. Introduce the speaker/topic – Provide brief information about who or what you are presenting, including any relevant background info. 

5. Give a short overview – Summarize the presentation’s main points and get your audience excited to hear more. 

6. End with a call-to-action – Conclude your speech with a clear direction for the rest of the presentation or an inspiring message. 

Different Ways to End an Introductory Speech

 To wrap up your introduction, you could use a few different options. Here are some examples: 

• Ask for questions. Invite the audience to participate before or after the main presentation. 
• Provide contact information. Give details, including email addresses or social media handles, so that people can reach out with any follow-up questions. 
• Summarize the presentation. Offer a short recap of what will be discussed and how it will benefit the audience. 
• Invite discussion. Encourage people to share their experiences or insights on the topic. 
• Quote a famous person. End your speech with an inspiring quote or saying to leave your audience feeling motivated. 

Tips for Writing Introductory Speech

• Keep it short and sweet – You don’t want your speech to take up too much of the main presentation’s time. Aim for three minutes at most! 
• Be confident – Speak clearly and confidently to make a good impression on your audience. 
• Use visuals – Incorporating visuals into your speech, such as slides, videos, or images, can help keep people engaged. 
• Rehearse beforehand – Practicing your introduction will help you feel prepared and more comfortable when presenting. 
• Include a call-to-action – Encourage your audience to participate and stay engaged with a clear direction for the rest of the presentation. 

Introductory Speech Ideas to Try

• Tell an inspiring story – This can be a great way to set the tone for your presentation. 
• Ask rhetorical questions – Pose questions that will help get the audience thinking about what you’re saying. 
• Use humor – A good joke or two will lighten the mood in any room! 
• Share personal experiences – Speak from experience to create a connection with your listeners. 
• Quote a famous person – Choose an inspiring quote or saying to leave your audience feeling motivated and energized. 

Examples of Introductory Speech

Here are a few examples of introductory speeches to get you started: 

• “Good morning everyone! My name is (name) and I am honored to be here today. I want to start off by thanking you all for taking the time out of your day to join us here. We’re about to embark on an exciting journey together, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride!” 
• “Welcome everybody. As many of you know, we are here today to discuss (topic). This is an important conversation that we must have in order to move forward in our goals. Before we dive into it, I’d like to take a moment just to recognize how far we’ve come. And also thank each of you for your contributions to the success of this project. Now, let’s get started!” 
• “Hello everyone! It is a pleasure to be here with all of you today. I hope you’re all as excited as I am about (topic). We have a lot of material to cover so without further ado, let’s jump right in!” 

Writing an effective introductory speech can be intimidating, but following the steps above will ensure yours leaves a lasting impression on your audience.

Remember to keep it concise and focus on just one or two points in each section. Also, use humor, personal experiences, and stories when possible – they can help to make your introduction more engaging and memorable . Good luck! 

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

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Published Date : December 17, 2020

Reading Time :

First impressions influence how others perceive you. An impactful and best introduction speech about yourself will significantly affect a crowd’s first impressions if delivered succinctly and tactfully. 

It is splendid to deliver your speech to the audience. However, the actual speech delivery can be challenging as many individuals struggle with nervousness and forgetfulness, which can affect speech delivery. Also, planning and composing a self-introduction speech can be nerve-wracking and tedious. 

How do we overcome the jitters, prepare, compose, and deliver the most impactful introduction speech to our intended audience?

Let me share the fail-proof ways of planning, creating, and delivering compelling and remarkable introduction speech ideas. 

Pro tip: Before giving any speech , practice your speech at least three times. You can use Orai to practice privately and get feedback on your speech .

What is Introduction Speech ?

This speech is the primary means of introducing oneself to an intended crowd. The crowd can be your colleagues, employers, groupmates, business partners, or only people you want to influence your thoughts and beliefs. It should be concise enough to introduce your goals, interests, or ideas in a short time. 

Importance of Speech of Introduction

A speech of introduction presents a brief background of yourself to the crowd regarding goals, interests, strengths, beliefs, and achievements. It is concise enough to introduce, break the ice, and imprint oneself on the public.  

An introduction speech can be a forerunner of other prominent addresses, an introduction for a guest speaker, or just a speech that elicits acquaintance and influence.   

Four Characteristics of a Good Self-introduction Speech

Leaving lasting first impressions is as important as giving your introductory speech . Good speech of self-introduction must have the following qualities:

Details about your personal life and success regarding names, dates, and events should be presented as accurately and factually as possible. No bluffs should be included, and events should be chronologically correct as they reflect your credibility and honesty. 

A good introduction speech example should be concise in delivering your goals, interests, and intended influence on the crowd but not too dragging to create impatience. The longer you talk, the higher the chances of the audience getting disinterested in your intentions, leading to impatience and disengagement. 

It is essential to give a catchy, concise, and factual introduction to promote and sustain audience engagement.

Adaptable to the Audience and Occasion

A self-introduction speech should convey relevant and adaptable information to the intended audience and occasion. You can jot down notes about the audience’s preferences and type of event and accustom your speech accordingly. Nothing is more impactful than an introduction speech that significantly appeals to audience interest and is occasion-specific. 

You can build steady anticipation for your speech by adding inspirational words, quotations, or compelling words. In this manner, your audience will sustain their engagement with your address and initiate interaction.

Let us go to the most tedious task of creating an introduction speech . 

Steps in Creating an Introduction Speech

The  step-by-step process of crafting your speech of introduction includes: 

Preparation

• Practice and editing
• Planning; and 
• Actual delivery of a speech . 

Preparing for your speech involves creating a speech outline, presenting hobbies and interests, self-selling, and standing out. 

The following sentences are part of an introduction speech example based on the steps of speech preparation:

“Good Morning! My name is John Dewey, and I am a computer programming student at Berkeley University.’’ [straightforward introduction] 

“I am developing an app that allows people to order pizza through their Twitter accounts. This innovation is the latest app that I designed.” [interest and career plans]

“My second app won a University award for its contribution to helping people locate nearby dog parks.” [relevant work background]

“Because of my extensive knowledge in app writing and wide professional connections, I know what is useful and helpful to youth nowadays. My apps provide convenience and immediate assistance.” [self-selling]

“I allot lots of time attending app conventions to know the preferences of my audience and always to develop top-cut app designs.” [stand out]

Practice and Editing

The second major step in speech creation is practicing and editing your speech . You can trim down your speech , use short sentences, rehearse, and memorize your address accordingly. 

An introduction speech example showing the use of simple sentences is presented below:

“I used to stay at the off-campus dorm with my best friend. It is in this dorm that I began assembling and disassembling cellphones and laptops.” 

Planning your speech involves determining your target audience, relevant points, and speech purpose and tone. 

Actual Delivery of the Speech

Lastly, essential considerations before delivering your speech include relaxation, acceptable body language , avoidance of rush, and use of humor in case of a mistake.

How Do You Start an Introduction Speech?

Finally, after spending hours outlining, editing, and rehearsing your speech introduction, you will deliver the speech to the target audience.

The start of an introduction speech is crucial as it captures the audience’s attention and determines the length of interest and engagement of your audience towards your speech . If your crowd felt bored at the start of the speech , there is a small chance of conveying your audience’s influence and message. 

Let us take on the different ways of starting a speech of introduction and actively engrossing your target crowd.   

1. Current Events Reference

Starting your speech with a current, relevant news event is an effective way to grab attention, showing the topic’s relevance in today’s world. You can use news or the latest trends related to your intended speech purpose and target audience. 

An excellent introduction speech example may start with “Good afternoon. America hits 1,000,000 cases of COVID-19 for July 2020.”

2. Use of Quotations

Initiating an introduction speech with a pertinent quote sets the tone for the rest of the speech . You can start a speech of introduction with a quote from Bill Gates, “Life is not fair, get used to it.”

3. The ‘What If’ Scenario

The power of engagement lies in the speaker’s ability to immediately draw his/her crowd’s attention to the speech . Asking a ‘what if’ scenario entices the public to follow the flow of your thoughts. 

“What if we are the sole human inhabitants of this galaxy? What would happen if our races become extinct?”

4. Use of the Word ‘Imagine’ 

This technique applies guided imagery by attracting your audience toward visualizing a mental image of an extraordinary situation. It aims to engage all the audience’s senses to maximize impact and encourage them to think positively. 

“Imagine being stranded on a deserted island with no one beside you. What would be the first thing that you would do?”

5. Storytell 

A well-rehearsed short story or anecdote draws the audience’s attention and elicits emotional involvement and inspiration during a speech . People would remember personal stories more easily than formal public speeches. 

Start with a touching story from someone or your life story, and watch how this story paints an immediate visual appeal relatable to your audience. 

“When I was young, we had a large dog that protected me from harm…”

6. Begin with a Shock

Have your audience hanging on their seats during your speech by delivering powerful, compelling, or startling statements followed by a brief silence. You will engage them with your speech while wondering what you will say next.

“We cannot lose. We can’t lose…”

7. Ask Questions

Presenting a literal or figurative question to your audience at the opening of your speech elicits an intuitive answer, whether a response is needed or not. It allows the audience to feel included in your thoughts and build rapport. 

“Who would not want to be perpetually rich from his perseverance?”

8. Play with Humor

Humor is an effective way of gaining an audience’s interest. You can crack a few jokes to start your speech but always make it appropriate and relatable to your target audience and occasion. 

9. Statistics

You can use a compelling, personalized statistic to incite an emotional plea and convey your message directly to the audience. It can also be an astonishing factual statistic that solves the audience’s problems and is relevant to your chosen topic. 

“It is amazing that 70% of the world population recovered from Covid-19…”

How Do You End an Introduction Speech ?

As compelling as you sound when you start your speech and proceed with the body, you are challenged to end your speech as confidently and as impactful as possible. 

The following are unique finishes for your formal speech of introduction while confidently leaving a call to action or a gentle emotional tug. You can even create your signature close for your introduction speech . 

1. Title 

You can use the title of your speech (if there are any) as your final remarks. Final words linger, cement your message, and move your audience. 

2. Circular 

You can bounce back to your opening quote or story, reiterate, and summarize the main points of your speech . 

“We have arrived at the end where we have started…”

3. Challenge 

You can leave an impressive call or challenge for change, action, or participation from your audience. This challenge will motivate your audience to initiate actions based on what they heard from your speech . 

“Let us not rise to get up but rise once we have fallen…”

4. Quotation 

Cite a famous quotation to create a lasting impression for your speech , as well as initiating its closure. 

“With your help, we can think anew, and act anew on the new issues before us today.” – quote from President Abraham Lincoln

5. Repetitive 

Use a phrase and build it repetitively and cumulatively, similar to an increasing drum roll. This repetitive finish will increase the impact of your speech to the audience. 

“A duty, do it. An opportunity, grab it. It is a journey; enjoy it. A goal, attain it…”

6. Singsong

Deliver and restate a specific phrase a few times within your speech . Ask your audience to repeat back the phrase on cue. This singsong finish leaves a remarkable ending to your speech . 

7. Benediction 

 You can extend kind gestures by giving blessings at the end of your speech . 

“Godspeed and take care on your journey…”

8. Congratulatory 

 Use a congratulatory remark as the final part of your speech . This congratulatory finish motivates the audience toward change or action. 

“I salute all the individuals on their selfless plight…”

9. Demonstration 

Lastly, you can show some gestures or point to a prop to signal the closure of your speech . 

For example, you can imitate the closure of a book with your hands and say, “Now concludes the final chapter…”

Sample Self-Introduction Speech Outline

Here is an example of an  introductory speech outline that will serve as a guide for your creation of self-introductory speech :

SPEECH OUTLINE:

• Grab their interest
• Provide background information
• Create your item of discussion using minimal sentences
• Cite examples
• Offer an impressive answer to your self-introduction speech .

Here are the links for more sample introductory speech outlines:

• http://orai.com/glossary/self-introduction-speech/  
• https://www.template.net/business/outline-templates/introduction-speech-outline/
• https://www.hawaii.edu/mauispeech/documents/introjackoutlinewordtemplate.doc

Sample Self-introduction Speech Topics

The following are self-introduction topics that you can use for your speech :

• What sets you apart from other individuals?
• What’s your main goal in life? 
• What incident plays a large part in your life? Tell the incident and message. 
• What are your unique skills?
• What are your essential milestones in your life?

Can you provide examples of classic speech transcripts for learning and inspiration?

Consider exploring these inspiring speeches for learning and motivation: Bill Gates’ TED Talk (2015) on pandemics, Sheryl Sandberg’s Harvard commencement address (2014), Ronald Reagan’s Memorial Day speech (1984), and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have Been to the Mountaintop” speech . These powerful examples offer valuable lessons in speechwriting and the art of impactful communication.

Parting Words

An introduction speech is essential to delivering your purpose and influence to your target crowd. It can either build or break your credibility or provide a compelling impression on your audience.

You can start by preparing, practicing, editing, and planning for your impactful speech . Once the speech is deliberately created, you can deliver, initiate, and end your introduction speech through the various tips mentioned. 

Your speech can obtain long-lasting first impressions by delivering a remarkable and powerful self-introduction speech with a bang and ending it with a call for action or change. 

Shake away your jitters. You can also download the Orai app to conceptualize, deliberate, and deliver your most promising and compelling introduction speech ! Start your free trial today, which is available on the app store. 

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Writing an Introduction

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You can write your introduction last. At that point, you will know the central purpose of your paper and the fully developed direction or claims you have created. Now you can write an introduction that will set the context for the thesis your wrote and the arguments to come.

If your paper is short (for example, five pages) do not use an extended introduction. You may want to use only a paragraph to set the context for your thesis. (Remember: do not set off the thesis in a paragraph of its own.) Your introductory paragraph is the first impression your reader has of your message; take time to make a clear, direct, complete, and understandable communication. The thesis should be an integral part of the introduction. In fact, the purpose of your introduction is to move your reader to the starting point that is your thesis. Avoid wasting words saying, "I decided to write about . . ." or "I agree with the statement that . . ."

If you are writing a longer paper (for example, twenty pages), you may want to write two or three paragraphs of introduction. Assess the length of the introduction by the kind of topic you will be addressing. For a more controversial, more complex, or more obscure topic, you may want to write an extended introduction to be sure you orient your reader sufficiently.

In the opening of any paper, avoid separating the reader from the content with sentences such as, "I am going to write about Number 13." Instead, directly address the content of the essay, such as "Toulmin's model of argument fails to include nonverbal elements of argument; the model focuses only on claims, data, and warrants as they occur linguistically." Although you want to address the content directly, you may want to embed this thesis in a paragraph of introductory remarks that help the reader understand the context in which it resides.

Avoid clauses and phrases that make broad generalizations or sweeping observations. Instead, construct sentences that specifically introduce the particular topic you have selected. Toward that end, avoid statements like, "Effective communication is important for each person's life" or "Rhetoric touches everything in our world." Instead, start the essay or paper at a point closer to the topic you want to address.

Ultimately, your goal in the introduction is to establish your thesis with both a specific topic and a well-defined direction or claim. You should be able to point to a single sentence in your essay which, when read alone, would concisely capture the topic and the direction or claim of your paper. The first line of your paper needs to be in direct line with that goal. The introductory paragraph(s) needs to be cohesive, moving the reader steadily toward the idea in your thesis. You do not need to be glib; you need to be clear and directed. The introduction should prepare the reader to arrive at your thesis.

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15 Powerful Speech Opening Lines (And How to Create Your Own)

Hrideep barot.

• Public Speaking , Speech Writing

Powerful speech opening lines set the tone and mood of your speech. It’s what grips the audience to want to know more about the rest of your talk.

The first few seconds are critical. It’s when you have maximum attention of the audience. And you must capitalize on that!

Instead of starting off with something plain and obvious such as a ‘Thank you’ or ‘Good Morning’, there’s so much more you can do for a powerful speech opening (here’s a great article we wrote a while ago on how you should NOT start your speech ).

To help you with this, I’ve compiled some of my favourite openings from various speakers. These speakers have gone on to deliver TED talks , win international Toastmaster competitions or are just noteworthy people who have mastered the art of communication.

After each speaker’s opening line, I have added how you can include their style of opening into your own speech. Understanding how these great speakers do it will certainly give you an idea to create your own speech opening line which will grip the audience from the outset!

Alright! Let’s dive into the 15 powerful speech openings…

Note: Want to take your communications skills to the next level? Book a complimentary consultation with one of our expert communication coaches. We’ll look under the hood of your hurdles and pick two to three growth opportunities so you can speak with impact!

1. Ric Elias

Opening: “Imagine a big explosion as you climb through 3,000 ft. Imagine a plane full of smoke. Imagine an engine going clack, clack, clack. It sounds scary. Well I had a unique seat that day. I was sitting in 1D.”

How to use the power of imagination to open your speech?

Putting your audience in a state of imagination can work extremely well to captivate them for the remainder of your talk.

It really helps to bring your audience in a certain mood that preps them for what’s about to come next. Speakers have used this with high effectiveness by transporting their audience into an imaginary land to help prove their point.

When Ric Elias opened his speech, the detail he used (3000 ft, sound of the engine going clack-clack-clack) made me feel that I too was in the plane. He was trying to make the audience experience what he was feeling – and, at least in my opinion, he did.

When using the imagination opening for speeches, the key is – detail. While we want the audience to wander into imagination, we want them to wander off to the image that we want to create for them. So, detail out your scenario if you’re going to use this technique.

Make your audience feel like they too are in the same circumstance as you were when you were in that particular situation.

2. Barack Obama

Opening: “You can’t say it, but you know it’s true.”

3. Seth MacFarlane

Opening: “There’s nowhere I would rather be on a day like this than around all this electoral equipment.” (It was raining)

How to use humour to open your speech?

When you use humour in a manner that suits your personality, it can set you up for a great speech. Why? Because getting a laugh in the first 30 seconds or so is a great way to quickly get the audience to like you.

And when they like you, they are much more likely to listen to and believe in your ideas.

Obama effortlessly uses his opening line to entice laughter among the audience. He brilliantly used the setting (the context of Trump becoming President) and said a line that completely matched his style of speaking.

Saying a joke without really saying a joke and getting people to laugh requires you to be completely comfortable in your own skin. And that’s not easy for many people (me being one of them).

If the joke doesn’t land as expected, it could lead to a rocky start.

Keep in mind the following when attempting to deliver a funny introduction:

• Know your audience: Make sure your audience gets the context of the joke (if it’s an inside joke among the members you’re speaking to, that’s even better!). You can read this article we wrote where we give you tips on how you can actually get to know your audience better to ensure maximum impact with your speech openings
• The joke should suit your natural personality. Don’t make it look forced or it won’t elicit the desired response
• Test the opening out on a few people who match your real audience. 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

Opening: Puts a cigarette on his lips, lights a lighter, stops just before lighting the cigarette. Looks at audience, “What?”

5. Darren Tay

Opening: Puts a white pair of briefs over his pants.

How to use props to begin your speech?

The reason props work so well in a talk is because in most cases the audience is not expecting anything more than just talking. So when a speaker pulls out an object that is unusual, everyone’s attention goes right to it.

It makes you wonder why that prop is being used in this particular speech.

The key word here is unusual . To grip the audience’s attention at the beginning of the speech, the prop being used should be something that the audience would never expect. Otherwise, it just becomes something that is common. And common = boring!

What Mohammed Qahtani and Darren Tay did superbly well in their talks was that they used props that nobody expected them to.

By pulling out a cigarette and lighter or a white pair of underwear, the audience can’t help but be gripped by what the speaker is about to do next. And that makes for a powerful speech opening.

6. Simon Sinek

Opening: “How do you explain when things don’t go as we assume? Or better, how do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions?”

7. Julian Treasure

Opening: “The human voice. It’s the instrument we all play. It’s the most powerful sound in the world. Probably the only one that can start a war or say “I love you.” And yet many people have the experience that when they speak people don’t listen to them. Why is that? How can we speak powerfully to make change in the world?”

How to use questions to open a speech?

I use this method often. Starting off with a question is the simplest way to start your speech in a manner that immediately engages the audience.

But we should keep our questions compelling as opposed to something that is fairly obvious.

I’ve heard many speakers start their speeches with questions like “How many of us want to be successful?”

No one is going to say ‘no’ to that and frankly, I just feel silly raising my hand at such questions.

Simon Sinek and Jullian Treasure used questions in a manner that really made the audience think and make them curious to find out what the answer to that question is.

What Jullian Treasure did even better was the use of a few statements which built up to his question. This made the question even more compelling and set the theme for what the rest of his talk would be about.

So think of what question you can ask in your speech that will:

• Set the theme for the remainder of your speech
• Not be something that is fairly obvious
• Be compelling enough so that the audience will actually want to know what the answer to that question will be

8. Aaron Beverley

Opening: Long pause (after an absurdly long introduction of a 57-word speech title). “Be honest. You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”

How to use silence for speech openings?

The reason this speech opening stands out is because of the fact that the title itself is 57 words long. The audience was already hilariously intrigued by what was going to come next.

But what’s so gripping here is the way Aaron holds the crowd’s suspense by…doing nothing. For about 10 to 12 seconds he did nothing but stand and look at the audience. Everyone quietened down. He then broke this silence by a humorous remark that brought the audience laughing down again.

When going on to open your speech, besides focusing on building a killer opening sentence, how about just being silent?

It’s important to keep in mind that the point of having a strong opening is so that the audience’s attention is all on you and are intrigued enough to want to listen to the rest of your speech.

Silence is a great way to do that. When you get on the stage, just pause for a few seconds (about 3 to 5 seconds) and just look at the crowd. Let the audience and yourself settle in to the fact that the spotlight is now on you.

I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something about starting the speech off with a pure pause that just makes the beginning so much more powerful. It adds credibility to you as a speaker as well, making you look more comfortable and confident on stage. 

If you want to know more about the power of pausing in public speaking , check out this post we wrote. It will give you a deeper insight into the importance of pausing and how you can harness it for your own speeches. You can also check out this video to know more about Pausing for Public Speaking:

9. Dan Pink

Opening: “I need to make a confession at the outset here. Little over 20 years ago, I did something that I regret. Something that I’m not particularly proud of. Something that in many ways I wish no one would ever know but that here I feel kind of obliged to reveal.”

10. Kelly McGonigal

Opening: “I have a confession to make. But first I want you to make a little confession to me.”

How to use a build-up to open your speech?

When there are so many amazing ways to start a speech and grip an audience from the outset, why would you ever choose to begin your speech with a ‘Good morning?’.

That’s what I love about build-ups. They set the mood for something awesome that’s about to come in that the audience will feel like they just have to know about.

Instead of starting a speech as it is, see if you can add some build-up to your beginning itself. For instance, in Kelly McGonigal’s speech, she could have started off with the question of stress itself (which she eventually moves on to in her speech). It’s not a bad way to start the speech.

But by adding the statement of “I have a confession to make” and then not revealing the confession for a little bit, the audience is gripped to know what she’s about to do next and find out what indeed is her confession.

11. Tim Urban

Opening: “So in college, I was a government major. Which means that I had to write a lot of papers. Now when a normal student writes a paper, they might spread the work out a little like this.”

12. Scott Dinsmore

Opening: “8 years ago, I got the worst career advice of my life.”

How to use storytelling as a speech opening?

“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller.” Steve Jobs

Storytelling is the foundation of good speeches. Starting your speech with a story is a great way to grip the audience’s attention. It makes them yearn to want to know how the rest of the story is going to pan out.

Tim Urban starts off his speech with a story dating back to his college days. His use of slides is masterful and something we all can learn from. But while his story sounds simple, it does the job of intriguing the audience to want to know more.

As soon as I heard the opening lines, I thought to myself “If normal students write their paper in a certain manner, how does Tim write his papers?”

Combine such a simple yet intriguing opening with comedic slides, and you’ve got yourself a pretty gripping speech.

Scott Dismore’s statement has a similar impact. However, just a side note, Scott Dismore actually started his speech with “Wow, what an honour.”

I would advise to not start your talk with something such as that. It’s way too common and does not do the job an opening must, which is to grip your audience and set the tone for what’s coming.

13. Larry Smith

Opening: “I want to discuss with you this afternoon why you’re going to fail to have a great career.”

14. Jane McGonigal

Opening: “You will live 7.5 minutes longer than you would have otherwise, just because you watched this talk.”

How to use provocative statements to start your speech?

Making a provocative statement creates a keen desire among the audience to want to know more about what you have to say. It immediately brings everyone into attention.

Larry Smith did just that by making his opening statement surprising, lightly humorous, and above all – fearful. These elements lead to an opening statement which creates so much curiosity among the audience that they need to know how your speech pans out.

This one time, I remember seeing a speaker start a speech with, “Last week, my best friend committed suicide.” The entire crowd was gripped. Everyone could feel the tension in the room.

They were just waiting for the speaker to continue to know where this speech will go.

That’s what a hard-hitting statement does, it intrigues your audience so much that they can’t wait to hear more! Just a tip, if you do start off with a provocative, hard-hitting statement, make sure you pause for a moment after saying it.

Silence after an impactful statement will allow your message to really sink in with the audience.

Related article: 5 Ways to Grab Your Audience’s Attention When You’re Losing it!

15. Ramona J Smith

Opening: In a boxing stance, “Life would sometimes feel like a fight. The punches, jabs and hooks will come in the form of challenges, obstacles and failures. Yet if you stay in the ring and learn from those past fights, at the end of each round, you’ll be still standing.”

How to use your full body to grip the audience at the beginning of your speech?

In a talk, the audience is expecting you to do just that – talk. But when you enter the stage and start putting your full body into use in a way that the audience does not expect, it grabs their attention.

Body language is critical when it comes to public speaking. Hand gestures, stage movement, facial expressions are all things that need to be paid attention to while you’re speaking on stage. But that’s not I’m talking about here.

Here, I’m referring to a unique use of the body that grips the audience, like how Ramona did. By using her body to get into a boxing stance, imitating punches, jabs and hooks with her arms while talking – that’s what got the audience’s attention.

The reason I say this is so powerful is because if you take Ramona’s speech and remove the body usage from her opening, the entire magic of the opening falls flat.

While the content is definitely strong, without those movements, she would not have captured the audience’s attention as beautifully as she did with the use of her body.

So if you have a speech opening that seems slightly dull, see if you can add some body movement to it.

If your speech starts with a story of someone running, actually act out the running. If your speech starts with a story of someone reading, actually act out the reading.

It will make your speech opening that much more impactful.

Related article: 5 Body Language Tips to Command the Stage

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Final Words

So there it is! 15 speech openings from some of my favourite speeches. Hopefully, these will act as a guide for you to create your own opening which is super impactful and sets you off on the path to becoming a powerful public speaker!

But remember, while a speech opening is super important, it’s just part of an overall structure.

If you’re serious about not just creating a great speech opening but to improve your public speaking at an overall level, I would highly recommend you to check out this course: Acumen Presents: Chris Anderson on Public Speaking on Udemy. Not only does it have specific lectures on starting and ending a speech, but it also offers an in-depth guide into all the nuances of public speaking. 

Being the founder of TED Talks, Chris Anderson provides numerous examples of the best TED speakers to give us a very practical way of overcoming stage fear and delivering a speech that people will remember. His course has helped me personally and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to learn public speaking. 

No one is ever “done” learning public speaking. It’s a continuous process and you can always get better. Keep learning, keep conquering and keep being awesome!

Lastly, if you want to know how you should NOT open your speech, we’ve got a video for you:

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How to make a speech introduction that grabs the attention?

• Filed under: Public speaking articles , Public speaking tips and tricks , Speaking tips , Speech delivery , Speech preparation

A speech introduction plays a big role in how well you manage to grab attention. The problem is that the majority of introductions lead the listeners to believe that the presentation is utter crap. If the beginning of your speech is dubious, your listeners will be frustrated.

So, what is a good speech introduction? A good speech introduction draws the audience’s attention to you, raises interest and tells the listeners that something exciting is coming.

But if your prelude leaves the listeners thinking, „Meh?“, you’ll find yourself in a difficult situation. Therefore in today’s blog post I will tell you everything you should know about how to make a speech introduction that grabs attention.

Table of Contents

What are the main objectives of a speech introduction?

The regular speaker has only two objectives:

• „I have to get it done somehow .” Note that the emphasis here is on the word „somehow”.
• „I have to get it done as soon as possible.” For the listener, it means a 30-minute speech made in 15 minutes.

However, these two objectives have nothing to do with the interests, needs, and expectations of listeners . And so it happens that in addition to a dull introduction, the entire presentation is quite boring.

I think that eight in ten presentations begin with „Hello, my name is…” and „I’m so lucky to be here”. Indeed, the message is important, but a good speech introduction offers much more. Your task is to be better than the regular speaker.

Broadly speaking, there are three objectives:

• Grabbing attention
• Raising interest
• Sharing background information and clarifying the rules

What’s the main purpose?

Clearly, the main purpose of a speech introduction is to raise interest. If you manage to do that right from the start, it’ll be easier for you to grab attention later on.

Some think that making an introduction is just saying what you’re going to talk about. Wrong! Your introduction should be able to make the audience want to listen to you even more. Tell your listeners why this topic is important and, most importantly, how they can benefit from your presentation.

Example 1: Which book are you more likely to read?

The one that starts with , „Jack was born in Berlin in 1961. His parents were Peter, a military officer, and Josephine“.

Or the one that starts like this , „The first bullet hit Jack’s shoulder“ .

The latter, I’m sure, because it raises immediate interest and questions, „What did Jack do to get shot?“, or „The first bullet? So, he was shot more than once?“

Okay, but when will I be talking about other things?

Indeed, raising interest doesn’t mean that you don’t need to talk about yourself or your topic. You do, just don’t mention them first thing.

Example 2: Which introduction grabs your attention?

Is it the classic one, „Hello! I’m Janek, and today, I’ll be talking about public speaking “ .

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Or rather, „The human brain is a wonderful organ. It starts to work as soon as you are born and doesn’t stop until you’re in a situation like I am right now. This means that you have to face a group and talk about what interests them for two hours. Hello, I’m Janek and today, I’ll be talking about… “

As you can see, I used a story to raise interest, and then, mentioned other important things . These are just two examples how to raise interest right from the start. And this should be the main purpose of your introduction.

How long does a speech introduction need to be?

ln general, the rule of thumb for short speeches is that your prelude shouldn’t exceed 10-15% of the total volume of your presentation. Longer speeches, however, are based on the following rule: „The introduction must be substantially and temporally proportionate.“

Example 1: If you need to make a 30-minute speech , then more than 3-4 minutes long beginning tends to overdo it and say nothing.. Consequently, the 10-15% rule is appropriate here.

Example 2: If you need to make a 120-minute speech, a 12-18-minute introduction is too long. This means that the 10-15% rule doesn’t apply here, and a substantive and temporal proportion is more important.

Thus, an overly brief introduction may not raise interest, but an overly long introduction is simply annoying.

What parts does it consist of?

First of all, it should be noted right away that the tips below may vary depending on presentation. You must decide when to talk about one or another thing. For example, if the listeners are your acquaintances, skip self-introduction.

#1: Grabbing attention

A company organises an annual Christmas seminar, which will bring together ca. 100 people from all over the country. Before the start, coffee and cake is offered in the hall, and as the participants meet each other once a year (at a similar event), a lively conversation is all over the place… „Oh, Jack, you’re here as well? How are you?“

The main speaker buries themselves in their laptop, trying to get the projector to work. Once done, they lift their head, look at someone on the front row, and asking, „Shall we start?“ When they receive an affirmative answer, they start with their presentation, but in general, most people chatting in the room at the same time don’t even notice it!

So, this bizarre presentation goes on for about six minutes until somebody in the front row loses it and asks the people to be quiet. „Look! Please stop and pay attention to the speaker who’s been there for a while now.“ Finally, Jack & Co wake up and agree to talk later during the break.

Did you notice what happened in this introductory story? It was not the speaker drawing attention but a participant. But who should really do it? The speaker, obviously.

An effective speech introduction begins with a wake-up call

It’s likely that before the start, the listeners are busy with their own stuff: talking to each other, surf the Web on their laptops or mobiles, walking around, calling, etc. If your introduction is along the lines, „Well, let’s start. My name is…“, people in the third row may not even notice you.

Therefore, grabbing attention is vital , so think carefully about how to do it.

Wake-up calls you can use

Video clips

Say nothing, just start by showing a relevant video clip. If it’s a humorous video, even better. It will definitely draw attention and make it much easier for you to continue. Note, however, that the clip shouldn’t be too long. I believe a 3-minute clip is the absolute maximum.

Audio or music

I once started one of my lectures playing the guitar. I summarised the purpose of the presentation playing the guitar at the same time. It soon turned into a joint singing, which, in turn, worked better than any morning coffee.

Stand in front of the audience and be silent

“Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent.” – Dionysius Of Halicarnassus

Many don’t believe how effective it is. I’ve used this method from time to time. Go on stage, smile in a friendly way, and just stand there. Here’s a tip – try to establish eye contact with somebody from the audience, maybe with the loudest participant, or somebody else.

Once done, you’ll see how fast the rest of the group will try to silence the loudest one. My practice shows that just standing there in the front takes about 30 seconds to draw attention.

You can still artificially prolong the time to make the silence last. And then you start in such a way that everyone thinks, „Wow, that was mind-blowing…“

Do something unusual

For example, don’t start talking facing the listeners, but with your back turned. It may be confusing at first, but works really well. As soon as you’ve grabbed attention, face the listeners – you don’t want to cause them neck pain, right?

Question to the audience

Ask an exciting and relevant question that will make listeners ponder straight away. Here you have to think about how to make a good transition.

Good joke or story

For the sake of a good presentation , don’t start with the cliché, „Something funny happened to me on my way here“. Even if that was the case, nobody will believe you.

Still, making a good joke or two is usually a good idea. And if you’re able to make the listeners giggle during your introduction, you’ve done well. However, you must also remember that your joke must not be cruel or offensive in any way.

Bonus: Do whatever you like

To wrap up, I must say that, in essence, you can do everything you want to draw attention. As long as it meets the two requirements below, everything goes:

• The „wake-up call“ must be related to the topic

Think for yourself, what happens if you make a somersault with a loud cry as a speech introduction and then start without connecting what you’ve just done to your topic? Obviously, you will grab attention, but the listeners may mistake you for a schizophrenic. Starting with introduction, everything you do must be connected to the topic.

• Your listeners must be able to relate to what you do

Let’s go back to the previous example: even if you manage to connect the somersault to the topic, this approach may not be suitable for a particular audience. Younger listeners are likely to take it as a good joke, whereas older listeners might be puzzled. Therefore, remember to always think about the background of your listeners.

• Don’t try to be somebody else

This means that everything you do should make sense. As soon as you try to be someone else, you’re doomed. Even more so, if the listeners have seen the original. In other words, find your own style and adapt it to the two points above.

#2: Self-introduction

Have you seen a speaker giving you a lecture instead of making a speech introduction? They are showing a variety of slides using PowerPoint, with chronologically listed achievements, commenting, „And then I studied here…“ and „Then I worked there…“ At the same time, you’re surfing the Web and playing Solitaire.

Self-introduction is most often required if the listeners don’t know you. In this case, remember to briefly highlight the following things in your self-introduction:

• How you are connected with the topic
• What your experience is
• What your greatest achievements are

Please note that the emphasis here is on the word „briefly“. From time to time, you may need to make a presentation for the experts in the field. In that case, it would be reasonable to introduce your background in a few sentences. Otherwise, try not to be tempted to introduce yourself in too much detail.

#3: Introducing the topics

Here, it would be reasonable to outline the main topics you’re planning to talk about during your presentation. This gives the audience an overview of what to expect. You don’t have to cover all sub-topics and points but point out 3-4 most important ones.

#4: The purpose of the presentation

The fact that you outlined your topics in the previous paragraph doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone clearly understood the purpose of your presentation. You could say, „Today, we’ll be talking about how to make a speech introduction that grabs attention“, but the listeners may not understand why it’s so important to talk about in the first place.

Let the listeners know what to expect at the beginning of your speech. A clear description of your purpose is, to my mind, the best way to do that. You need to clearly outline what the main purpose of your presentation is and what you want to achieve. If your goal (or goals) is clearly worded, the listener will know how they can benefit from your presentation.

There are benefits also in the positive emotions you share with the listeners

Benefits are not always equivalent to money. Have you ever attended at a lecture or training, thinking, „But I already knew it… I just never thought about it in this way!“ It’s already good, right?

Sometimes, when you ask someone about how the presentation was, they’ll say „You know, it was awesome!“ If you specify if they learned anything new, they might even come to the conclusion that they haven’t, but the emotion is what counts. This is one of the tricks many coaches use.

For example, „My goal today is to give you an overview of the main causes of the fear of public speaking and share the tricks how to overcome it so that it doesn’t interfere with your presentation.“

#5: The schedule of the presentation

Before you read on, here’s a task. What do you think is the most important part of the schedule for the listeners? Wait, don’t read on, just think about it!

Is your answer is, „When will I make pauses?“ If so, you’re wrong.

The most important question is “When will you finish?”

Exactly. You could be the world’s best performer, but we all have a life outside the room, so when introducing the agenda, make sure to mention immediately what time you finish. If you fail to do this, be prepared that this will be the first question!

When will you make pauses?

Each audience has a number of passionate smokers who want to know when they can have a smoke. In addition, there is an even larger number of passionate coffee lovers who want to find out when they can have another cup. Well, and then there are a lot of other passionate people who want to know when they can have a walk.

Some people like to like to do the Q&A round in the end. Others don’t care if it’s in the beginning or in the end. Anyway, don’t forget to mention it in your introduction, encouraging the listeners to participate in the discussion and ask questions.

Extra piece of advice: In the case of a short presentation, do the Q&A round in the end Q

If your presentation is short (for example, up to 30 min), remember to mention in your prelude that the Q&A round happens in the end. Otherwise, it may happen that people will be asking questions on the go, which means running out of time.

#7: Sharing the background information

Some speakers believe that as soon as they’re done with the topics used to raise interest, it’s okay to transit to topic development. Unfortunately, there are many more questions that the listeners expect you to answer. Especially, if it’s a longer presentation.

You may have to share your contact information, information about downloading materials, and other things that are secondary but still important. I recommend to mention them last.

Extra piece of advice: avoid saying „Before I start“

I’ve heard several speakers starting their presentation with „Before I start…“ For example, „Before I start, here’s an announcement from the organisers. Namely, the lunch break will be at 12:30, not at noon sharp.“

First of all, what do you mean by saying „Before I start?” You already started. And secondly, you started with a negative message telling the obviously hungry listeners that they had to wait longer for their meal.

Most importantly, as the main purpose of your introduction to raising interest, how well do you think you managed to do that?

Do I always have to go through these points?

Not really. As I said at the beginning of this chapter, what you mention in your introduction depends primarily on who your listeners are and what the general situation is.

For example: if you need to make the same speech at a company meeting on Monday that you did last week, you don’t have to make a decent speech introduction but can get straight to the point.

Example 2: If you’re at your grandmother’s anniversary celebration, for which the whole family comes together, there may be people who don’t know you. In this case, a brief introduction is appropriate, but, obviously, you won’t be talking about some topics or rules.

Speech introduction as a full-course dinner

I remember waiting for lunch once after the first part of training. There was just water and a delicious strawberry dessert on the table. The dessert really looked great.

A girl named Teele sitting opposite me looked at the dessert and said, „ It’s a pity we can’t have the dessert first. “ I was very surprised and asked, „ But why? “

It turned out that the rules wouldn’t allow eating the dessert first. I laughed at it as it got me thinking, „ A speech introduction is like a full-course dinner “ .

Do you want to know how?

Appetiser = Grabbing attention

A proper full-course dinner starts with an appetiser. However, you don’t always get it. But if it’s a proper dinner, you shouldn’t worry.

As mentioned above, grabbing attention is one of the most important parts of your introduction , that’s why I advise you to think about it in several ways. Also remember that what might work well in a small room may not be as effective in a larger room.

Soup = Self introduction

Soup follows after the appetiser. Nice warm and thick soup is generally served more often.

In terms of making a presentation, this means that around eight presentations in ten start with, „Hello! My name is…“. If the soup is poor, in terms of making a presentation, this means a long history lesson on the topic Me, My Education, Work, Family, and Other Things . Some speakers even manage to prepare slides.

Main course = O verview of topics

The main course is most expected. Indeed, there are exceptions if a person orders soup instead of the main course, but we are talking in a generalised way right now.

A good main course is something juicy and tasty, something that gives you joy. A bad main course leaves you thinking you can’t be bothered to continue.

Dessert = Raising interest

Basically, it’s the same with the dessert. Quite often, you just don’t get it. Or you do, but you have to buy it yourself.

However, in the context of making a presentation, „ dessert “ is the most important part of your introduction. You can introduce yourself and your topic, but if the audience isn’t interested in the rest of your presentation, you have obviously made a mistake in the beginning.

This, in turn, brings us back to the question I asked Teele in the beginning. Here’s the question:

Why can’t you have dessert first?

If the main purpose is to raise interest, why do you spend it on greetings and introducing yourself and your topics? Better think of the different ways to raise interest right from the start. There are different ways to do that, e.g., stories, examples, jokes, quotes, etc.

When should I have my speech introduction ready?

Humans are as lazy as you let them be, that’s why I advise you to write your introduction once the body and the summary of your presentation are ready. Surprisingly, introduction comes last.

Why? It may happen that if you get your introduction ready first thing, you may need to change it later after adjusting the original plan. For example, if you introduce new ideas that you didn’t plan at first, you will need to leave some original ideas out.

If you use the original speech introduction, you’ll promise something you may not be talking about. However, if you leave your introduction to the last, you’ll know exactly what to include.

Practicing your introduction

Making a good speech beginning requires a lot of effort. You can be the fastest man in the world, but if you fail to start off, you’ll never win a medal. In other words, if you are boring and you fail to grab interest, it will be much more difficult for you to do so in the body of your presentation.

Therefore, take your time to prepare and think through what you can do to draw attention and interest right from the start. If you’re making a longer speech and don’t have enough time to practice the entire speech, I definitely recommend to practice your introduction.

You’re probably more nervous at the beginning of the speech than as the speech progresses, so the fact that you’ve practiced your prelude repeatedly gives you a great deal of self-confidence.

Read more about how to do a proper elevator pitch here.

To sum up: How to make a speech introduction that grabs attention?

A good start creates a great foundation for your success. So think carefully about what you do and how you do it. Starting your speech, you have just one chance to impress, positively influence, and interest the audience. If you fail to do it with your introduction, why do you think you will succeed later on?

Thus, I recommend the tips outlined in today’s blog post on how to make a good speech introduction to use in your next presentation.

The main thing you should keep in mind:

• It should make 10-15% of a presentation.
• A good start must seek attention. No matter how you do it, it must be related to the topic you’re talking about, the audience, you, and the positive environment you’re creating.
• It’s important to establish a relationship of sympathy between you and the audience.
• The main purpose of introducing your presentation is to raise interest. If the listeners are with you from the first moments, it’ll be easier for you to make the rest of the speech.
• Let the audience know who you are and why you’re making a speech.
• Describe what you’ll be talking about and give an overview of the structure of your presentation – how long it is, which topics you’re going to cover, if and when there will be pauses, when your speech ends.
• All listeners are always thinking about the same thing, „ What benefit do I get from your presentation? “ Be sure to answer this question straight away.
• You should write your introduction last as only you know what you’ll be introducing. This way, you’ll also avoid including something in your introduction that you won’t be actually talking about.

Related questions

What is an impromptu speech? An impromptu speech is a speech which given without any thorough preparation. It is five- to eight-minute speech with a characteristically short preparation time of couple of minutes. ( full article here )

What is elevator pitch? An elevator pitch is a well-thought, meaningful, and repeatedly practisced brief (about 30-60 seconds long) overview of who you are, what you offer, and how your partner can benefit from it ( full article here ).

What is a persuasive speech? The main objective of a persuasive speech is to make your listeners do what you want them to do. For example, „buy my product“, „vote for me“, „believe what I’m talking about“, and so on. ( full article here)

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• Tags: Effective speaking , Good speech , Illustrating your speech , Impromptu presentation , Impromptu speaking , Impromptu talk , Introduction to a Speech , Making a speech , Pauses in speech , Presentation skills tips , Speech preparation process , Speech skills , Speech tips , Speech writing tips , Unprepared speech , Unprepared speech topics , Writing a speech

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Send me an e-mail: [email protected]

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How to Write an Introduction for a Persuasive Speech

Last Updated: October 2, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Gale McCreary and by wikiHow staff writer, Kyle Hall . Gale McCreary is the Founder and Chief Coordinator of SpeechStory, a nonprofit organization focused on improving communication skills in youth. She was previously a Silicon Valley CEO and President of a Toastmasters International chapter. She has been recognized as Santa Barbara Entrepreneurial Woman of the Year and received Congressional recognition for providing a Family-Friendly work environment. She has a BS in Biology from Stanford University. There are 8 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 150,689 times.

A persuasive speech is meant to convince an audience to agree with your point of view or argument relating to a specific topic. While the body of your persuasive speech is where the bulk of your argument will go, it’s important that you don’t overlook the introduction. A good introduction will capture your audience’s attention, which is crucial if you want to persuade them. Fortunately, there are some simple rules you can follow that will make the introduction to your persuasive essay more engaging and memorable.

Organizing Your Introduction

• For example, if your speech is about sleep deprivation in the workplace, you could start with something like “Workplace accidents and mistakes related to sleep deprivation cost companies $31 billion every single year.”
• Or, if your speech is about animal rights, you could open with a quote like “The English philosopher Jeremy Bentham once said, ‘The question is not, Can they reason? Nor, Can they talk? But, Can they suffer?’”
• For a speech about unpaid internships, you could start with a relevant anecdote like “In 2018, Tiffany Green got her dream internship, unpaid, working for a rental company. Unfortunately, a few months later Tiffany returned home from work to find an eviction notice on the door of her apartment, owned by that same rental company, because she was unable to pay her rent.

• For example, your thesis statement could look something like “Today, I’m going to talk to you about why medical marijuana should be legalized in all 50 states, and I’ll explain why that would improve the lives of average Americans and boost the economy.”

• For example, if you’re a marine biologist who’s writing a persuasive speech about ocean acidification, you could write something like “I’ve studied the effects of ocean acidification on local marine ecosystems for over a decade now, and what I’ve found is staggering.”
• Or, if you’re not an expert on your topic, you could include something like “Earlier this year, renowned marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson published a decade-long study on the acidification of our oceans, and what she found is deeply concerning.”

• For example, you could sum up your conclusion by writing something like, “To show you that a shorter work week would benefit not only employees but also their employers, first I will touch on the history of the modern average work week. Then, I’ll discuss the mental and physical toll that a long work week can take on a person. Finally, I’ll wrap up by going over fairer, better systems that we as a society could implement.”

• For example, if you time yourself giving your speech (introduction included) and it takes you 5 minutes, your introduction should only take up about 45 seconds of your speech.
• However, if you were giving a speech that’s 20 minutes long, your introduction should be around 3 minutes.
• On average, you’ll want about 150 words for every 1 minute you need to speak for. For example, if your introduction should be 2 minutes, you’d want to write around 300 words.

Tip: If you know how long your speech is going to be before you write it, make the first draft of your introduction the right length so you don’t have to add or delete a lot later.

Polishing Your Writing

• To make your writing more conversational, try to use brief sentences, and avoid including jargon unless you need it to make your point.
• Using contractions, like “I’ll” instead of “I will,” “wouldn’t” instead of “would not,” and “they’re” instead of “they are,” can help make your writing sound more conversational.

Tip: An easy way to make your writing more concise is to start your sentences with the subject. Also, try to limit the number of adverbs and adjectives you use.

• For example, if your audience will be made up of the other students in your college class, including a pop culture reference in your introduction might be an effective way to grab their attention and help them relate to your topic. However, if you’re giving your speech in a more formal setting, a pop culture reference might fall flat.

• For example, you could write something like, “I know a lot of you may strongly disagree with me on this. However, I think if you give me a chance and hear me out, we might end up finding some common ground.”
• Or, you could include a question like “How many of you here tonight have ever come across plastic that's washed up on the beach?” Then, you can have audience members raise their hands.

• You can even record yourself reading your introduction to get a sense of how you'll look delivering the opening of your speech.

Example Introduction for a Persuasive Speech

Community Q&A

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• ↑ https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/11-2-persuasive-speaking/
• ↑ https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/public-speaking-practice-and-ethics/s12-introductions-matter-how-to-be.html
• ↑ https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/ace/downloads/tipsheets/persvsargu.pdf
• ↑ https://www.speechanddebate.org/wp-content/uploads/Tips-for-Writing-a-Persuasive-Speech.pdf
• ↑ https://open.lib.umn.edu/publicspeaking/chapter/14-1-four-methods-of-delivery/
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/essay_writing/argumentative_essays.html
• ↑ https://www.gvsu.edu/speechlab/connecting-with-the-audience-26.htm
• ↑ https://www.gvsu.edu/speechlab/practicing-presentations-33.htm

About This Article

To write an introduction for a persuasive speech, start with a hook that will grab your audience's attention, like a surprising statistic or meaningful quote. Then, introduce your thesis statement, which should explain what you are arguing for and why. From here, you'll need to demonstrate the credibility of your argument if you want your audience to believe what you're saying. Depending on if you are an expert or not, you should either share your personal credentials or reference papers and studies by experts in the field that legitimize your argument. Finally, conclude with a brief preview of the main points you'll cover in your speech, so your audience knows what to expect and can follow along more easily. For more tips from our co-author, including how to polish your introduction, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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RFK Jr. picks running mate. What to know about philanthropist Nicole Shanahan

OAKLAND, California ‒ Lawyer and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan will be Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 's running mate in his long-shot bid for the U.S. presidency, the pair announced Tuesday.

Kennedy made the announcement at a campaign event in Oakland, her hometown.

About 500 people filled the floor of the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts and more than 30,000 tuned into the livestream with many suggesting their favorite vice presidential picks, ranging from former U.S. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) to New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

He said he liked her for her commitment to health and organic foods and "deep, inside knowledge" of how the technology industry uses artificial intelligence to manipulate the public and identify government abuses. He also wanted an athlete, he said, describing Shanahan as an avid surfer and a softball player in her youth. He wanted, he said, a gifted administrator, an inquiring mind, someone open to changing her opinions, who is spiritual, idealistic and "above all (someone with) a deep love for the United States of America."

In some ways, Shanahan was an odd choice. A registered Democrat, she has no political or executive experience and most of her philanthropic support has gone to mainstream science ‒ while Kennedy, who quit the Democratic party last fall, has made a national reputation dismissing the scientific findings of vaccine developers and public health experts.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

In other ways, though, the 38-year-old, makes a lot of sense. She has already donated more than $4 million to his campaign, including the lion's share of funding for a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl .

The ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin and a long-time Silicon Valley resident, Shanahan has connections throughout the tech world. Kennedy has tried to cultivate support within the technology sector, including making an appearance at the SXSW conference in Austin earlier this month.

Kennedy said she understands better than either mainstream candidates the "promise and peril" of technology.

Choosing a running mate

Shanahan's youth and wealth may help Kennedy, who is 70 and a member of the closest Americans come to having a political royal family. But really, several political scientists said, his choice of a running mate, isn't all that significant.

"The chances of this person becoming vice president are close to zero," said Peter Ubertaccio, a professor of political scence and vice president for academic affairs at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts. No third-party candidate has won the U.S. presidency in well over a century .

"The nomination of Ms. Shanahan will make no difference whatsoever in Kennedy's bid," added Jeffrey Berry, a political science professor emeritus at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. "People don't vote for vice president. They vote for president."

But the choice of running mate is the first significant decision a presidential candidate has to make and therefore reflects on them, said Christopher Devine, an associate professor of political science at the University of Dayton in Ohio.

Voters want to see a vice presidential candidate they could imagine in the White House, said Devine, co-author of of the book " Do Running Mates Matter? " "There's good evidence that when people see a VP pick who is not instantly a credible vice president they question a presidential candidate's judgement and they're less likely to vote for that person."

Devine said the selection of Shanahan was not a good look for Kennedy. "This is not the kind of move you would make if you truly anticipated becoming the next president of the United States," he said.

Someone like Kennedy who lacks any governing experience would be expected to choose a running mate with some expertise in foreign policy or negotiating with Congress, he said. Even Donald Trump , who famously had no political experience in 2016 when he ran for president the first time, chose Mike Pence as his running mate ‒ a former Congressman and Indiana governor.

The main reason to choose Shanahan, Devine said, seems to be for her money. As a running mate, she is not limited by campaign contribution limits.

How they're selected: What we know now about choosing a running mate and its impact on voters

It may help Shanahan to be a VP candidate, Berry said, if she has political ambitions in her home state of California, but probably won't raise her national profile much, unless she's willing to fund a major national tour for herself in addition to Kennedy, complete with an advance team and communications people.

Nicole Shanahan's personal life

Shanahan, who declined several requests from USA TODAY for an interview, is the daughter of a Chinese immigrant mother and a father of German-Irish descent who suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

In a video and a half-hour speech, she mentioned her difficult childhood, growing up in Oakland. Her family depended on welfare for a time, living "one misfortune away from disaster," as her father's struggles repeatedly cost him jobs.

In her junior year of high school, she traveled to El Salvador, which was then still recovering from a 12-year civil war. The experience turned her into a pacificist and peace activist ‒ which at the time meant leading her fellow students on a march to the local radio station.

She attended college at the University of Puget Sound and then worked as a paralegal and patent specialist for a number of years.

Her first marriage to San Francisco investor and finance executive Jeremy Asher Kranz reportedly lasted from 2013 to 2015. She was attending the Santa Clara University School of Law at the time, graduating in 2014.

She reportedly met Brin that year at a yoga retreat and the pair married in 2018, the same year their daughter Echo was born. They separated in 2021 and divorced last year.

It's unclear how much money she received in their confidentical divorce proceedings, but in 2022, Brin donated $23 million worth of shares in Alphabet, Google's parent company , to the philanthropy she founded and presides over, the Bia-Echo Foundation .

Shanahan provided $4 million to support a controversial $7 million Kennedy advertisement that ran during the Super Bowl. Last year, she donated $500,000 to the pro-Kennedy group Common Sense and the legal limit of $6,600 last year to Kennedy's campaign. She has donated to other candidates in the past, including Biden's 2020 campaign and Hillary Clinton's 2016 White House bid.

She founded ClearAccessIP, a Palo Alto-based lawfirm that helps patent owners manage and monetize their intellectual property right, which she sold in 2020. She remains listed as a research fellow at  CodeX, the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics , which she described as focusing on "humanistic coding."

She was photographed on red carpets with Brin a number of times, and was alleged by the Wall Street Journal to have had an affair with Elon Musk, which both she and Musk repeatedly denied. She told People magazine in a story addressing her reaction to the negative publicity, that the two were friends and she spoke with him about whether his company Neuralink could provide assistance to Echo, who has autism.

She blamed the end of her marriage not on an affair, but on the challenges of "living as a wife of a billionaire."

"I was not the best version of myself,” she told the magazine. “I felt conflicted every day, like I couldn’t access the thing that made me what I am.”

Last May, Shanahan reportedly held a "love ceremony" with Jacob Strumwasser, a vice president at Lightning Labs, whom she met at the Burning Man festival in 2022.

Shanahan's philanthropy

Shanahan said her childhood of deprivation and priveleged adulthood have taught her that "the purpose of wealth is to help those in need."

To that end, she has devoted most of her public activities in recent years to health philanthropy, mainly in the areas of autism, "food as medicine," and female aging. "Healthy soil is the foundation of healthy food," she said and "our answer to the climate crisis."

She was a "convening participant" and a financial supporter of President Joe Biden's 2022 Task Force on Hunger, Nutrition and Health , though she said Tuesday that she has left the Democratic party because it is not living up to its ideals.

She has also committed $100 million over the course of her lifetime to promoting female longevity and has already seeded the creation of the Buck Institute's Center for Reproductive Longevity and Equality with a $6 million donation, in addition to a $20 million contribution toward the creation of a global consortium promoting women's reproductive health and longevity.

Shanahan has said she became interested in female reproductive health after facing fertility issues before conceiving Echo.

Jennifer Garrison, the scientist who runs both the center and the global consortium, said Shanahan's contributions have been essential to bringing attention and much-needed support to an underfunded area of research that could help better explain aging for everyone.

Although half the world's population is female, little is known about how and why ovaries age faster than the body's other tissues, and the other roles ovaries play in human health.

"What we're talking about is not just young women who are having fertility issues, not just women in perimenopause or going through menopause, but we're talking about a woman's entire adult life," Garrison said. "We don't understand how female bodies work at any point in adult life ‒ but we can. This is all knowable. None of this is rocket science. We just have to literally collect the data."

Shanahan was the first philanthropist to see the importance of digging into this science, learning more and helping women age better, she said.

Shanahan's platform

Shanahan spoke passionately about the importance of curing people from the chronic diseases that are plaguing them ‒ diseases she believes are caused by modern life. Curing them, she said, will cure America.

"What is possible for the human being is also possible for our nation," she said.

She blamed chronic illnesses like the infertility she suffered, her daughter's autism and rampant mental health challenges on three major causes.

• First, she said, endocrine disruptors in food and chemicals in our environment make it harder for the body to heal.
• Electrochemical exposures from wireless technologies and devices, such as cell phones, compound the problems, she said.
• And medications, often prescribed to treat problems caused by the first two actually exacerbate them, she said. She did not name vaccines, but Kennedy is known for his anti-vaccine stance.

All three claims have limited or no scientific support.

As vice president, Shanahan said she would address those concerns by using artificial intelligence to examine medical data bases. "We just have to ask the right questions, do the right research and apply the right tools," she said. "We have to rid science of the corporate bias … and throw this into reverse."

She concluded by promising voters "to make this world a little less crazy."

Karen Weintraub can be reached at [email protected].